Julie's exhibition Hindsight

[jule]

I would like to invite those who are in this neck of the woods to my current exhibition at the Queensland Centre for Photography.
Julie's exhibiion QCP

Opening was last Saturday night and it was wonderful. There are 6 other photographic artists all having solo exhibitions, so the evening was such a celebration.

For those who are used to my images in water, this is quite a divergence, but is a body of work I have enjoyed working with for some time. I also have some beautiful landscape photography - and I will show that a bit further down the track.

I will be at the gallery for a few days during the exhibition and will be giving an artist talk on Saturday 18th April at 2pm.

I printed my images on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag, and they have an amazing visceral depth which cannot be felt on screen, but my images are here   Hindsight exhibition

I will post some happy snaps of the gallery installation over the next few days on my Julie's Blog in the Exhibitions page.

Julie

[wolfnowl]

Julie:  Wrong side of the world for me, but congratulations!

Mike.

[RSL]

Julie,

I'm in the same boat as Mike. Queensland is a bit of a drive from here. But, again, congratulations. Hindsight is a great series.

One question: Have you ever run through the series and looked at B&W versions of these pictures? I think some of them are even better in B&W, though that's a very personal opinion. Here's an example:

[attachment=12803:01_Waiting.jpg]

In any case, it's a fine picture either way.

Best of luck with the exhibition.

[jule]

Thanks Mike and Russ for your well wishes.

Russ, I hadn't considered B&W. I hadn't actually realised how beautiful the colours were until they were hung in the gallery. Most of them have this richness in density and depth of colour that is just not realised until in print - and actually until they are in fairly large print. This was the first time I have recognised this so profoundly. For my other bodies of work, there didn't seem to be the same disparity. There is just something about the light on the Rag paper and the shades of colour that just makes them work in colour I think. So many people commented on the beauty of the colour in the images - especially Waste - the one with the afternoon sun on the orange blanket. But thanks anyway.

I must admit that I do steer away from B&W conversions, because I don't ever seem to be able to do them properly. I don't quite have the knack yet of being able to get them to 'sing' like other photographers can. Perhaps instead of avoiding doing it I should practice more.

Thanks again,
Julie

[RSL]

Julie,

I wish I could see the actual prints. I'm constantly pointing out on fora like this one, and face to face with people learning photography, that although you can make rough judgments about the artistic qualities of photographs by looking at them on a computer screen you can't really make technical comparisons that way. The way you describe the prints I have no doubt you're right.

[kaelaria]

Very cool concept - what led you to it?

[jule]

Very cool concept - what led you to it?

Thanks for your interest.

On my travels driving around Australia, the veranda chairs really caught my eye. I would knock on the door and ask people permission if I could take photographs of their veranda spaces, and in particular their chairs which were there. Most would ask me in for a chat and a cuppa, and share their own photographs on their walls and in boxes with me. They opened up their lives to a total stranger, which was very humbling.

I realised that there was so much which went on behind the front door. So much history. So many memories. The veranda space allowed just a small glimpse of their lives. It was the intermediary space between public and private.

Most of the homes belonged to the elderly and I found there was a lot of lonely people who clung on to their old belongings, their old homes, their old way of life. They often complained that they felt abandoned, yet it was an accumulation of their own choice of not wanting to move and children's choices for their own lives, that leaves so many elderly feeling abandoned.

I placed my own images of my own family in the windows of the veranda photographs, to represent a family situation or circumstance which may have gone on behind closed doors. All the images from my own albums I chose for this purpose have some correlation with the stories which were shared with me in each particular home I was invited into.

I printed a collage of my own family photographs on to fabric. I collated all the photographs from a particular age group across three generations and examined similarities in behaviour, mannerisms, physical appearance and lifestyle choices. I noticed many mannerisms over the generations which were uncanningly similar, and also that the sense of playfullness seems to extinguish as we become older. I also noticed that not many photographs were taken of the elderly. Perhaps this is because we find the elderly unattractive, uninteresting, they may not want their photograph taken.... it may just be way to confronting?

My exhibition installation can be seen here gallery pics
and my artist statement Artist statement

Julie

[kaelaria]

Thank you very much - and here is the article - use Full Reply and you can add attachments on this forum:

[jule]

Thank you very much - and here is the article - use Full Reply and you can add attachments on this forum:

Thanks Bryan for getting the article about my exhibition uploaded.

Julie

[jerrygrasso96]

Hi Julie,
Congratulations on the show! What a great concept you have for it! I've also enjoyed the other images and statements on your website.

But I am intrigued. How in general do you plan one of your projects? Do you actually come up with the idea first and then decide how many pictures the series will be and plan in advance? Or do the project and the images just evolve and take on a life of their own?

I also noticed from your other artist statements that you use some interesting, thought provoking quotes or poems. Did you start your projects with these in mind, or develop these in retrospect after the series was complete?

