that indefinable something: south america

    

some of those indefinable something images i mentioned in yesterday’s post. these are a selection from my trip to south america in 2009 and were taken in argentina, uruguay and chile. enjoy!

that indefinable something

crisp, 2009 © nicole davis

lots of things inspire me. i connect with & shoot all different styles, from street photography to architecture to still life. there are many amazing photographers out there that i really admire.

i’ve found some of them through the blog world and recently it was great to see three bloggers whose photography, words & style  i really admire coming together in one project: pia jane bijkerk, brian ferry & ebony bizys of hello sandwich, who participated in the  1010 project by victoria hannan. i’ve now also discovered seven new photographers that i know are going to inspire me. but what struck me when i looked through all the images from the gallery, and that i’ve never put into words before, was that their work all reflects an aesthetic that i also try to capture in some of my photography (and clearly turn me into a gushing fangirl).

they have an indefinable something that i connect with, that draws me in, that gives me pleasure, that i want to find for myself. it’s something about their lighting, their framing, their subject matter. they’re often taken on film or look filmlike, usually deceptively simple, they look at things from a different point view & they all have a dreamlike quality that makes you want to be there.

coincidentally, several months ago, i began to go both shoot new & revisit old images of my own that captured these qualities, that spoke to me in the same way. last week though, seeing the images in 1010 inspired me to verbalise this for the first time. looking back over old work, it is clear that i’ve been chasing this aesthetic for longer than i realised. before i even had heard of any of these photographers, before i even rediscovered my love of film.

so enough with the words. in tomorrow’s post are some images from my trip to south america last year, taken with my beloved canon tx, that are kind of what i’m getting at. i might even make this a regular post. let’s see shall we? 

owl & pussycat opening

so the opening the exhibition at the owl & the pussycat last friday night went wonderfully well … there were heaps of people there, the m.a.i.d room looked fab and we had just a great time. it was also great to meet up with some of the other artists involved & see the show downstairs that had a Richmond focus, with some fabulous artworks also. michelle trgovac is the awesome lady behind m.a.i.d & all cheers to her for getting us together, curating the show and putting in lots of hard work! it’s a really great gallery in a terrace with intriguing spaces, a great (tiny) bar, it’s own theatre & a pea green boat.

exhibition time!

 

i said in my last post that i was doing some exciting projects. this friday 15 October the m.a.i.d (melbourne artists illustrators & designers) exhibition opens at the owl and the pussycat gallery in richmond. it’s part of their massive first birthday celebration.

m.a.i.d is a new collective that aims to bring artists together once a month to meet up, inspire and work on joint projects & exhibitions.

i’m putting six polaroids in this group show and am super excited about it! even more so because one of my best friends is showing a selection of her awesome illustrations. three of the images i’m showing can be seen above.

my polaroids are part of my quest to feel at home in melbourne. as my artist statement says:

These images are part of a project that is, at heart, a means of getting to know my new home. Through it, I am making the city mine by capturing the small bits & pieces, the people, the places and the spaces that are Melbourne.

so please come and see the show and check out some of the talented artists involved.

polaroid love – part one

across the road, preston, 2010, © nicole davis

i have three exciting photography projects in the pipeline right now, two of which involve polaroid photography.

i have been seriously taking photographs for several years. i only vaguely remember where my polaroid fascination came from. one day, somehow, probably via flickr, i stumbled across amanda’s wonderful blog. it struck a chord with me as we were both from the same suburb in sydney (glebe) & had recently moved away. i also bought one of her polaroids of glebe as a reminder of home. the photo is, coincidentally, a shot of the window of a vintage shop owned by my friend & i spent many lovely hours in there chatting & having tea. 

i was newly arrived in melbourne & was finding it hard to find my place. gradually i discovered & was inspired by some amazing polaroid photographers like kat, andrea, emilie, francesc, jenifer, dave, anne & many many more. i dreamed of getting my own vintage sx70 & scoured ebay & etsy to find one that i could afford. meanwhile i avidly browsed flickr groups & blogs dedicated to polaroid, read all about cameras & film online, followed the progress of the impossible project, even buying packs of atz film (now sadly gone!) before i even got a camera.

meanwhile i began an apple a day, a 365 project using my iphone & polarize (a fake polaroid app). it was important for me to do this project as i hadn’t been taking photographs for many months after moving to melbourne. so this began as a way of getting back into photography & exploring the possibilites of polaroids through a digital medium.

one day i finally found my beautiful baby on etsy & waited eagerly for it to be shipped to australia from the states. i unwrapped it with glee & couldn’t wait to snap my first photo – with some trepidation as the camera was bought untested. i finally figured out how to get the film cartridge in & snapped. the camera clicked & whirred then spat out a photo. my heart lept! i agonised as it developed & turned it over so i couldn’ see. a couple of minutes later i peeked. damn! it was so dark! but it was nightime so i thought, hmmmm, i’ll try again tomorrow.

the next day was a beautiful sunny melbourne day & as we wandered to the tram, with my new precious in hand i wandered across the road from my house & snapped a beautiful rose … & when i saw the result my pola heart lept!

since then i’ve had a mix of great successes & great failures (usually when trying to photograph in anything resembling low light). but now it’s all coming to fruition … more about that tomorrow!

girl in the yellow dress

 

girl in the yellow dress, san telmo, buenos aires, argentina, 2009 © nicole davis

Oh so here I am with a blog. I am not a complete stranger to social networking, tweeting and facebooking regularly and sometimes writing posts for my work blog. But my own blog is somewhat scary.

This is a photography blog in essence and I started it as a way to share my photography projects and the pieces that were most important to me. It’s also somewhere for people who are interested in my work to visit without having to trawl through the gigantic  amount of images on my flickr account. Enjoy!

This image is going to be included in an exciting project that’s coming up very very soon (scarily soon in fact) in Fitzroy, Melbourne. The working title at the moment is San Telmo. I can’t tell you much more at the moment. but soon I will be able to!