Happy Accidents
Some of the greatest artworks have started with a mistake. A happy accident.
The trick is allowing for the work to stand uncorrected.
May Ray discovered solarisation when a mouse ran up the leg of Lee Miller while in his darkroom.
At least that is what she thought it was and promptly switched on the light as he was printing a photographic image.
He quickly switched it back off.
The silver gelatine paper created an aberration and reversed the gradation in the photographic image obtained by that intense
momentary flash of light, causing the silver crystals to rise to the fore faster than they should.
During their now infamous tryst in the darkroom, solarization was born.
So kudos to the council workers who left their upside down double print as it stood.
Love is love.
It Is Never Black Or White
The Zebra is the master of balance, and a symbol for individuality.
It also has panoramic vision, with eyes on the sides of its head it can see almost entirely around itself.
The famed American poet Shel Silverstein once mused ;
“I asked the Zebra, ‘Are you white with black stripes . . . or black with white stripes?
And the Zebra asked me – ‘Are you good with bad habits . . . or bad with good habits?”
And it was that great German philosopher, Nixon Marters who once mused, ‘“Siblings, God’s great unsolved puzzle”.
In this instance these two siblings were photographed sitting peacefully together one afternoon, in the sun.
Broken Hearts, And Broken Noses
The story of Emperor Caracalla, his wife Fulvia, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
When pillaging a city, it was customary for the offending forces to take their weapons to statues and break the noses of notable icons of the time. In this instance though there were broken hearts as well. Caracalla was the eldest son of Septimius Severus, the first black African-born Emperor of Rome therefore the world. After his father’s death Caracalla had his brother, Geta murdered and reigned alone, with all evidence of his brother’s image and name removed from buildings, official inscriptions and dedications; a process known as ‘Damnatio Memoriae’ or ‘condemning the memory’. It was Cain and Able all over again. He also had his wife Fulvia exiled and then eventually strangled to death on his orders.
Caracalla did receive his comeuppance though as he was unceremoniously assassinated in the midst of urinating by his bodyguard on his way to the war of Carrhae . . . way before the Buddhists introduced the notion of karma.
As for ‘Weeping Aphrodite’ the corroding copper eyelashes may account for the illusion of simulating streaming tears, however we all know what she was crying about. She was the goddess of love after all. And her upset is warranted as their love met with the most tragic end. These priceless archeological artefacts were photographed at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece. I was privileged to be the first photographer granted exclusive permission to do so by the Greek government.
The Academy Award
The Academy Award commonly and affectionally referred to as an ‘Oscar’ is that often coveted, somewhat small, yet heavy art deco statuette sculpted by George Stanley nearly 100 years ago – and as we all know it is handed out in recognition of cinema excellence.
Legend has it that most would do, and have done anything to have one sit on their mantle – however as per everything bright and shiny it has its inverse. Tatum O’Neal, the youngest ever recipient was quoted as saying, “Things with my dad were pretty good until I won an Academy Award. He was really loving to me until I got more attention than he did. Then he hated me”. Marlon Brando notoriously declined to receive one for his role in The Godfather and sent his envoy ‘Littlefeather’ to decline on his behalf in protest of Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans.
She was received with mixed applause and jeers and promptly escorted off stage.
The acclaimed Anne Hathaway has of course received many accolades in her career, and has been nominated for an Oscar several times.
Here, on our shoot for American GQ magazine she confided in me while we spoke privately in a bathroom alone while my assistants were setting up the lights and elaborate sets in other rooms – that although she could inhabit a role in front of the camera she felt so nervous when she had to have a portrait taken and be ‘herself’. Her anxiety was palpable and the walls seemed to be closing in. It happens to the best of them. So I tried to make her laugh and at ease by regaling some of my well worn self effacing anecdotes – and it must have worked because after a time she said , ‘Ok – I think I’m ready to go out there and do this”. She seemed fearless. “No real need” I responded, “I think we have got all that is necessary” – as I had been quietly taking pictures with my snappy camera while we laughed and talked in that space because that beam of natural light across her thigh to me was just so extraordinary. We did continue to take pictures on set later – however that little snap in the bathroom with available light was the one that ran. She was beguiling. It was natural. Sometimes great pictures, or great art – or great people just come to you.
