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I am pleased to announce that GENIUS People Magazine in Italy has published an article about my ongoing Spot The Arab project, aligned to my exhibition at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea in Rome.
GENIUS People Magazine is a topical, bilingual publication based in Trieste in northern Italy, appearing both on-line and in print form, guided by Editor-in-Chief Francesco La Bella, and Project Manager Mariaisabella Musulin. It focuses primarily on contemporary arts and culture.
Click on the following link to read the article, written by Jonathan Turner:
After spending almost a month in Europe working on various projects, I flew into Sydney a few days ago. I seem to be more jet-lagged than I can remember previously, waking up in the middle of the night with the feeling that there is some kind of grey veil over my brain. In contrast, on the way over to Rome via Abu Dhabi, I experienced almost no jet lag and I was firing on all cylinders the very next day. They do say that jet lag is always worse in one of the directions….I can’t remember which one, but from this experience, I would have to say it’s going from East to West!
The time away was well spent. In fact it was amazingly spent!
Firstly, my exhibition, “Spot The Arab”, at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea in Rome (see previous “blog” entries further down this page) was extremely well-received. I would like to thank Giuliano and Bruno, the two directors of the gallery, for their support and creativity in making the event such a resounding success. Who would have thought….an exhibition about prejudice and stigma, using the stereotypes of what an Arab looks like, staged in the Jewish Ghetto, in the home of the Catholic Church, staged by an Australian photographer. Anything is possible!
Jonathan being extravagant on the streets of Rome during the Pride March.
A big thank you to Jonathan Turner, my host in Rome. He is not only is an amazing curator and art critic (his input to my exhibition in terms of providing advice and various writings was critical to its success), but also the most generous and welcoming friend and host. He is also an accomplished cook and I was privileged to eat at one of the best tables in all of the Eternal City.
View from Jonathan’s terrace, Trastevere.Jonathan serving one of his delicious pastas….
Next, I flew from Rome to Israel. I was asked to stage a fashion shoot as a practical pre-text to get me to the Holy Land. I shot for Refael, a stylish fashion boutique in one of the swanky parts of Tel Aviv. The shoot went very well and everyone was happy, including the designer, the model and the stylists.
The rest of the time I spent visiting parts of Tel Aviv (including a day splayed out on the wonderful beach that stretches the length of the city) and then Jerusalem and the Old City. I have visited Jerusalem before…but I never tire of the magic of this city and always try to make a point of wandering its streets and market place. A trip to Israel wouldn’t be complete without a meal along the sea-front at the old port of Jaffa, where the appetizers are brought out almost the instant you sit down, filling the table with all varieties of middle-eastern delights. I am always completely entertained by the voracious efficiency of the waiting staff, darting backwards and forwards at lightening speed, clearing the dishes from an entire table of 6, plates and glasses stacked and piled in the air, in one go! A big thank you to my host, Nitzan whose generosity abounds, as well as my dear friends Fabien and Refael, who made my stay such a wonderful and enriching experience.
Sums it up really…….Nitzan, Tel AvivThe “souk” in the Old City of Jerusalem
Nitzan, Tel AvivFabien lights a candle in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
After pigging-out on 5 days of hummus, I flew back to Rome for some more Insalata Caprese which, by the way, I can never get enough of. It doesn’t get much better than fresh, delicious Italian tomatoes, fresh basil, the most superb mozzarella di bufala from Naples, drenched with virgin olive oil. I think everyone, including Jonathan, was over my obsession with this dish by the end of my stay.
Marvic eyeing off the Porchetta
Dinner with friends
My exhibition is still running and I was asked to speak at a gallery visit organised by Giuliana Stella, an eminent art critic, curator and educator. This went very well. It was interesting for me to be able to interact with students from the Academy of Fine Arts and and members of the public, answer questions and hear thoughtful statements relating to my work. A big thank you to Giuliana for organising this event.
Giuliana pictured addressing the students
Finally, the end of the trip was approaching. I hurriedly made sure I had seen the most important things on my list.. .this included a visit to Naples and Pompeii….incredible! A quick trip to London to catch up with old friends….thank you Fadi.
Typical London….
And during the final week, the chance to meet up with more acquaintances from Italy, Scotland, Bosnia, Spain, Palestine, Canada and old friends who flew in from Malta and beyond. Thank you Marvic, Davide and Roderick.
PompeiiSundown over the Colosseum with friends
Finally, a big thank you to all the people who welcomed me with such goodwill and openness during my travels and who contributed to the joys of the whole experience from start to finish. You know who you are. I also appreciate all my friends and clients here in Australia who I may have inconvenienced through my lack of presence over the past month. Thanks for waiting and allowing me the time.
My bags are packed and I’m sitting on the sofa, waiting for the taxi to take me to Fumincino where I will board my return flight to Sydney via Abu Dhabi.
What a wonderful stay in the Eternal City!