The reason I ask, Julie, is that I find myself in a very sterile frame of mind currently. I have not been able to get out behind the camera much, due in part because my day job has me stressed out and sapped my creative juices. I've also gotten bored with straight photography and am looking for more artistic approaches to use. You and I have chatted on various other occasions here about this. I was just curious as to how you come up with your project ideas?

Thanks, Julie, and best of luck!

[jule]

Hi Julie,
Congratulations on the show! What a great concept you have for it! I've also enjoyed the other images and statements on your website.

But I am intrigued. How in general do you plan one of your projects? Do you actually come up with the idea first and then decide how many pictures the series will be and plan in advance? Or do the project and the images just evolve and take on a life of their own?

I also noticed from your other artist statements that you use some interesting, thought provoking quotes or poems. Did you start your projects with these in mind, or develop these in retrospect after the series was complete?

The reason I ask, Julie, is that I find myself in a very sterile frame of mind currently. I have not been able to get out behind the camera much, due in part because my day job has me stressed out and sapped my creative juices. I've also gotten bored with straight photography and am looking for more artistic approaches to use. You and I have chatted on various other occasions here about this. I was just curious as to how you come up with your project ideas?

Thanks, Julie, and best of luck!

Hi Jerry,
Gee they are difficult questions to answer. To answer this adequately I need to touch a little on my philosophy.

I think the most important thing for me is to get the big picture of my life together so that I am living what I want to do. It has taken years for me to work out balance so that I am really happy. I do not have financial responsibility, but my responsibility to support my husband who does, is large, and my role in our family is first and foremost. We have a private farming business with 40 employees, the future of which is often uncertain due to economic and weather fluctuations. In this framework however, I have developed practices which support my physical, emotional and spiritual health. I swim 3 mornings a week, walk for half an hour in the afternoons, short meditation week mornings, eat good food and live in a quiet surrounds in a bushland environment.

Jerry, when I do these things, I am then able to let my personality and joy for life flourish and I have more ideas and concepts than I can ever hope to develop. I am an observer, and I get excited about things very easily. I have a quest for learning and the information which is available on the internet never ceases to amaze me. Without this forum here, I would never have learned to process images I'm sure. To Michael I am truly grateful. If I can't get to Brisbane for books, the internet provides such a wealth of research information.

I take lots of photographs, even whilst I am working on a particular series, but don't develop the concepts whilst I am focusing on another thread. I have many themes locked in my computer just awaiting my time to release them.    However, something in my gut tells me when there is something to explore with my photographs. I don't have a pre-defined outcome. Everything just evolves. I pin the images I like around my studio, cull and add, explore different papers for printing, look and write. The number of images I have left on the walls when I get a feeling that 'this is it', is the number of images in that particular body of work.


I do my artistic work as an exploration to understand myself. Only when I have really worked with images and researched and written, something tells me it is time to share it with others and then I have an exhibition.  I never do a body of work specifically to exhibit. It is all about my quest for understanding, of myself and the world in which I live.

It is then a bonus that I am emerging as a respected Australian photographic artist.

So..not sure if that helps with your present creative block, but now you have an insight into my process.

All the best,
Julie

[Justan]

Hi Julie,

Congratulations! I poked around on your web site and enjoyed what I saw and also learned from your thoughtful comments above.

[Rob C]

I would like to invite those who are in this neck of the woods to my current exhibition at the Queensland Centre for Photography.
Julie's exhibiion QCP

I will be at the gallery for a few days during the exhibition and will be giving an artist talk on Saturday 18th April at 2pm.

I printed my images on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag, and they have an amazing visceral depth which cannot be felt on screen, but my images are here   Hindsight exhibition


Julie

No disrespect Julie, but as a fellow user of that paper I can vouch for the depth quality; only I now realise that in my particular case it is bred from a mixture of hope and the vision through the steam of teardrops every time I waste a sheet! Which happens a lot.

Ciao - Rob C

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Wonderful work, Julie, just as intensely seen as your other work. Congratulations!

[Ray]

Julie,
Sorry as I wasn't able to see your exhibition sooner, but I made a special trip to get there on the last day. Been tied up with the construction of my new house.

I was very impressed with the placing of the photos. The first one that hits you in the eye as you walk into the hall, appeared so sharp, at such a large size as well, that one feels as though one could reach out and pull off the flakes of peeling paint. I didn't realise you have such a large printer. I won't ask you what camera you used, but I immediately thought MFDB when I saw that first print.

Almost simultaneously one sees another striking verandah image at the far end of the room with impressive morning lighting which really grabs the attention. Well placed! That invites one to keep walking in that direction.

I know you've 'photoshopped' a few 'memory' images into the verandah scenes. In the first shot, with the young guy behind the verandah screen door, and the hand through the window pulling the curtain to one side, it was not at all obvious that this was not part of the original shot. However, as I progressed along the wall, it became clear that photoshop superimposition was taking place. I wonder perhaps if you should have disguised that better, or perhaps you intended that effect.

