Southern Exposure Exhibition

Twenty prints by twenty Australian photographers from the Blanco Negro Archive.

Photography has been my passion and obsession for over 27 years now. But the appreciation of the fine print or exceptional images has taken years of experience to be appreciated. My first ever purchase of a hand made photographic print was back in 1998, a Polaroid transfer. Yes, my first ever purchase was a Colour photograph!

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to print for some of Australia’s finest film photographers as well as some non professionals with a unique eye and style. I can appreciate the dramatic as well as the artist, but every print always leaves me with a sense of well being. Knowing I can gaze upon there beauty at anytime does not make them commonplace, it’s the opposite in fact. I can look upon a print I have hung on a wall for a decade and notice something new, a detail never noticed or a shade of tone yet to be appreciated. I feel very lucky to own this indulgence. The common thread for all my prints is that they have been exceptionally printed.

With thanks to fine art collectors who have passed on their knowledge and the teachers who have educated  me in the historical print techniques, I have come to understand certain nuances that each process possesses. I have always believed that to learn a new printing process now you must own a reference print – a fine example of the process that becomes embedded in the psyche. When we are all alone in the darkroom we can call up our memory for guidance, as a reference and comparison. To make sure the print is worth the effort and that the attributes of a fine print are obvious.

Just because a print is made by hand does not give it the right to hang on a wall. If only printmakers today were as conscientious as printmakers in the past – when only the best was acceptable. But when the prints are fine, then I’ll buy their work to add to my collection…

Southern Exposure Exhibition now showing.

LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHERS:

Corrie Anconie
Ben Bohane
Anthony Browell
Adrian Cook
Stephen Dupont
Rennie Ellis
Joyce Evans
David Flanagan
Bob Kersey
Tracy Moffat
Nancy Montane
Shayne Pearce
L. Seigar
David Tatnal
Ioulia Terizis
Stephen Tester
Gordon Undy
Jozef Vissel
Tobi Wilkinson
Ellie Young