A huge thank you to all the people and friends that made this trip such a wonderful experience from start to finish. I promise to pass on all the goodwill and love that was so freely shared with me, to the people I meet along my continuing travels.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit London.
I visited some of the iconic landmarks in this grand lady’s cache….always impressed by the constant reminders of my Australian culture’s roots. I always felt some of these elements were so out of place in the hot desert-like climate of my childhood (the carefully manicured botanical gardens devoid of native plants, for example), but seeing all this “English” in the climate, light and environment it evolved in suddenly made a lot more sense to me.
Sadly, the events on the Tower of London took place during my stay. Long live London!
Jonathan Turner, Giuliana Stella and the students of the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Roma
On May 30, John McRae presented his Spot The Arab exhibition to a group of art and architecture students from the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Roma. He gave a floor talk about his working methods and his subject matter to 50 students attending the courses of Allestimento Spazi Espositive (Exhibition Space Design) and Metodologia della Progettazione (Project Methodology), under the tutelage of Professor Giuliana Stella. Australian curator Jonathan Turner then gave a tour of the large-scale Blow-Up exhibition at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, also in the company of Rome’s leading pulp fiction novelist Pier Francesco Grasselli (Ho Scaricato Miss Italia, and All’Inferno ci vado in Porsche).
I just spent four days in Tel Aviv, working on a photoshoot for the upcoming Refael Boutique, focused on creating a new portfolio of images capturing contemporary womens fashion, combining style and minimalism with a flamboyant edge. Together with rising star Refael and stylist Oded, and the young Israeli model, Hannah, we shot a sequence of studio interiors and street scenes under the midday sun.
A historical survey of international photography, featuring the work of John McRae.
Staged in the prestigious Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea in the centre of the ancient city of Rome, Blow-Up is a review of a century of image-making, studying the innovations and dynamic nature of photography. Organized to coincide with the 2017 Venice Biennale, the Rome exhibition is entitled Blow-Up after the classic 1966 film by Michelangelo Antonioni, in which a photographer believes he has unwittingly captured a murder with his camera, in an ambiguous image lurking at the edge of the frame. The exhibition, curated by Giuliano Matricardi, also traces more than 20 years of the gallery’s activity in research in contemporary photography.
Blow-Up includes important photograph-based works by Nobuyoshi Araki (Japan), Matteo Basilè (Italy), David Byrne (USA), Erwin Blumenfeld (Germany), Sylvie Fleury (France), Thomas Glassford (UK), Nan Goldin (USA), Matthias Herrmann (Austria), Fritz Kok (Netherlands), Myriam Laplante (Bangladesh/Canada), John McRae (Australia), Francesca Martì (Spain), Tracey Moffatt (Australia), Erwin Olaf (Netherlands), Dino Pedriali (Italy), Maria Pizzi (Italy), Katharina Sieverding (Germany), Melati Suryodarmo (Indonesia), Inez van Lamsweerde (Netherlands) and Baron Wilhelm Von Gloeden (Germany). This multi-layered exhibition runs through mid-September, 2017.
The exhibition opening on May 18, 2017, was attended by many local and international figureheads, including artists (Francesco Impellizzeri, Myriam Laplante, Francesca Marti’, Jebila Okongwu, Maria Pizzi, Renato Grome, Francesca Tulli), collectors and journalists, as well as Roman nobility, designers, curators (Achille Bonito Oliva, Gianluca Marziani, Giuliana Stella, Jonathan Turner, Luca Barreca), the fashion crowd and many of McRae’s friends from Italy, Spain, Malta, Scandinavia, Australia and beyond (Laura D’Ambra, Stefano d’Argenzio, Federico Assenza, Marvic Camilleri, Chiara Cavarra, Stefano Cigada, Salahuddin Khan, Lorenzo Logi, Vittorio Mango, Maria Antonia Oliver, Vincenzo Persi, Rosa Purchas, Simona Rossi).
The exhibition features a solo show by Sydney artist John McRae. His ongoing “Spot the Arab” series, one work of which is currently hanging in the contemporary portraiture show at the Australian National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, is a suite of photographs exploring the stereotypes and prejudices of our attitudes towards Muslims today, McRae’s portraits are accompanied by a critical text by curator Jonathan Turner, who has regularly worked with McRae for the past decade. This is McRae’s fifth exhibition at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, the show is organized with the support of the Australian Embassy in Rome.
In Blow-Up, Francesca Marti’ is represented by two works: a diptych of black-and-white photographs of Cuban landscapes in torn canvas frames from her Tears series, and a new photograph from her series Cities in a Crooked Line showing a street-scene in Saigon, printed on zinc plate, then partly crushed. Tracey Moffatt, who has been selected as the artist in the Australian Pavilion at the 2017 Biennale di Venezia, is represented in Blow-Up by three older photographs. Meanwhile, a series of vintage prints by Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden (1890s), Erwin Blumenfeld (1940s), and from Dino Pedriali (1970s), includes Pedriali’s quartet of cultural figureheads: black-and-white portraits of dancer Rudolf Nureyev, sculptor George Segal, film director PierPaolo Pasolini and artist Andy Warhol.
