John McRae Photography & Studio
Sydney Professional, Commercial & Corporate Photography
I’M OFF THE ROME FOR THE OPENING OF MY SOLO SHOW AT THE ACCLAIMED GALLERY, IL PONTE CONTEMPORANEA, IN ROME
Super happy to be exhibiting, “Spot The Arab”, a new body of work, as part of their “Blow-Up” exhibition (See invite)
If you are in Rome between 18 May and 23 September…..drop in to the gallery and see my work.
My work has been included in an exhibition about integration at the CAM Museum in Italy.
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.
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.
Link to the exhibition
http://www.casoriacontemporaryartmuseum.com/it/you-no-speak-americano-original/
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 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”.
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.
For a look at the ABC news article including an interview with me, follow this link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-31/national-photographic-portrait-prize-artists-explain-their-works/8396770
Lastly…….
Don’t forget to lodge your vote for the People’s Choice Award. You can vote on-line by clicking here Then click on the button “Vote for your favorite”
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.
John McRae takes the photos
A MARDI GRAS EXCLUSIVE
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.
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.
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.
THE END
It’s that time of year again……..
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 complete sequence can be seen at
https://www.johnmcrae.com/exhi…/annual-matthew-mitcham-portraits/
The series is printed by the artist in an edition of 9, with 2 artist proofs, and is available for purchase.
Contact: John McRae mb: 0419 619 161 e: john@johnmcrae.com w: www.johnmcrae.com
HAPPY 2017 TO EVERYONE!
The year has started well with some glorious news from the National Portrait Gallery.
The work, “Portrait of a Young Aussie, Matuse Peace”, 2016 has been selected as a finalist in the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017.
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…….
Go ahead….book your Xmas photography session………..
Call mb: 0419619161
email: john@johnmcrae.com
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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……….
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wow….looking at all the different coloured cars really builds up an appetite. We headed for the sausage sizzle, a fund-raiser for sure!
A flashback from the day before….clowns and fairy floss.
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.
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.
The End
And………don’t forget to get that particular shot you wanted in, before Xmas!
John McRae
mb 0419619161
email: john@johnmcrae.com
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……..”
I attended the opening of the National Portrait Prize, 2016 on Friday night (18 April). I made the trip to Canberra to see my portrait of a group of performers outside the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville, Sydney.
This is the 3rd time that I have been hung in the prize and it is always a buzz to rock up to the wonderful building that houses the NPG. As I walked in I was given a lanyard with my name and “finalist” status written on it…obviously to identify me as one of the finalists in the crowd. The finalist were given VIP access to the space before the public entered to view the works and to mingle and meet amongst themselves.
What a nice feeling to walk in and see your work on the walls…..always a great moment for an artist and worth every effort of getting the work and your body down to Canberra.
Congratulations to the winner, Elizabeth Looker who’s work you will see if you visit the website of the NPG….or better still, take a trip to Canberra and see the work in situ at the gallery.
Exhibition runs from 19 March, 2016 – 26 June, 2016 at the NPG, Canberra
Dont forget you can also vote for the “People’s Choice” at the following web address:
I recently had the pleasure of working with the amazing team at “One Room”.
One Room (1/414 Bronte Road, Bronte NSW 2024) is a progressive and highly creative hair styling studio, located at Bronte in Sydney. I was approached by Daniel McLennan, the owner and chief stylist, to shoot hair for some up-coming competitions.
It was a more convenient time to shoot for the salon as they were going through their “once a year” re-furbishment of the space and had some down time to come to my studio in Lilyfield for the shoot. I was impressed with the idea that a business, on a yearly basis, would re-furbish their interiors…..their customers must be equally impressed with that kind of commitment.
So my studio was transformed for a day into a veritable hair salon. There was hair dryers, combs, brushes, extensions, colour, product, movement, panic….for days! I loved the energy that was created by all this activity.
It was a pleasure and a great buzz to work with talented, enthusiastic and creative geniuses in their fields.
Have a look at the guys at work in the following images:
Stylist Model
Daniel McLennan Hannah
Kate Lynch Alex Tinker
Laura Priori Terry Varvaressos
Lily Zak Jarday Tundrock
Finally it all comes together and we get results………
One Room
1/414 Bronte Road
Bronte NSW 2024
Phone: (02) 9387 6545
GREAT NEWS!!!
One of my recent works has been chosen as a finalist in the National Portrait Prize.
The exhibition dates are: 19 March – 26 June, 2016 at the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
Unfortunately I am obliged not to show the selected work until the opening of the exhibition which is a bit weird when you’re announcing the selection but do not show the selected work….but I’m sure you’ll understand.
I’m looking forward to the exhibition. It’s one of the prizes that I like…always good portraits in the line up and well worth the trip to have a look at what other photographers are up to in the area of portraiture.
Well….it’s that time of year when I release the latest annual Matthew Mitcham portrait. I have been photographing this young lad for more than 8 years now, extending this project to 8 portraits. See below:
Hello Again!
Well this month has seen a return to Pomonal. I took a trip down to Victoria for several reasons, one of which was to visit my sister in Pomonal, a village at the foot of the Grampain mountain range.
