We’re moving

Our little patch of Townshend Road, Subiaco, has seen a lot of changes since the mid nineties when we set up shop there. In fact a quick audit of the area between Hay St and Subi Oval has us as the oldest business. True fact.

Anyways, we’re gorn. We’re leaving East Subi for the gentle vibe of West Subi. We’ve heard tell that, with favourable winds, you can hear the breakers at North Cott on a Sunday. Importantly we’ll still be within coo-ee of Jean Claude Patisserie and we’ll be closer to a train station (Daglish) as well as a pile of our mates.

From June 1st 2012 you’ll find us at 298 Hamersley Road. Subiaco.
Melbourne skyline at night with blurred squiggles



Red Meets Blue offices

Better late than never

Red Meets Blue offices

Red Meets Blue offices

About this time last year Rob and I popped down the street to the Red Meets Blue offices to photograph their interior fitout. At the time, Rob said, “These images would make a great blog post.” Then we forgot about it – until yesterday.

I rediscovered these whilst trawling our back catalogue for the past year for a folio update. Rob, flicking through some of the prepped materials said, “You know, these images would make a great blog post.” Total déjà vu

We strarted at Red Meets Blue late in the afternoon and were there well into the evening. John Ciniquina has created an inspiring lofty space full of playful details to work with. It’s always a joy working collaboratively so the fact that the RmB team had strong ideas about the shot content and styling was a boon.

Originally two separate offices, RmB knocked out one wall to convert the two into a single office space. Loads of room, great wooden surfaces, polished concrete floors… it reminded me a lot of the offices I’d been to in New York and I have to admit I’m a little jealous.

Speaking of New York, look carefully in one of the wide shots and you can see the one of John’s own Diana Camera images, of what looks like Midtown, used as wallpaper. Anyway, here are the images… one year later. But better late than never, right?

 

 



2012 Black Swan Theatre Programme

Dog knows why but we’ve been a bit slow off the mark mentioning this work. It’s the second year we’ve been involved with Black Swan State Theatre Company. Once again we worked with the crack team; Geoff Bickford and Ester Lee from Dessein and Nancy Hackett from Black Swan.
As per, the work presented us with plenty of creative and technical challenges. Challenges we rrrrrrelish!
Tom O'€™Sullivan and Yutaka Izumihara in the play White Divers
Dessein and the Swan get us involved us early in peace so we had plenty of input into locations and timing. Pre-visualisation of the images and superb (yes!) forward planning meant that all of the shoots were completed in under two hours.David Williamson’s new play, “Managing Carmen”, a comedy about a cross dressing footballer, is premiering in Perth late 2012. Actor Michael Drysdale Managing Carmen, a comedy by David Williamson about a cross dressing footblaller  2012
Tim Winton’s second play, “Signs of Life” starring Helen Morse is being premiered by Black Swan. We love working with daylight and other existing and unpredictable sources. Four of the six images were shot under daylight, ranging from “White Divers’” hard sunlight to dusk supplemented by a single battery powered flash and stairway lighting for “Boy Meets Girl”Signs of life was shot in the few minutes following sunset. Skylight is again supplemented by a single portable flash. Helen Morse George Shevtsov and Pauline Whyman Signs of Life
Life can be hard for photogs on the 32nd parrallel – the magic hour lasts a scant 10-20 minutes! Stoppard’s Arcadia was the toughest shoot. With a location that was an hour and a bit out of town and, prior to shoot day, had only been scouted by the producer we didn’t have much contingency. So some major league nail-biting was in order when the car carrying actor Andrew McFarlane and Black Swan’s Kate Cherry broke down en-route. This image was nailed only a few minutes before the sun crashed to the deck. Rebecca Davis Andrew McFarlane Whitney Richards in ARCADIA
“Boy Gets Girl”. Boy of the title is a stalker. This was shot round dusk at the State Theatre Centre (the stairs are the way to Black Swan’s front door). Boy meets Girl
Aidan Fennessey’s National Interest,  re-examines the events of October 1975 that saw five Australian journalists killed in Balibo. The play is set in a kitchen as June, a mother of one of the Balibo 5, and her daughter Jane, re-open some old wounds.We invaded the kitchen at Dessein for this shot. The single light source for this image is the graphics projector set a little off camera to create some shadow and texture. Julia Blake as June in Black Swan State Theatre Company's 2012 production of National Interest



Added an Instagram Feed

S’all about the feeding at Acorn. Mostly it’s just us gorging ourselves on the finest that Jean Claude has to offer. Lately We’ve addicted ourselves rather thoroughly to the ice-creams of the mind that everybody’s favourite startup, Instagram, has on the menu.

Everything about Instagram images engages the most rockin’ of our sensibilities – Nostalgia. The square format, so loved by those of us who’ve indulged in 126 Instamatic ownership, the filters that tap directly into our parent’s family photo albums. Don’t get us started on Hasselblads, Cokin filters and contact sheets. The makeshift darkrooms of our teenage years are flashing before our eyes! (and noses).

Chef James Collins of OM4 alerted us this morning to their implementation of an instagram feed which we’ve immediately given pride o’ place on our blog page – eyes left!