A section of the Blow-Up show is dedicated to photo-based works by eight women artists from the stable of Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, all of whom have been featured in previous editions of the Venice Biennale.
John McRae– Spot The Arab – Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, Rome
Text by Jonathan Turner
Spot the Arab is a project based on portraiture by Australian artist John McRae, as a summary of various themes, ideas and concepts aligned to how hereflects upon contemporary issues of religion, race, gender, orientation, nationality and freedom. He presents his work at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea in a game-like yet very serious manner. It is a topical celebration of diversity, with a powerful message about tolerance.
“The solo show has been built around a large photo installation, a retrospective of my portraits since 2002 on the theme of the illusions and stereotypes of what is an Arab today. This looks at 20 people, photographed over the past decade in numerous countries and from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. Each person poses with props, often imposed by me, and enacts the role of what they consider an Arab to be today. The sitters include men, women and transgender people in the “guise” of Arabs, Muslims or people of the various factions of Islamic faith. It focuses on social fictions of femininity/masculinity, recurring themes in my work. I have asked each model to exactly describe how they identify, since in this way, we can over-ride preconceptions, stigma and prejudice.”
McRae works within an international context, purposely blurring the lines between accepted norms while questioning such topics as nationalism, nomadism/migration and gender roles. In the past, he has created photo series in New York, Italy, Malta, Lebanon and Shanghai, as part of his complex research into the concept of shifting border-lines, psychological frontiers and the role of the portrait in society today. His work confronts the politics of imagery.
“I tend to create works in series, often spanning different continents and time-lines, so that my shows introduce a multi-faceted and shifting perspective, never a single cultural viewpoint. My specific fascination is using the camera to break down stereotypes and visual codes, and today, this is more important than ever. In my portraits, I try to capture sly or hidden messages, and then juxtapose these with more blatant aspects of drama, styling and emotion, whether it is authentic or staged. It is always about intimacy versus theatricality.”
Ali, a Lebanese-Australian national raised in Paris but who is currently based in London, has frequently modeled for McRae over the past decades. He, for example, provides a sharp description of how he defines his own identity. This gives additional weight to the complexity of McRae’s portraits.
“My ethnicity is Arab, I see myself as Semitic too. I also have Persian lineage,” Ali explains. “Gender is very fluid in the male body that I adore, so I project Macho Male. My religion: Agnostic, Neo-pagan, Baphomet Worshipper, Hermetic Qabalist, Neo-Platonic, Sacred Whore (I go as ‘London Arab Master’ these days). I love Shia-Islam too.”
“Only some of the models actually consider themselves to be Arab,” adds McRae. “Others from a broad variety of faiths have personally told me their open views of tolerance across border-lines. By mixing it up, this show aims to diffuse. In the current climate, I am drawing people’s attention to the aspects of how fear can be imposed or transmitted through a model wearing a simple costume, head scarf or beard, and how society and the media can radicalise the innocent.”
This is John McRae’s fifth exhibition at Galleria Ill Ponte Contemporanea in Rome since 2005. John McRae’s work is primarily portrait-based, as demonstrated by his solo shows at GrantPirrie Gallery (Sydney), Mate (Berlin), ACAF (Shanghai and Sydney) and The Center (New York); such group shows as La Folia (Madness) curated by Achille Bonito Oliva for the 2010 in Ravello Festival in Italy, and Sailor Style at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney; his inclusion in many Australian portrait prizes (People’s Choice winner 2013 Australian National Portrait Gallery Prize, for his portrait of the late Margaret Olley), the Blake Prize, Olive Cotton Award, Josephine Ulrick & Win Schubert Award; and the publication of his imagery in numerous books and magazines in Australia, China, Germany, USA, Italy, France and beyond.
One work from McRae’s Spot The Arab series (Matuse) is currently featured as a finalist in the 2017 National Photographic Portrait Prize at the Australian National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, and it was also included in the recent thematic exhibition at the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum near Naples, entitled “You no speak Americano original – Integration, discrimination, racism”.
John McRae explains this portrait. “In my studio, I gave Matuse a bag full of clothing and asked him if he would select a “costume” and put it on, which he did. Wearing simple Arab dress, I intentionally depict Matuse as a metaphor for certain prejudices and negative attitudes, conscious or unconscious, that our society at times has been conditioned to project. Here, I have purposely but subtly imposed such terms as “radical” and “fundamental” onto my willing subject, a modern young man who normally goes about in jeans and a t-shirt. Matuse is of Middle Eastern descent, and he is also a practicing Muslim. He confronts the camera with openness, calmness and stillness. For him, the clothing is merely fabric, and not a signifier of any political stance or pretext. He also remains an honest young Aussie.”