This time I drove. What a boring drive it is! Now that the highway by-passes all that is mildly interesting you are left with bitumen and Caltex Roadhouses. Did I say already the drive was boring………
After hours and hours on the road I made it to Pomonal and to my sisters brilliant little house. Here’s a shot……..
I found my sister, Helen and Denise on the porch, waiting for my arrival. Denise is my sister’s best friend. She is also a transexual, living in rural Victoria. I love the dynamic between Helen and Denise and took every opportunity to get a few shots, as you will see in the following brief overview of my trip.
Of course there’s always something to do in the country, never a dull moment. It was time to water the garden! We can note here that the Wimmera Mallee area has been in drought for some time now. It’s all you ever here spoken about in the public places such as the General Store, up the road from my sister. Endless summerising and speculation about the elements, will we or will we not, get rain today. It’s almost as good as the road trip from Sydney.
That evening Helen made a fabulous dinner for us. I picked my brother Peter up in Melbourne so he spent the week in Pomonal as well. Denise and her boyfriend of 3 years, Greg, also attended, along with a couple of neighbours.
We paid a visit to some neighbours, Nadia and Joel. Joel has sheep and knows a lot about them. Nadia runs the communications hub of Pomonal, the General Store. At her General Store you can also pick up extra supplies, post letters, hire videos, get a sandwich, enjoy a great cup of coffee, buy fishing gear, get the daily newspaper, buy great “Grampians” olive oil, get some local craft items and the list goes on……… Every morning I would drive the 200m to the Nadia’s and get my daily dose of caffeine, sit and do my e-mails and have a chat to Nadia while all the locals, one by one, would file in
Next stop was a short visit to Denise and Greg’s new house in Stawell. They had both recently moved from Pomonal where they were living right next door to the General Store. I imagined that Helen may have been disappointed with the fact that Denise had moved away from the area however, that was not the case, Stawell is only a 20min car journey away….so they see each other almost as much as when Denise was living 200m down the road.
I took the opportunity to take a few shots of Denise and Greg in their backyard, next to a couple of cars they are in the process of doing up. Denise was excited to tell me that both of them have joined the “Holden Car Club” in Stawell and that they intend to do up a number of old Holdens. I tried to look interested.
Following…..Peter and I hopped in the car and continued onto Horsham. Horsham is the town where I went to school, swam and played basketball. I lived a bit out of the city on a defunct dairy farm…so I can’t really say I’m from Horsham. Here’s a couple of shots of Horsham so you get the picture.
We made a visit to the cemetery where an ever growing number of the relatives reside then headed back to Pomonal for a swim in Lake Fyans.
We found an old chair not far from the shore of the lake which provided an unexpected but very comfortable seating arrangement for our numerous visits. The lake is only a 10min drive from Pomonal and is a great way of cooling off when the temperatures sore. Not that it was super hot at this time of year.
Speaking of the weather…….I mentioned that it was hot enough for a swim. That was true for the first 2 days however, a chill hit on the 3rd day, to the point that the thermometer dropped to nearly zero some evenings. I wasn’t prepared for that! Apparently this time of year can be a bit up and down and you have to remember….it is Victoria. But seriously it is a great time to go to the Grampians….all the native flowers are out in bloom, the landscape is greener than usual (in spite of the ongoing drought, it still looked quite green) and the weather is nice and mild, not too cold and not too hot. Of course, the other climatic scenario in this area is the annual bushfires during the summer months. You are surrounded by the the charred remains of eucalyptus, evidence of the frequency of such events.
Helen thought that Peter and I would like a drive to an historic village, to meet a friend of hers and have lunch together in his rather large house. Why not? Off went went to near a place called “Willaura”. I wouldn’t say it’s a bustling metropolis…..I didn’t see any people until I walked into the bakery and purchased a macadamia nut slice from the young man behind the counter. I reckon they’d make good bread though….I just felt you’d get good bread at this place. Here are a few shots.
Lunch was delicious. Peter and I enjoyed her cooking all week. We ate with Rob the owner of a large bluestone homestead on a farm, 10 mins drive from Willaura. He was a generous and welcoming host and we had a great time.
I suppose I should say I was fortunate to be in Pomonal during the week of the Stawell Show, the annual carnival of local produce and various activity. I say this because it meant that Denise had decided to enter, once again, into some of the baking categories for the chance to take home the blue ribbon. This also meant that Denise and Helen had organised a “baking evening”, the night before the entries had to be delivered. Little did I know that Helen and Denise would be going, at it, until 2am in the morning, squeaking and giggling and basically preventing anyone with normal audio capabilities from sleeping. Helen had the cook books, handed down through the generations and offered her tutelage during the long, noisy process. She wasn’t allowed to touch any of the ingredients or have any kind of hands on involvement…..these were some of the rules that they both respected.
All in all it went fairly well. There were 2 items (the date loaf and the nut loaf) that had to be re-made for various reasons. The best bit is that Denise won every section she entered on the Saturday at the Show. She was ecstatic! All the hard work and late nights paid off.
