Photo Review March - May 2015

Does it help to be a little bit crazy if you want to be a really good photographer? (Not crazy in a sticking straws in your hair and declaring yourself emperor of the universe way, but in a sort of nerdy, slightly obsessive fashion that earns you more admiration for your dedication than derision for compulsive single-mindedness.) We live in an age in which extreme specialisation is now commonplace. Many an occupation has splintered into a myriad of micro disciplines in which practitioners know more and more about less and less. And, until the last decade or so, this dynamic could be seen playing out across photography’s occupations too. About the time we were putting the final touches on this issue, shivers went down many a working photographer’s spine at…

Our ‘Seeing Red’ Challengers saw red in places expected and unexpected. And very much in the latter category was Naomi Kevin’s bunch of red balloons bobbing gaily in the wake of a passing bicyclist. As always, it was a very strong field, but for some reason that cheerfully frivolous display caught our fancy and we decided to give the nod - and the prize of a Lowepro Pro Roller Lite 250 AW to Naomi. As the racing callers like to say, you could’ve thrown a blanket over the runners’ up. Leading the charge this time was the ever-reliable Robert Zappia who apparently takes his camera along even when he goes to the movies. Keen-eyed erstwhile beachcomber Norman Shapro found just the right rock, and Susan Shanta deployed her macro lens…

Keeping cozy The cooler months are upon us and the opportunities for cozy situations are many. But how exactly to you convey ‘cozy’ in a single image? Do you go for a the telling detail of a wisp of steam curling up from a cup? The hint of ruddiness in a little one’s cheeks? Your favourite table in your favourite corner of your favourite restaurant? The glow of firelight through a rain-streaked window pane? The possibilities are endless, so dazzle us with your evocative and thoroughly cozy compositions. Please review the rules and email your entries to photochallenge@photoreview.com.au. Deadline for entries is 29 May, 2015 and the winning pictures will be published in our Sep-Nov 2015 edition. Prize for this challenge is the versatile, comfortable Lowepro ProTactic 450 AW (RRP…

Adelaide-based photographer Hilary Hann spent her formative years in a world very different from the sedate and orderly City of Churches. Born in Singapore, her family spent time in North Borneo before moving to East Africa and settling in Kenya where she was raised. Her emotional connection to Kenya and East Africa, its people and its spectacular animal life, profoundly informs who she is as an artist and a person. ‘My work,’ she writes in her blog, ‘is the product of passion, love and deep respect for the land and the people of East Africa. In reality, it is an extension of the spiritual response I have towards African wildlife, its struggle to maintain relevance in a diminishing wilderness and its importance to the lives and history of people the…

Dr Des Crawley grew up in Sydney’s western suburbs. He started his working life as a primary school teacher in a NSW country town in the late 1950s and retired as Professor and Director for Digital Media at the University of Western Sydney in 2001. He has always been a photographer. There is an unbroken, if circuitous, connection joining that first career role to the last. ‘Fundamentally, I’m a teacher,’ he said. ‘When I started teaching in a primary school in the country I found there were so very few teaching aids that the quickest and easiest way for me to bring the world to these youngsters in the bush was though photography, so I grabbed my father’s Voigtlander camera and started making slides about all sorts of ordinary everyday…

Why do you take a special interest in photographing lightning? I’m not what you’d call a daredevil, but I always get a rush from it. When I was a young kid, I was scared of storms with thunder and lightning. When I got a bit older, I started admiring them and I’d stand outside watching them. I started photographing them about seven years ago [at the age of 25]. You live in Perth, but I believe you go much further afield. My partner, Arek, and I will jump in the car and travel inland or north or south if we see a storm cell developing on the online radar reports. We always carry a laptop with an internet connection so we can see what’s happening. Last October we went on…