Matuse is a contemporary musician and performer who calls himself a ‘spiritual rapper’. In McRae’s portrait, it is interesting how the regal symmetry, the formal pose, the ornamental frame and Matuse’s austere attitude make him look stately and in command. He demonstrates an imperial detachment. But he is not expressionless. He approaches McRae’s camera lens with a direct confront. Any initial assumptions about who he might be are totally over-ruled.
John McRae: “As a viewer, can you tell who is Arab, who identifies as Arab, and in the end, how is this important, anyway?”
Spot The Arab, as part of the larger Blow – Up exhibition of contemporary photography at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, is supported by the Australian Embassy in Rome
Supported by the Australian Embassy, Rome
John McRae at Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, taken at the finish of the installation of the “Spot The Arab” show
My work has been included in an exhibition about integration at the CAM Museum in Italy.
Matuse – Portrait of a Young Aussie
A handmade poster using my photograph of Matuse – Portrait of a Young Aussie, has been included in a new group exhibition at the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, near Naples in Italy. Promoted as the biggest exhibition ever realized on the theme of integration, “You no speak Americano original” aims at highlighting issues of discrimination and racism. It functions as an open call to all artists of any nationality, race, religion, age and sexual orientation to fight against intolerance. The exhibition is curated by CAM museum director Antonio Manfredi, in an institution which often specifically looks at the how contemporary artists view the conflicting worlds of politics, corruption and crime. The publicity poster for the show is in the form of an ironic portrait of Donald Trump as Uncle Sam, recruiting all artists to join his private army of distrust and racism.
Part of the installation at the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, near Naples.
The exhibition “You no speak Americano original” includes posters commenting on the themes of racism and prejudice, made by more than 100 artists, primarily from Italy, but also from Argentina, Australia (me), Austria, Belgium, Egypt, France, Germany, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, UK and USA.
On Friday afternoon I drove down to Canberra with a friend for the launch and announcement of the winner of the 2017 National Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery, This year marked the 4th occasion that one of my portraits has been shortlisted as a finalist in the prize.
I really appreciate being selected as part of this exhibition. It comes with some standing since it’s a National Prize (this year 49 works were selected from a field of 3,000)) and also it takes place in the esteemed premises of the National Portrait Gallery in our nation’s capital, Canberra. Thank goodness for GPS with all the circular traffic conditions.
As one of the selected finalists, I arrived a 5pm for a reserved viewing of the exhibition. This meant I had a chance to look at the works hanging in the lofty halls of the gallery without a crowd. It also gives you a chance to meet some of the other 49 finalists before the speeches and the announcement of the winner.
My selected work is a recent portrait of my friend, Matuse…see below.
Portrait of a young Aussie, Matuse Peace, 2016
This is a portrait of a young Australian man. It was taken in my studio earlier this year.
I gave Matuse a bag full of clothing and asked him if he would select a “costume” and put it on, which he did.
In this portrait of Matuse in simple Arab dress, I intentionally depict him as a metaphor for certain prejudices and negative attitudes, conscious or unconscious, that our society at times has been conditioned to project. Here, I have purposely but subtly imposed such terms as “radical” and “fundamental” onto my willing subject, a young man who normally goes about in jeans and a t-shirt
Matuse is of Middle Eastern descent, and he is also a practicing Muslim. He confronts the camera with openness, calmness and stillness. For him, the clothing is merely fabric, and not a signifier of any political stance or pretext.
He also remains an honest young Aussie.
At 6pm the doors open to the invited public. I met Matuse, the model in my portrait, at the front of the gallery, together with a couple of other friends and we entered.
The crowd enter the NPGThe public wait for the announcement of the winner
The winner was announced…and bravo to Gary Grealy for his beautiful portrait of Richard Morecroft and Alison Mackay. Highly commended was John Benavente, Renaissance Rose and Brett Canet-Gibson, Mastura. (See NPG Portrait Prize)
After the announcements everyone was invited into the exhibition area to see the finalists’ works. It is a great privilege to observe the reaction of the public to your work. I love over-hearing the comments and looking at the faces of the visiters as they consider the portrait. Matuse was equally engaged, curiously observing the public’s reaction to his image. It was fun watching the visiters slowly come to the realisation that the young man wearing jeans and a base-ball cap, standing nearby, was in fact the stately looking model in the portrait. Some people asked him questions. Kuei, the model in the neighbouring work by Kellie Leczinska, then referred to Matuse as “The Prince of Egypt”.
Matuse pictured next to his portrait at the Launch
With Matuse and his portrait at the Launch
See what I mean….Matuse answers various questions from the viewing public once they realise he is the model…priceless.
All in all it was a special evening and a great event. It’s refreshing to see such a high standard of excellence in photographic portraiture showcased in such a beautiful space. Afterwards all the finalists and their friends were invited to a more relaxed event, so we could meet and mingle, where relationships and new connections can be formed. The next day several talks were organised at the National Portrait Gallery in relation to the prize. It was wonderful to hear from the 2017 winner, Gary Grealy, George Fetting (accomplished photographer and 2017 judge) and Elizabeth Looker (2016 winner) at the “Light Effects” talk.
