This Friday 14th is the opening night of my collaborative exhibition at the Blender Gallery in Joondalup. You are welcome to come and have a browse, the exhibition is on for a couple of weeks. If you are free this Friday evening, even better! You are welcome to come for the festivities (and free wine) on opening night,! I will have four photos printed on large canvas displayed there, two taken in China, one from Cinque Terre and one from Indonesia.
Artwork:
Title: Tanah Lot
Size 20×30″ (51x71cm)
Medium: Photography on canvas
Tanah Lot translates to “land in the sea” in Indonesian. Located in Tabanan, Bali, the temple sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped by the waves of the Indian Ocean. Tanah Lot Temple is said to have been built in the 16th century, as a place to worship the Balinese sea gods. The Tanah Lot temple has been a part of Balinese mythology ever since. It is believed that at the base of the rocky island there are poisonous sea snakes guarding the temple from evil spirits and intruders.
This image was created at sunset , using a slow exposure to capture the eerie glowing sky and powerful waves.
Title: Cinque Terre
Size 20×30″ (51x71cm)
Medium: Photography on canvas
Colourful homes perch on the edge of the rugged coastline in Vernazza, Italy, a charming UNESCO World Heritage listed fishing village. Dating back to 1000 AD, the area represents one of the best preserved areas of the Mediterranean. The Church of Santa Margherita d’Antiochia , was built around 700 years old. The medieval castle, Belforte, was built in around 1550, primarily to protect the village from pirates.
This image was photographed at sunset, from the overlooking cliffs, capturing the town in bathed in a glow of warm light.
Title: Nanhu Lake, Hongcun
Size 20×30″ (51x71cm)
Medium: Photography on canvas
Price $820
This image was taken in the UNESCO world heritage listed Hongcun, in Anhui province, China. With its ancient buildings, narrow, cobblestone lanes and small waterways, the town was like an oriental version of Venice. At present, it contains about 150 historic buildings, dating up to 600 years.
The stunning Nanhu Lake was built during the Ming Dynasty in 1368 – 1644. The village is often described as “a living Chinese painting”. It is true – during the day the lake was surrounded by many Chinese art students.
This image was created in the early morning, where the ancient houses and misty mountains reflecting in the calm waters really do look like an ancient painting.
Title: Picturesque Bridge, Hongcun
Size 20×30″ (51x71cm)
Medium: Photography on canvas
One of my favourite destinations in China was the was the UNESCO world heritage listed Hongcun, in Anhui province, China. A long stone bridge translates from Chinese to ” Picturesque Bridge” provides a stunning entry to the 1000 year old village.
This image was created in the early morning, when the beautiful trees on the outskirts of the village reflect into the calm waters of Nanhu Lake.
I have some exciting news – I have been selected as a finalist in the YAWA art exhibition, organised by Telethon Speech & Hearing Centre for Children.
My photography will be exhibited on large canvases in the Burswood Inter Continental lobby from 17 May to 11 June 2010 – so if you are in Perth there’s no excuse not to check out the artworks of the 19 other selected up-and-coming artists. I’ll break the suspense, here’s a preview of mine below:
The game called life
Paternoster Square, London is the location of major companies, investment banks and the London Stock exchange.
Yet when viewed from the Golden Gallery in St Paul’s Cathedral, 530 steps (85m) above the ground, suddenly the important buildings and business people look more like small toys playing the game called life.
The Tunnel
This image is an experimental abstract of the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, below Shanghai’s Huangpu River. The image is part of a series comparing tradition and modernity within China.
Wow, it feels strange to be back in front of a computer monitor. Richard and I have just arrived back from our photo expedition in China. I have never felt so cold, or so illiterate in my life, but it was a fantastic experience. China is a very beautiful country!
We didn’t spend much time in the larger cities, mostly travelling into the country side – by public transport bus. We only caught the wrong bus once, and everyone was so helpful that even though we only knew a few words of Chinese and not many Chinese spoke English, we got by ok. Our itinerary took us too Hangzhou, Mukengs Bamboo Forrest, Tunxi, Tangkou, Huangshan, Emerald Valley, Chengkan, Nanping, Guanlu, Wuzhen, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau.
The funniest thing was the amount of times people would try and speak to Richard in Chinese. (about 20 times a day!!) Although his grandparents were Chinese, his Chinese vocabulary is as limited as mine. Even when he told them he couldn’t understand, they would just assume he spoke a different dialect of Chinese to them and would proceed to write down the Chinese characters expecting that he could at least read Chinese if he couldn’t speak it. No such luck!
One of our favourite destinations was the UNESCO world heritage listed Hóngcūn. The village was one of the locations for the filming of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Since starring in the movie, tourism has increased dramatically. Although most of the tourists were Chinese, who were fascinated by a Western looking girl and I found myself the subject of many Chinese people armed with cameras themselves. The younger people would mostly ask, and queue to have a photo taken with me, but in general the older generation worked more in a “paparazzi” style! Luckily we managed to find accommodation in a local homestay, so most of our photos are taken in the evening after the crowds have left, and also at dawn before the tourist buses arrive.
Hóngcūn was actually designed in the shape of an ox. Nearby Leigang Hill is the head and two trees standing on it are like giant horns. Four bridges across Jiyin stream resemble the four legs of the ox, and the village houses form the body. The Jiyin stream that meanders through the village represents the intestines and the beautiful lakes such as Nanhu and Crescent Pond are the stomachs. A very beautiful place and definately worth getting up at sunrise to photograph even though it was freezing!
Here are a few of our photos from Hóngcūn, some more photos of china to be posted one day when I finish catching up with all my client work…
I have decided that today is the day. It is about time we share all our photo shoots and weddings with the world so that you can see what we get up to and learn more about Richard and myself.
I know photography, especially wedding photography is one of the hardest services to book. Unlike the limo, venue, flowers or dress you need to decide and pay for a product that you will not see until AFTER your big day. So instead of a portfolio of our best few images of select weddings, I plan to showcase the top 50-100 images from each wedding in our blogs so you can get a better idea of what to expect.
Booking the photographer with the nicest portfolio is only half the goal. Because in reality, your photographers will be with you all day. As a bride, you will probably spend more time with them than your groom as your photographer will be there taking photos before you have even left to go to the ceremony. So your aim should be to book is someone who is fun, easy going, friendly, helpful, and able to keep a cool head in any situation. But then again, they need to be loud enough when required to get everyone’s attention and arrange your guest into a giant group photo but tactful enough to capture the spontaneous moments and fade into the background through out the day to give you some space when appropriate. And that’s before you even look at style and quality of the photos!!
So back to the point, I thought this blog will be a good way for all our clients to stay in touch, and for future clients to learn more about us. And if they decide that we will be a good match to spend their big day with, or photograph their important event or portraits then even better!
Feel free to give us a call or send through an email if you have any questions.
We look forward to meeting you.
Jen and Richard.