I learned a lot from Anne that day. It takes a lot of courage and moxie to be a great actor you know. There is a lot to navigate that we don’t see.
However, sometimes you just need to get in front of the lights despite yourself. Figuratively and literally.
Anna Hathaway eventually won a well deserved Academy Award.
The Desecration Of Lachlan Macquarie By The Coward Nicholas Samartis
“Hang the killed bodies up on trees of those natives in order to strike greater terror into the survivors.”
And we have named nearly 40 prominent places around Australia after him. The eloquent words of Governor Macquarie may be etched into our collective memory, however for this work it will be etched into the rusty plinth as well. The image is a mock up for a work that has been accepted in a group show later in the year. The final work will resemble pop art as the green and pink dripped over the work is of a thick resin resembling the top of a gelato ice cream. The statue itself is solid black concrete denoting our scarred history, the plinth referencing the iron ore that we have mined from our land – and the resin, a toxic colourful fluorescent green and pink as a nod to our colourful past.
‘The Desecration Of Lachlan Macquarie . . .’ is my major work inspired by a newspaper article in Melbourne’s ‘The Age’ five years ago. It was an odd little story on teams of pressure hose cleaners who were on standby at dawn of every Australia Day, making sure all the colonial statues were free of graffiti. I assert that graffiti is part of the conversation as well, so I decided to create my own sculpture and artfully desecrate it, and as it is my creation – no one would attempt to ‘clean’ it. This work will be shared as it has been selected to be included in the upcoming – ‘Sculptures Inside Exhibition’.
The title draws from a folk song and then a subsequent historical book by Ron Hansen. It speaks to the notion of revering historical figures and then with time questioning the facts against the narrative.
The Portrait
Portrait of a prima ballerina assoluta.
When light-design, lens choice and attitude come together.
Bruce Webber once said, “Sometimes you fall in love with your subject’s broken nose”.
In this instance I thought Celia’s protruding collar bone was fascinating.
Mother Nature
The original conceptual artist, Mother Nature tinkering away even in amongst washed up debris.
‘The Dancer’ is an inspired piece. Reeds, leaves and broken shells on beach sand. Arranged by her just so.
One of One and just perfect!
Keep looking.
Worship Everything And More Will Appear
They are of course Peter Shaffer’s beautifully composed words in Act 1 of his 1977 play Equus.
It was in reference to the desire to find a sense of spirituality in everything.
Equus the play and subsequent film is about a troubled and lonely adolescent who, after blinding six horses with a spike, is treated by a brilliant and understanding psychiatrist. As the psychiatrist learns more about the adolescent’s motivations he begins to question his own ideas of God, belief and ritual. The role was played in the film by Richard Burton.
I have borrowed these well crafted words, a fitting word play perhaps as the title to my large scale work of this thoroughbred.
The Supermodel
Raquel Zimmermann for American Vogue.
Currently one of the biggest names in the modelling industry, having steadily worked for almost a decade with the crème de la crème of the fashion world. Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Hermes, Marc Jacobs, Lavin, Chloe, Giorgio Armani, and all the Vogues – shattering the illusion we have of supermodels by spending her time off the runways on a skateboard.
She rode in for our shoot anonymously at New York’s lower east side that day and I honestly thought she was the sister of the supermodel that we were shooting. Then after hair and make up she found her light and transformed into ‘the’ Raquel Zimmermann.
Nostalgia Isn't What It Used To Be
You always return to your first love.
And in my case it was sculpture. I hadn’t referenced it until now because I kept it from myself for a long time.
The oversized large scale work ‘Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used To Be’ – has been selected in Bondi’s Sculpture By The Sea.
It isn’t my idea though – it came to me in a vision from the gods and I was a mere conduit. However I guess a vision without execution is just a hallucination.
Nostalgia is a Greek word and has an ironic twist in the entomology of the word. The true meaning of nostalgia is ‘something that we feel that we have experienced yet never have before at all’. It speaks to both our ever shifting perception of time past and of course the notion of nostalgia itself and topically references our own modern day isolation.
The installation sculpture will appear on the cliffs of the eastern most coast of Sydney, complete with slow dancing acrobats.