A big thank you to Crowne Plaza Hotel for offering a night at their hotel as part of being a finalist. Also a big thank you to all the work and creativity by those involved, for establishing such a prize and such a successful event. This includes the generous sponsors and staff of the NPG, as well as the judges who had their work cut out for them…Penelope Grist, Assistant Curator, National Portrait Gallery; Dr Sarah Engledow, Curator, National Portrait Gallery; George Fetting, guest judge, photographer.
I had the pleasure of spending the weekend at Hardwicke, the horse stud near Yass owned by my friend Philippa Torlonia, who divides her time between the bucolic pastures of Australia and the cobble-stoned frenzy of Rome. I snapped a few shots of the this beautiful landscape, and several magnificent thoroughbreds. The farm also produces excellent olive oil in a business operated by Philippa’s son Charles de Nanteuil, or Charley as we call him. As well as the award-winning La Barre extra-virgin olive oil, his company produces and distributes a range of infused oils, vinegars and condiments. My personal La Barre favourites: lemon-infused olive oil, blood plum finishing vinegar and their classic Worcestershire sauce.
In the wake of the gaffes at the 2017 Oscars, JONATHAN TURNER provides the commentary and presents the awards, maintaining his unofficial prerogative to announce the wrong winners.
Once again, Mardi Gras has come and gone. And once again, an international crew attended our annual Garry Scale Memorial Fruit Stand on Flinders Street. With impeccable tardiness, Garry Scale arrived late. This year, the viewing stand was further protected from the elements and riff-raff thanks to Lachlan’s excellent Do-It-Yourself capabilities, and a shocking pink marquee. Lachlan said he liked the scene at pre-Parade Bunnings on Saturday morning, with squadrons of poofs assembling floats on utes, working in the parking lane normal reserved for legit carpenters and plumbers.
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Live from the Parade
2017 was a parade in celebration of gay Tradies, furbies, nurses with over-sized pills, pin-ups, twinks, Ricky Martin, Wonder Woman, mirror balls, gaybies, transgender school-kids, Andy Warhol, otters, unicorns, corporate bankers, balloons, Xena the Warrior Princess, that cute Tarzan guy carrying the ACON flag on his dick, firemen and other strippers.
Different floats were flamboyantly dedicated to different countries – Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Slovenia, a floating island of Polynesians, the Tiwi Island Sistagirls in ceremonial garb, Ireland, Finland, Scotland, Thailand and The Netherlands as our orange-clad ambassadors to the free world.
Trevor Ashley as “Liza with an E”Steve Grand as a Village PersonBob Downe as Ambassador
We screamed at our glamorous Mardi Gras Ambassadors Cindy Pastel, Trevor Ashley and cheesy Bob Downe riding in their rainbow-painted drop-top Holdens. Proud American country-singer Steve Grand also drove past. He has recently been complaining that people don’t take him seriously as a singer, and we only want to see his six-pack abs. Well Steve darling, if you don’t want to be objectified, then maybe you shouldn’t take your shirt off in front of 300,000 screaming people, rub oil on your torso, and then post all the photos on social media.
Mardi Gras Ambassador – Courtney Act
Officially and unofficially, at Mardi Gras there were lots of cops, thankfully not all of them with sniffer dogs. There were several marching police groups, and the George Michael Freedom float featured a large contingent impersonating George as the L.A. cop in his brilliantly controversial Outside music video. But definitely the gayest vehicle in the entire 2017 Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade was the hunky silver NSW Police Audi coupe’, complete with fluorescent checkerboard signage, driven by two grinning uniformed officers who had recently had their teeth whitened.
THE GIRLZ
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THE BOYZ
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THE DRAGZ
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There were lots of sporty bits.
Heaps of Olivia Newton-John inspired “Let’s Get Physical” aerobics outfits.
Two Olympic gold-medal divers Greg Louganis AND Matthew Mitcham attended the Garry Scale Memorial Fruit Stand.
Ian Roberts
Various water polo and footie teams marched past. And Ian Roberts ruled the NRL float, a man who deserves our eternal respect as being the first man to unabashedly come out in any of the international football leagues while still at the top of his game. More than two decades ago, like a Titan, he smashed down the closet door. Roberts remains humble, honest and, for a former Manly front row player, erudite. He ain’t no saint, but he might as well be. After all, our only official Aussie saint is dull old Mary McKillop, who was just a jumped-up school teacher who liked kangaroos.
Here’s a brave and dignified interview with Ian Roberts by Sterlo from 2016. Sterlo calls Roberts “impressive and inspirational”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRrFuyfxHWg
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All the red-and-yellow lifesavers dancing around their “Kiss of Life” float were performing the same hand-signals as the cabin crew on the Qantas float with Troye Sivan. Sivan is our home-grown singer, song-writer, teenaged Wolverine and YouTube wunderkind. Were the Qantas hostesses and Bondi lifesavers all signalling to indicate the nearest 747 exit, or telling us to bring in the buoys?