Generally, I prefer large prints to small ones. It was interesting that in contrast to your large prints, in the same exhibition, someone by the name of Thom Kotis was displaying 4"x4" gelatin prints in a large frame. In fact, the frame was so much larger than the print, one sometimes wondered which was the main feature.  

Very creative and professional. Julie. Well done!

[jule]

Julie,
Sorry as I wasn't able to see your exhibition sooner, but I made a special trip to get there on the last day. Been tied up with the construction of my new house.

I was very impressed with the placing of the photos. The first one that hits you in the eye as you walk into the hall, appeared so sharp, at such a large size as well, that one feels as though one could reach out and pull off the flakes of peeling paint. I didn't realise you have such a large printer. I won't ask you what camera you used, but I immediately thought MFDB when I saw that first print.

Almost simultaneously one sees another striking verandah image at the far end of the room with impressive morning lighting which really grabs the attention. Well placed! That invites one to keep walking in that direction.

I know you've 'photoshopped' a few 'memory' images into the verandah scenes. In the first shot, with the young guy behind the verandah screen door, and the hand through the window pulling the curtain to one side, it was not at all obvious that this was not part of the original shot. However, as I progressed along the wall, it became clear that photoshop superimposition was taking place. I wonder perhaps if you should have disguised that better, or perhaps you intended that effect.

Generally, I prefer large prints to small ones. It was interesting that in contrast to your large prints, in the same exhibition, someone by the name of Thom Kotis was displaying 4"x4" gelatin prints in a large frame. In fact, the frame was so much larger than the print, one sometimes wondered which was the main feature.  

Very creative and professional. Julie. Well done!

Thanks Ray for making the effort to see my exhibition and for your kind words.

First question - 1dsmk2 was my camera. great beastie it is!

I did photoshop my own family photographs into the windows to make a conscous statement. It was very intentional and I did not want to disguise it. I wanted to illustrate that there are stories and memories behind the front wall, and that only glimpses of our lives are revealed in the veranda space.

It was a shame you weren't able to make it to my two artist talks, because I explained in detail the conceptual basis behind my practice and this exhibition. I will pm you a word doc with my notes for my presentation if you would like. My artist statement can be viewed Hindsight artist statement

I did not photoshop the hand in the first image. The lady, after we had a cuppa inside, was interested in what I was doing. It was only afterwards that I realised I captured her hand pulling the curtain back.

I did not photoshop the man on the right in the image with the brick wall with the intersting windows. We had a chat behind his house and he showed me his vege garden and told me that he hoped his dad was happy with how he had planted his seedlings. I placed a photograph of my own grandad in the doorway, as if he was watching and checking that he was doing as he was taught.

I wanted to create an installation, with the feel of a streetscape of homes and verandas and through the curtains inside a home where portraits and a more intimate setting of a shoebox of photgraphs and a family album could be perused.

Well...it's all packed up now. Time now to travel to Lake Eyre and the desert!

Julie

[Ray]

Thanks Ray for making the effort to see my exhibition and for your kind words.

First question - 1dsmk2 was my camera. great beastie it is!

I did photoshop my own family photographs into the windows to make a conscous statement. It was very intentional and I did not want to disguise it. I wanted to illustrate that there are stories and memories behind the front wall, and that only glimpses of our lives are revealed in the veranda space.

It was a shame you weren't able to make it to my two artist talks, because I explained in detail the conceptual basis behind my practice and this exhibition. I will pm you a word doc with my notes for my presentation if you would like. My artist statement can be viewed Hindsight artist statement

I did not photoshop the hand in the first image. The lady, after we had a cuppa inside, was interested in what I was doing. It was only afterwards that I realised I captured her hand pulling the curtain back.

I did not photoshop the man on the right in the image with the brick wall with the intersting windows. We had a chat behind his house and he showed me his vege garden and told me that he hoped his dad was happy with how he had planted his seedlings. I placed a photograph of my own grandad in the doorway, as if he was watching and checking that he was doing as he was taught.

I wanted to create an installation, with the feel of a streetscape of homes and verandas and through the curtains inside a home where portraits and a more intimate setting of a shoebox of photgraphs and a family album could be perused.

Well...it's all packed up now. Time now to travel to Lake Eyre and the desert!

Julie

Julie,
I understand your intention. Many of us blokes would be satisfied with a dilapidated building showing the fine detail of its decay. But you've personalised these shots by including memories of the sort of activities that would have been visible in yesteryear. It's definitely a 'woman's' touch and perhaps a bit sentimental, but that's not a criticism.

Driving around Australia I often notice terribly dilapidated houses, probably built shortly after WWII. The galvanised iron roofs are sometimes so rusty they become interesting. I believe most of these roofs were from the first shipments of roofing material from Japan in the early 50's; not particularly durable.

I once had the idea that I would advertise in a national newspaper a $1,000 prize for the rustiest roof in Australia. I would then travel to these destinations and photograph the dilapidated houses. The person who received the prize would probably be the most needy and would possibly spend the prize money on renovating his/her house (either that or on plonk), and I would get my interesting photos. A win/win situation for all   .