FotoFreo e-Newsletter

Issue 3: 14 January 2008

Welcome to our e-newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

A preliminary Programme Outline has now been posted to the website. While most of the details are now reasonably ‘set in cement’ I would urge you to check regularly for any updates which will be indicated at the very top of the ‘page’. The programme can be viewed at http://www.fotofreo.com/2008/programme2008.php

I am pleased to announce that Nikon Australia has agreed to support our volunteer programme but we are still seeking expressions of interest from people wishing to be part of the 2008 team. For more information please go to http://www.fotofreo.com/volunteers.php. Also, we urgently need those people who have indicated a willingness to 'join up' to complete the Volunteers Application Form and return it to FotoFreo c/- PO Box 1292 Fremantle WA 6159.

Editor

Fremantle Prison Claims Broomberg & Chanarin for FotoFreo

Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin are a photographic team based in London. They have published and exhibited extensively and are particularly well known for their photographic book, Ghetto (2003) a collection of their work as editors and principal photographers of Colors magazine.
Adam and Oliver were represented in the 1 + 1 = 3 Collaboration in Recent British Portraiture, a group show curated by Susan Bright exhibited as part of FotoFreo 2006, and they will be remembered for their striking image that appeared on the cover of the FotoFreo 2006 catalogue.
For FotoFreo 2008, Adam and Oliver will be exhibiting a new and large body of work entitled Fig. This new work features over sixty still lives, portraits and landscapes, drawing together newly commissioned work made around the south coast of England and internationally, and traces links between photography, imperialism and the colonial impulse to acquire, map and collect. The exhibitions diverse imagery harks back to an era of Victorian collecting, which resulted in strange accumulations of objects being deposited in local museums throughout the UK.
As Broomberg and Chanarin have observed: “The history of photography is intimately bound up with the idea of colonial power. Documentary photographers today have a worrying amount in common with the collector/adventurers of past eras. As unreliable witnesses, we have gathered together ‘evidence’ of our experiences and present our findings here; a muddle of fact and fantasy.”
This exhibition, located appropriately in the Fremantle Prison, will delight, amuse and stimulate viewers.

Connie Petrillo and ‘Vanished Innocence’ also at the Prison

Brook Andrew, the John Curtin Gallery and FotoFreo 2008

Eye to Eye is a very substantial survey exhibition of Brook Andrew’s art practice that will be showing at the John Curtin Gallery as a part of FotoFreo 2008.
That such a large survey show for such a young artist was seen to be warranted is a reflection on the standing of Brook Andrew and his artistic practice.
Brook Andrew is a multimedia conceptual artist at ease with whatever medium he is working with and that suits his purpose, and he is as well known for his installation, neon, sound, print and performance work as he is for his digital media work and photography.
Through his artwork he seeks to comment on a range of central issues including race, politics, celebrity, capitalism and beauty. He says that, "focusing on the intentions of the mass, electronic and published media (from a Wiradjuri position), I interrogate contemporary global culture, teasing out the popular to spew forth iconic takes on 'globalism'...I am attracted to Indian images of mass communication and popular culture like that of Bollywood and more non-western dominant forms of local religion and customs".
Eye to Eye is a project of the Monash University Museum of Art and was initiated and curated by Geraldine Barlow. The exhibition will run from April 4th – May 30th.
This major exhibition is not to be missed.

FotoFreo Fringe and FotoFreo Perth

Successful applicants for participation in the fringe have now all been notified.  The overwhelming number of entries for FotoFreo 2008 placed considerable pressure on the Selection Committee to find venue spaces and whilst most of the fringe exhibitions are within easy walking distance from the core (curated) shows, some have spread a little further afield.

One such fringe show, despite its distance from Fremantle, that will be very popular, particularly with younger visitors to the festival, is Sealife in Sequence, presented by the Western Australian Underwater Photographic Society (WAUPS) at the Naturaliste Marine Discovery Centre, Hillarys Boat harbour.
This exhibition by the members of WAUPS shows the diversity of marine life from around the world. All forms of sea life, from seaweeds to mammals, are depicted in a diverse range of stunning images that will entertain and beguile divers and land dwellers alike. This exhibition will also be appreciated by those with a more scientific interest in the sea.
The Naturaliste Marine Discovery Centre is part of the Dept of Fisheries at Hillarys Boat Harbour in Sorrento. The show commences on March the 4th and is open from 10am until 4pm, Monday to Friday and runs until the 2nd of May 2008.

drei by Christopher Young will be showing at the Breadbox Gallery, on James Street in Northbridge.
This exhibition features large-scale prints of urban scenes, objects and intimate black & white portraits, which address various aspects of the photographer’s personal life and creative practice. drei is a series that looks at the power of storytelling and the fictions that can be created by images.
“Images are, for me, loaded with stories. When I see a broken door or a crumpled piece of paper I look at these further than simple observation. ‘Why’ and ‘how’ are impossible to ignore. Using very limited information and my emotional responses I fill in the gaps and create myths,” Christopher Young says.
Christopher is interested in what or who is not there, what he can’t quite see and the helplessness of not being able to define a story behind a particular image. By pairing artworks, a deeply personal and confronting but at the same time, completely fictional narrative is created.
This challenging and intimate exhibition is the culmination of over two year’s work.
The Breadbox is part of the Bakery Artrage complex at 233 James Street in Northbridge and is open from Wednesday to Friday, 12-5pm and Saturday to Sunday from 2-6pm.

From its very beginnings nude photography has been contentious and frequently identified with erotica. It is fair to say that nothing much has changed today but nude photography of both the male and female form is a primary occupation for many serious photographers, and as is the nude figure for many other artists.
Gerhardt Thompson is a fine art nude photographer working strictly in black and white. He describes his subject matter as, “the beauty of the nude physique in the Australian bush and (on the) beach.”
Gerhardt goes on to say, “the nude in my opinion is so beautiful, particularly in the natural environment and many of the curves and lines of the model are found and repeated in nature. It is the harmony and/or often the contrast of the two I try to find and blend into one.  I am very conscious of the textures and it is very evident in my work …some have called it my trademark and that which makes my work somewhat unique.
“The end result is something quite unique that cannot be recreated elsewhere. Even the light is different. The intensity of the Australian sun is second to nowhere and creates its own special magic that while absolutely beautiful, is also a challenge to capture and harness in this type of photography.”
Gerhardt Thompson will be exhibiting at the Gadfly Gallery, 131 B Waratah Avenue, Dalkieth from 3rd of April -27th April