Icons – Ricky Martin (wax), Wonder Woman, George Michael & Andy Warhol
Disney Icons – Genie, Robin Hood, Maleficent & Aladdin and/or Ali Baba
So here are the unofficial awards for the 2017 Mardi Gras Parade.
Best dress – Verushka Darling on the back of the Air bnb cottage, floating like an angel in a white cascade of domestic light-bulbs.
Best Costume – the metallic blue and silver entrant with ice-coloured contact lenses, built-in neon lighting and his trio of black canine bodyguards
Best Group T-shirts – the Aussie Lamb float, with a motif of a couple of prime rainbow cutlets printed on a mint-green background.
Best Dyke on a Bike – the dyke on the yellow Ducati.
Most Necessary Politics – Keep Sydney Open, a float lambasting the ridiculous lock-out laws, with signs in favour of the Oxford Street clubs, and quashing the notion that “Dancing is Dangerous”.
A Twisted Sister, plus Not the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, but perennial favorite Kabi / Kevin / Ethel Yarwood in a mask.
Best Policeman – He knows who he is, the cheeky bugger.
Best Bagpipes Player (I never thought I would write that phrase) – One of the Scotzboys, and he also knows who he is.
Best Choreography – the SBS “Equality is our Chemistry” float, when the dancers joined together to turn their glittery half-hearts into full hearts. How sweet. Plus the red and white Medicare float with the Kiss-Cam. Smooch.
Even Better Choreography – the ANZ guy who couldn’t clap and scream in time with all his colleagues, who could be seen counting the steps on his lips, and who blithely span and marched in the opposite direction. Brilliant!
Best Float – Poof Doof. Harking back to the glory days of the Albury floats, this entry understood the impact of a powerful sound system, happy couples in black leather speedos shooting smoke cannons and a strict black-and-white chessboard theme with unicorns, bishop hats, dog-masks and witches. Slave to the rhythm.
Remember, beauty fades but dumb is forever.
Mardi Gras – It’s just like Christmas, only happy.
MMXVI Pigment inkjet on cotton rag, 112cm 80cm Edition of 9, 2AP
MMXVI – Matthew Mitcham Annual Portrait
Every year I photograph Matthew Mitcham, Australia’s gold-medal Olympic diver, award-winning cabaret performer and television entertainer, in my studio.
Each portrait is taken under similar conditions. MMXVI marks the 9th portrait and the 9th year of this ongoing series.
Will Matthew Mitcham ever age…is the question on my mind?
The exhibition will take place at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra from 1 April – 18 June, 2017. 50 finalist works are selected from photographers from all over Australia. I am looking forward to going down for the opening. The National Photographic Portrait Prize is one of my favourites – guaranteed high level of photographic expertise on display!
I will post more information as the date approaches…….
I have recently returned from working in sunny Italy to an equally sunny Australia. And after spending quite a long time away it was great to have an excuse to travel down to Victoria. It was fortunate that one of my clients was shooting his annual jewellery catalogue in Melbourne and rural Victoria, so that gave me a perfect pretext to make the journey.
One of the locations was conveniently close to Pomonal where my sister lives. I have blogged several times before in reference to Pomonal…so here is an up-date of rural life at the foot of the Grampian mountain range.
View of the Grampians from the point of view of Moysten
I arrived on the Saturday afternoon after a non-stop drive from Melbourne, where I had been working the previous 3 days. I found Helen sitting on the verandah of her little country hide-away (see picture).
You can see Helen…she’s got the grey hair!Here’s a view a bit closer….I think Helen is on the phone.
I then headed straight for the Stawell Show Grounds from Melbourne. It was a push since the show was starting to wind up and I had to get there before 4pm, if I wanted to see Denise and her winning entries. Thanks goodness I had a reliable GPS and I could head off the highway, onto the dirt road leading to Stawell.
I arrived in the car park, and Denise eagerly awaiting. I was quickly whisked away to the grand pavilion, on the edge of the main arena, where there was some exciting news……
Surprise, surprise! Denise had several prize-winning entries. She is so proud of her baking efforts and was over the moon at the fact that the local agricultural establishment had chosen to acknowledge this by awarding her several first and second prizes.
Denise pointing to where her first prize winning nut loaf was located.The label speaks for itself…how wonderful for DeniseDenise pointing to her first prize cappuccino cake….top shelf!This was a truly unexpected win….Denise had no idea what a cappuccino cake was until the Stawell Show…and look!
The real surprise was the Cappuccino cake…a relatively complicated layered construction which she managed beautifully, to win her a first ticket. I found out from Helen that the 2nd prize for the Anzac biscuits was also hard won. Apparently, they had some difficulty with the first batch, which lost shape and pured out all over the baking tray. With an insightful variation of the recipe (don’t try this at home, only a skilled technician, which Denise is, can play around with changing recipes) she managed a second prize.