Exuberace



Introducing Mr. Smith

Perhaps you’ve already met. Darren’s been with us on a casual basis for just over a year. Having now passed the crucial and gruelling Acorn tests; file prep quality, tea prep quality and ECM (it’s a label, look it up) jazz comprehension he’s joined us full time.
To the right is an image of the Smith in question. Even rendered in moody monochome you’ll agree that his colourful character is to the fore. Below a humble, and somewhat over-ripe, pear, arrested in it’s decay by Darren. Expect to see more of his photography appearing in these pages over time
Pear



FarewellAdrian20120120 9311

Farewell Adrian

It’s been two weeks since we said goodbye to Adrian and now that we’ve nearly recovered it’s about time that we shared a few details for those of you that couldn’t make it and to say thanks to those that dropped by. We threw Adrian an ol’ fashioned studio party with a great mix of people and even threw up a few lights on a stand, with a camera there to capture it all.

A dozen or so images to wish one last farewell to Adrian – here’s to you, limey.



Adrian Lambert buggers off

Bad news folks; Adrian is leaving us. It’s nothing personal (or so he assures me!) rather an alignment of family factors that is too hard to ignore. And timing is of the essence, he and Helen are heading back to Blighty ahead of the birth of their second child.

Adrian has been with us for yonks – like all great histories the exact date of our meeting is lost to the mists of time, let’s just say it was about a decade and a half ago. He started at Acorn as an broom wielding, tea making, scum sucking assistant. He will leave as a photographer pure and simple. A photographer whose technical skills are matched by his sensitive creative aesthetic.

Most people we’ve told about the “change”, as we’re calling it, have been lost for words. A couple of them managed to sputter out something that decoded to “what in blazes are you going to do?!” Our old mate John H. Browne texted in this comment; “Why?”

Tragically at this writing these questions remain essentially unanswered. On Jan 20th we’re having a send off, if we don’t know any more by then we’ll just make something up. Drop us a line if you’d like to be there.

Oh yeah, comments are on, please leave any wishes and reminiscences here.

Adrian Lambert

Adrian Lambert checks out his prospects in the northern hemishere



Get the Scoop on 2020

…Had a cherry of a shoot a few weeks ago and really wanted to share it. Now that the Spring edition of Scoop is hot off the press, I’m able to lift the lid on what was a blindingly fun series of sessions with some of Western Australia’s finest thinkers and do-ers. 

These and a few other pics sit behind interviews about the hopes, dreams and vision of these fine folks for a betterer Western Australia by the year 2020.

When approached by the chaps and chapesses at Scoop, they had this great idea for a natural looking window lit photoshoot in a lovely old studio, unfortunately that’s not ours, not that ours ain’t a damn fine piece of space mind, but I really wanted it to still have a natural thing going on so I set my cogs winding.

I wanted the reader to see hints of studio equipment, to get a sense of sincerity that would contrast with some studio artifice. Art Gallery of WA Director Stefano Carboni looks nonplussed about his missing arm and architect Gemma Smith is waiting for her ride into the future at a bus-stop-in-the-studio. If you’re a good looking bloke with a face that can tell a story like CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA, Dennis Eggington, then that may be all that’s needed for a mighty pic.

2020 Vision portrait of Bradley Woods of Australia Hotels Association.
2020 Vision portrait of Dennis Egginton CEO of Aboriginal Legal Service. The most interesting part of the behind the scene’s process was the book that Professor Samina Yasmeen, Director of Centre for Muslim States and Societies, is holding. The arabic script is translated from the title of the Peter Allen song, “emoH ailartsuA llaC llitS I”. You got that, right?. 

Samina didn’t want the script to appear as a label for herself or people that have immigrated, but as the title of the book. I hoped it might hold some interest as it may well be the first time some people had seen how the word “Australia” appears in Arabic script. Thanks Langford Islamic College, in particular Sh. Muhammad Agherdien, for kindly translating and writing it out for me.

Good on yer Darren Smith, for your fine assisting, not to mention your idea to have eco-educator and hotelier Sharni Graham shovel soil across our studio. Even bigger good-on-yers for cleaning it up thirty-odd times! 

So if you want to see the Hon Brendon Grylls MLA shouting his head off at me, Tim Kenworthy, a 21yr old CEO standing on his hands, not to mention a few other interesting peeps, drop into your local caff, order yourself a decaf flat white with 1 big sugar if you are like me and have a nosey through Scoop issue 57 Spring 2011.

2020 Vision portrait of Gemma Smith, Architect at Hocking Heritage Studio.
Still reading? OK, let’s play a game. One of the sitters was upgraded to business class, so to speak, and doesn’t appear in this feature. Instead he has his own feature in the next edition of Scoop. I’ll give the first person to pick it a sweetie if they comment. ;) 2020 Vision portrait of Stefano Carboni, Director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia



shout, shout, let it all out

Bizircus

Been a while since we’ve had the energy to send an email blast. We’ve launched a new website and switched to a new blast provender since we did it last. And we’ve been filling in our spare time doing a spot of photography too!
Watching the stats come in for a relatively little campaign reminds one of all the help needed to make it happen.
There’s the gang at the nuthouse keeping the writhing database tamed and updated. Thanks Shirley, Adrian, Darren, Jack and Henry!
Then there’s Mrs Graffin, designer to the starstruck who whipped up our beautiful trio of templates (subscribe and collect the whole set).
Glenn, Judy and James at OM4 brought the whole shebang to virtuality with their usual patented blend of patience and panache.
John Browne, despite his retiring nature, will not escape mention. Those who know him will understand why. Those who don’t have their research cut out for them. This time Gen Y kiddies, Mr Google ain’t gonna help ya.
Anyway you can check it out here. If ya like the look of it sign up. We got more wild infotainment comin’ your way. If you like …

Get the picture



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