John Austin Photography

During the preparation for my Survey II.i exhibition at BRAG, Bunbury, WA I had it in my mind to reduce my equipment to a couple of screw mount Leicas and a Rollei or two, or four, and a Leitz Focomat IIc enlarger. The empty darkroom space would be filled with a new etching press and for photography I would just make snapshots

As I have already stated, now that my mind, workroom and house are cleared of existing work I feel ready to be very busy with new work

Five folders of notes for new projects started, lots of film ready to come out of cool-storage, but during the SW WA Winter all storage is cool storage

First of these projects is to re-start my work with women, as soon as Winter lifts enough to work, which will be weeks. However, some pre-picture snaps made on Saturday in the corner of the lift shaft of the BRAG

Much of this new work will be with a 10x8" Sinar Norma. What this camera with its huge negative size and 1924 Voigtlander Heliar lens will give will be fine textural rendering of the women who are collaborating with me in this project. As these women are in their 30s and 40s this means engaged photographs to celebrate that fact that the women I am working with are complex beings with personal histories. Images totally at odds with GIMP or Photoshop modified digital pictures with no texture, no blemish, no aging, and no wrinkles

I make no appology for this desire to explore and celebrate what happens in life, and the keyword is celebrate. This work will hopefully start to infiltrate Survey II.ii and Survey II.iii at Diana's ArtGeo Gallery, Busselton and Gary's Alcoa Gallery at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre

Now I have to keep fit enought to drag the 10x8" Sinar around, not easy for a 30Kg kit not counting the tripod and box of film holders