Here are the Anzac biscuits……..Denise did mention that they were a bit tricky at first. This was apparently the product of a second attempt to get the recipe right.
Another victory in the Anzac Biscuit section (Biscuit is French for Biscuit)
Full length shot of Denise…too bad they didn’t have an event for fashion on the field
A slight disappointment….(well, I suppose you can’t really say disappointment when you have already won 2 sections and 2nd in another)…was the tea tray section. Denise, unfortunately didn’t cut the mustard in this years effort. It’s always good to have something to strive for and next year, I am sure, Denise will be hoping for a better result.
Denise points to her disappointing failure in the tea service sectionThe loosing tea service……..
We still had half an hour left before the show ended, so we decided to exit the baking pavilion, to visit side show alley and see what else was on offer……….
Denise admires a lump of wool, as she leaves the cake baking pavilion
So I thought……..but no! We were off to another pavilion for more of “Denise on show”! To my surprise Denise had extended her kit bag of talents to the photographic awards and had entered her work in 2 sections. There was quite an impressive selection of photographs on display. Some of the contestants were obviously professional or semi professional photographers. Denise wasn’t…but that didn’t deter her from entering because they had a section for amateurs.
Denise points to her 3rd prize winning photograph of a car. Vintage cars are another hobby of this multi-talented woman of mystery, which I will discuss further on in this blog…stay tuned!
A spectacular self portrait…although it didn’t muster a prize, definitely a favourite of mine. Denise pictured herself, softly lit, reclining in a bath, full of bubbles…reminiscent of the iconic images by some great past photographers of languishing Hollywood beauties.
Here’s a closer look at Denise’s self portrait in the bath. How glamorous! I’m loving the inspired “hang” by the trustees. Well positioned, I’d say!
How wonderful…..the side shows were still in progress after we left the photography. Although the guy on the Cha Cha had started to pack up, it didn’t deter Denise from having a go on the darts and the clowns. Denise was full of confidence after her wins and this was reflected in her deft delivery of both the darts and the balls. She started first on the darts and quickly made a number of successful throws to land herself a soft toy bear (see image). She was also successful on the clowns but the prizes on offer were less impressive.
The Cha Cha was being packed up…otherwise I would have liked to have a ride. I would always have a go on the Cha Cha, whenever the show came to Horsham…my favourite (except for the one where the girl turns into a gorilla…that’s another story)
Denise gives it her best on the darts….Note the action…..She landed a lovely soft toy, brown bear. Her boyfriend Greg will be delighted when she gets home.
Denise did not leave empty handed…..
Getting ready to try her luck on the clowns
Denise, poised for another victory on the clowns
Denise proudly displaying the 2 prizes she won at side show alley
Denise takes a break, next to the shetland ponies, to re-apply make-up. A girl has to look her best.I was very disappointed with what I saw, regarding the commercialisation of the iconic show bag, as seen in this shot. Nowdays, you choose to buy what you want inside the bags….in my time, the bags were sponsored and you never knew what crap was going to be inside. No more surprises!
Another fascinating feature was the Sheaf Tossing Competition. I have never seen this type of sport before…but here it was at the Stawell Show. The idea is to stick a pitch fork into a small bag of hay and throw it as high as you can, over a horizontal suspended beam. Have a look at the shots for a better explanation. The 2014 World Sheaf Tossing champion was defending his title…..he was unsuccessful. He lost to a rather shy young man who was on a “come-back” after retiring from the sport a few years ago.
That’s the pitch fork they use to spike the hay bale…..
So the hay bale is thrown up and over a suspended bar, above.
The idea is you get the bag over the bar at the highest possible height…and if yours is the highest…you win!
This is the guy who won…but he wasn’t comfortable with me shooting him until he had won. I managed to get this shot before he indicated that he didn’t like photos…put him off!
I got him from behind as well….on his way to the launching pad.
His opponent was looking on in anticipation….
I shot Denise with the winners…first and second. They did a marvelous job and Denise was very excited to be photographed between them. The commentator on the microphone mistaked me for a reporter from the local newspaper. Oh well….perhaps I do shoot from time to time for the “Callan Park News”! (Look up Callan Park)
Well after all that excitement it was time to pack up and collect the prize money. Yes….the prize money! How exciting! Those hard won tickets translate into cold hard cash! We quickly retrieved the cakes and photos and proceeded to the admin office for the loot! Rob and Elle helped carry the goods to the car.
Denise points out which ones are hers.Denise telling the show lady where the nut loaf wasThe show lady carefully carries the tea tray out of the cabinet for DeniseLove this shot of Denise with the tea tray….shame she didn’t win!Rob is Elle’s boyfriend and works as a young doctor in the rural area of Orange, NSW….so he understands the value of keeping country culture alive. He was more than happy to help carry the tea tray to the carThis is Elle, my niece. She took the opportunity to try the Anzac biscuits. I think she liked them very much.Collecting the photos…..Rob, Elle and Denise head to the admin office for funds!