See the little house in the background of the shot above. That’s where she lived for sometime before moving in with Greg. The house sits on my sisters property. You can’t see it, but my sister’s house is just behind. By a stoke of luck, Denise discovered the house on another property in the area. The owners were going to demolish it and Denise took the opportunity to ask them how much they wanted for it. She scored it for $100…not bad! I imagine it cost more to organise for it to be transported from where she brought it to where it is now.
I left Pomonal with a warm feeling in my stomach, having spent a wonderful 5 days in rural bliss. My sister was an amazing host. She even gave me her bed. Now Helen’s bed is the most comfortable bed I have ever experienced. It’s like sleeping on a cloud with a silver lining….you float!
I stopped in on my friend Ned who lives in Melbourne to say hello and take a couple of shots. Here’s one below. Ned has a fantastic companion called, Merlin. I made it home to Sydney, refreshed and happy.
GOOD NEWS!
My portrait of George Frazis has been selected, among 20 works, as a finalist in the annual “Shoot The Chef” competition.
Artist Statement:
George Frazis is one of those rare diamonds. George spent 15 years as a cook in the Greek Merchant Navy. In 1963, after jumping ship in Newcastle to be with his fiancee, Anthippe (pictured in the smoky background of the image), he found work as a chef in several of Sydney’s most glamorous and sometimes notorious restaurants, including Chelsea’s in Kings Cross, The Russian Coachman in Surry Hills and Dimitri’s, serving culinary delights to the wealthy, the not-so-wealthy, the famous and the infamous. Fast forward 50 years and we find George still in the kitchen, now cooking in his son’s Rozelle coffee bar, Latticini, where we see the appreciation for his loyalty and hard work proudly displayed on the wall, ironically announcing his “Employee of the Month” status.
All 20 finalist works can be viewed on exhibition, as part of the Parramatta Lanes Festival from October 6 – 9, 2015 (http://www.parramattalanes.com.au)
People’s Choice Award:
Now I know all of you would want to cast your vote for the people’s choice award….well it’s very simple, click on the following link to take you to the SMH Clique page where you will find the winner and all finalist works displayed for you to vote on your favorite. Make sure you vote!
I just want to say a big “congratulations” to the adorable Heather Maltman for her stellar time on the Bachelor.
Not an easy thing….to be dumped by a man on National television after making yourself quite vulnerable….but you did it beautifully and with so much class. You made us proud!
I wish Heather all the best.
(If you’re wondering why I’m wishing a girl who appeared on the “Bachelor” congratulations…..it’s because I have worked professionally with Heather. She a really good sport and she has been very supportive to my efforts in photography and over the years we have become friends.)
We had a great shoot on Saturday at the studio for “Tan Swimwear”
The team was built from some very creative souls:
Producer: Mimi Puc
HMU: Kerrie Jane Bailey
Model: Kelly McCracken
Photographer: John McRae
Guest Model: Tete (You’ll see Tete below, such wonderful lines)
Here are some production shots of the proceedings………..
I’m thinking that if I could get to do a regular post…may be once a month, that would be an appropriate interval. By appropriate, I mean at a frequency that I could handle in terms of the time I have to sit down and pen such a thing.
So I here is my month in review for August. Some, but surely not all, of the highlights during the month.
I loved the cover I did for SX this month. Long time drag performer, Amelia Airhead posed for my lens. I have been shooting drag performers for quite a while now but this is the first time I have come across Amelia. I believe she is a contemporary of the like of the famous Mitzi Macintosh whom I have shot a number of times before she headed off to the Mother Land.
Amelia was promoting the “Broken Heel festival”….which as the name suggests is a drag festival which is taking place the weekend of the 5th and 6th of September in Broken Hill! Yes, I said Broken Hill. The whole thing sounds fabulous and if I wasn’t working this weekend I might consider going along to have a look….sounds like it could be quite wacky! For more info go to: http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/readonline/archives/sx763/index.html
Amelia was delightful and it’s always a pleasure to work with Reg Domingo, the Editor of SX.
Amelia Airhead
Amelia being interviewed by Reg Domingo (Reg is the one behind the camera)
Also, this month Matthew Mitcham performed his cabaret show in both Alice Springs and in Sydney at “Slide” in Oxford Street. I was fortunate enough to be at both performances.
Here are a few shots of the evening……
And you even get a signed autograph (and photo, if you like) at the end of the performance!
What else have I been up to….
Well I shot the team at “Fastvisa” this month. That was fun. A good bunch of people who are making the arduous process of obtaining and Australian visa a little more human and a little more hastle free. So if you know of anyone planing to move across here from another country and they would like some help in obtaining a visa and setting up bank account, business enterprises etc, give these guys a call.
Pictured Alberto Fascetti, Stefano Solferini and Conor Harty (from left to right)
Brigitte came to Australia this month.
Brigitte is the friend of an artist friend of mine. They met while both holidaying in NYC last year and Brigitte decided to visit this month. I took the opportunity to mark the ocaision by taking her portrait on a visit to my studio. (See below)
