Photo Review June - August 2016

The other day while looking through some pictures taken on recent photowalk I found myself feeling increasingly bleak about my efforts. There were one or two mildly interesting images, but even they felt tired, hackneyed and just too much like so many other pictures I’ve made over the years. It was an awful, dispiriting feeling and not at all the sort of thing that makes you want to go out into the world with your camera. As it happened production on this issue was gathering pace and the next day I found myself looking through the images Mieke Boynton supplied for the Inspiration feature you’ll find on page 10. A funny thing happened; her pictures got me thinking about inspiration and originality and how we get our ideas. In his…

Australia is host to some outstanding photographic exhibitions over the winter months. Henry Talbot is an iconic name in Australian photography, so to have 80 of his never-before-seen images from the Swinging Sixties assembled in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria is a rare treat. Henry Talbot was one of a group of eminent photographers - along with other iconic names such as Wolfgang Seivers and renowned fashion photographer Helmut Newton – who fled Germany for Australia after World War Two. Talbot’s career in Melbourne began in the late 1950s when he went into business with Helmut Newton. Their Flinders Lane, Melbourne studio had major clients including Sportscraft and the Australian Wool Board, and his work was regularly published in Australian Vogue. His work in the 60s and…

Shown for the first time outside China, this exhibition promises an interesting insight into the 80-year history of Chinese photography, from an era of black-and-white documentary through to more recent contemporary images. The exhibition features 150 works by 70 Chinese photographers including Chen Man, Cai Shanxiong, Han Lei, Jiang Zhi, Li Lang, Luo Dan, Liu Heung Shing, Yang Yongliang and Zhang Yaxin. www.mga.org.au/exhibition/view/exhibition/196…

The World Press Photo awards in 2015 saw an Australian photographer, Warren Richardson, take out the coveted Photo of the Year award. It's an extremely low-light image of a Syrian father passing his baby under a razor-wire fence on the Serbian-Hungarian border, taken at night on August 28. It also took out first prize in the Spot News category. An Australian winning the award is no biggie – the winner had to come from somewhere and 'plucky little Australia' has a long heritage of matching it with the world's best in photojournalism. What made this win truly unusual was that the image was ignored by the two publications it was submitted to. No-one would have even seen it if it hadn't happened to win WPP! Warren Richardson to a certain…

The $25,000 National Photographic Portrait prize, organised in conjunction with the National Portrait Prize by the National Portrait Gallery, is one of the few big awards in Australia for both amateurs and professionals in open competition. The accompanying exhibition is equally ecumenical. There were 2000 entries and 49 finalists. This year, a typically Australian scene of children skylarking in the backyard by West Australian Elizabeth Looker has taken the top accolade. It features a photo of her niece and son. (Model release forms and fees shouldn't be an issue!) Looker is a self-taught photographer who had a career in commercial photography and then took a break to raise her children. The exhibition will travel throughout Australia in 2016–17, visiting the Dubbo Regional Gallery, Lovett Gallery (Newcastle), Port Pirie Regional Gallery,…

‘I think I'm looking for photos that speak the loudest’ As the sun drops to the horizon and the evening clouds over Broome begin to glow in the last light, odds are that Mieke Boynton and her best mate, Banjo, will be watching it from just the right stretch of beach. She’ll be holding her remote shutter release and he, being a blue healer/kelpie cross, will likely be standing just behind his mistress. On her tripod, a Nikon D810 and a 21mm Zeiss will be angled perfectly to capture the unfolding sky show. ‘He’s the best photography dog in the world,’ Mieke says. ‘He’s very intelligent and very patient. He actually walks behind me so he doesn’t put footprints in the sand – he’s learned that I get very upset…