Now it was time to collect the money…..finally! Guess how much 2 firsts, 2 second and a third got you ahead at the Stawell Show? I’ll tell you…….$8 (AUD). I mean it’s better than a slap in the face….but I hasten to say that the $8 wouldn’t even pay for the matt board on the photos, let alone the ingredients of all those prize winning cakes….but better not look a gift horse in the mouth (as they say in the country).
Denise waits for the money….Denise shows her bounty for the cameraDenise, Rob and Elle leave the office. Denise feeling rewarded and just that little bit richer from the experience.
Here’s Denise at the car, displaying her trophies…oh, there you go…she also got a trophey…not bad!
Well that was the Stawell Show. I decided that I would make an effort to go again next year, but arrive earlier so it won’t be a rushed….get to go on the Cha Cha. In fact, I think I will make a weekend of it.
Got this lovely shot of Denise on her car, just in front of the CB McMurtrie Poultry Pavilion
And this shot of Denise on the side of an old fashioned car. I like the way the owner has’t bothered to renovate…you see the remnants of the original finish.
It was obvious that Rob and Denise shared a common interest in cars….before our departure they took time out to have a look under the bonnet and Rob got into the driver’s seat (See picture)
So that ended day 1 of my trip to Pomonal and Stawell. There’s a day 2 coming up! I think I hit the jack pot. Not only was it the weekend of the Stawell Show but it was also the weekend of the Show and Shine car rally, organised by the local Holden Car Club, of which Denise is the secretary.
Sunday morning, after a hearty breakfast with my sister at the Halls Gap coffee shop I headed off to the nearby oval. Denise was just pulling up in her non-renovated Holden Kingswood. Her pride and joy. She commandeered that lump of metal in true style as she slowly moved onto the oval to take her position in the field of motoring enthusiasts.
Denise drives onto the oval to take her place
Narrowly misses a young girl in a wheelchair (out of frame)Denise pictured with her Holden Kingswood
Signage had to be put onto the car windows. Elle and Rob were there to lend a hand. Denise opened the bonnet for an inspection proudly admitting that nothing had been done to the car since it was bought.
Elle and Denise adhering a flyer to the car window
Denise displays the inner workings of the motor
When Denise felt that the preparations were complete, we all went for a little wander through the fair. It was a great turn out. Many of the cars were renovated versions of their former selves….great testaments of the love and devotion of their owners.
A line up of renovated utes. The owners not far away.
Rob and Elle like this one particularly
…..and this one!
Close up of the renovated motor in this red painted vehicle
This lady found the perfect place to take a rest…quiet, relaxing and I imagine, judging from the lilac sheepskin covers, very comfortable
This couple took a very practical approach and brought their own chairs
I was fascinated by this family…obviously car enthusiasts.More cars……and even more cars…….
Wow….looking at all the different coloured cars really builds up an appetite. We headed for the sausage sizzle, a fund-raiser for sure!
Waiting while the staff sort out logistics….
Nothing like an Aussie BBQ and plenty of tomato sauce to follow
A flashback from the day before….clowns and fairy floss.
Bring in the clowns…..
Denise looking on, fixated on how the fairy floss is made
Time to enjoy this sugar hit and there to help out is the well known Melbourne jeweller, Adrian from Circa AD Jewels
I had to leave to go to and work at a nearby homestead. We were about to shoot the last model for the 2017 Circa AD jewellery catalogue…..hence why Adrian was in one of the above shots. But before we all left Denise and finish the day at the “Show and Shine”, Adrian kindly lent a couple of his pieces that we were going to shoot later on that afternoon for Denise to model. I think she enjoyed the experience…she is certainly a lot more relaxed in front of the camera than when I first started shooting her, so long ago.
How classic is Denise looking her, showing off her South Sea Pearls
Here’s another lovely shot of Denise, modelling a coral and turquoise beaded necklace from CircaAD Jewels
And to finish up….Denise with a pair of turquoise drop ear rings
That brings me to the end of all the fun and games of the “Show and Shine”…and for that matter, a fond good bye to Halls Gap and Pomonal. It was now onto Lexington, a property near Moysten, for the continuation and last shoot for CircaAD Jewels. But more about that on another blog post. Later that evening I started my long road trip back to Sydney…..14hrs of listening to ABBA on a very boring stretch of road.
View of the Grampians from the verandah of the Lexington property, near Moysten
The End
And………don’t forget to get that particular shot you wanted in, before Xmas!
I had the pleasure of working with 4 beautiful and talented woman for the promotional shoot for an up coming musical extravaganza, “Witches”, to be performed with the SSO at the Opera House.
They were Helen Dallimore, Lucy Durack, Amanda Harrison and Jemma Rix and boy, was it fun to work with these witty and enthusiastic ladies. Make-up, hair up and up!….and scrumptiously designed dresses by the talented, Jaimie Sortino.Continue reading “Magic happens when Witches come out to play……..”
