Off The Cuff- T54
Here’s a few behind the scenes shots from the Off The Cuff T54 filming at Sammy’s. Looking forward to getting back into a few music-related projects over the next while, including a big week of Orientadium gigs next week, late nights here I come!
Circulation Festival 2011
Circulation is a music, circus and art festival which takes place out at Whare Flat hidden in the hills and surrounded by native bush each November. I was offered a ticket in exchange for a few photos so I donned my sweet $2 op-shop find two-tone (blue AND orange) corduroy carnival pants and headed off in search of a party under the stars. While the whole festival runs for 5 days, I went along for the one night only Native Fusion Party which was great as I got to see Dunedin band Brown play a set. There really is nothing quite like festivals- whether it’s dancing until the sun comes up or sipping homebrew beside a roaring bonfire.
A new studio space!
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the big studio move!
This new space means that our new home will eventually be able to have a lighting setup and a space to shoot things indoors, also utilizing the nice wooden floors and natural light. The wonderful designer Dear Colleen will be moving into my old space, and will no doubt be transforming it with clever illustrations like this:
Dear Colleen Studio wall signage from Scott Savage on Vimeo.
New year, new beginnings… Yesterday I also cut all my hair off (not all, but a good twenty centimetres) for a bit of change- no more long hairs!
I will also be making a conscious effort to post on my blog more and update the website soon! Promise….
Mountaineater
Late last year I teamed up with the guys from Dunedin band Mountaineater for an impromptu shoot… We started out on the rocks by St Clair at 10pm in the rain and then moved to a spot amongst some trees on a dark road somewhere in the town belt. This was most definitely a challenge to shoot but we got something in the end. Over the past couple of years I’ve also really enjoyed shooting these guys live at various venues so it was a great opportunity to work with them in a different context.
iD FW 2012 image revealed
Finally! Our image for iD Fashion Week 2012 comes together…
“Following on from 2011, the 2012 iD Dunedin Fashion Week image has been created locally drawing on the talent of Luke Johnston, owner of Dunedin based BrandAid along with the Ali McD model agency (model Mary Smith) and photographer Emily Hlavac-Green. “We contrasted the dark, earthly location with the light, ethereal model by using atmospheric lighting and elongating the models figure”, says Luke Johnston, Creative Director. The location for the photo shoot was in front of the Caversham Tunnel, Dunedin.
The new identity image will be used on all of the promotional material for the 2012 iD Dunedin Fashion Week. BrandAid will develop the identity to become a recognisable icon of the fashion week which will feature on all promotional material developed by BrandAid and will appear on the iD Dunedin Fashion Week website www.idfashion.co.nz” -infonews
Struth -shop one-
My Stepmum Sarah set up this little shop in Martinborough late last year which I designed the logo and signage for. I finally got to visit it over Christmas and grab a few shots of the wonderful works from local and national artists and designers, including jewellery from Dunedin’s darkblack and soon-to-be-arriving Holly Howe Collections. I would quite like some antlers!
Sweet summer
Having just returned home this week my mind is still partially somewhere between Warkworth and the Wairarapa waiting for a beer in the midday sun. It doesn’t get much better than spending time with family- the most wonderful collection of Hlavacs and Greens -and all the friends in between. Does anyone else think summer all year round sounds like a plan?
2011: A photo odyssey (The year in summary)
Outside the rain rattles against the usual grain of summer sun and it is now that I can finally sit down with a cup of tea and a Heavenly Crescent and have time and space for reflection of the year passed. While a little tumultuous at times, a little bit “what the f am I doing and why”, 2011 hasn’t been without high points, good laughs and cool ideas.
Having learnt more the previous year from my own mistakes, this year has brought more proactive, sought-out learning- sharing knowledge with other photographers locally and nationally, finding brilliant people to work with on new projects, and talking with other creatively minded people who inspire me.
Teaching tertiary students, while admittedly daunting at first, has been a completely rewarding experience. It has opened up a whole new avenue through which I have been fortunate enough to share some of what I have learnt along the way, meanwhile testing my own photographic knowledge.
What seems the biggest hurdle of the last twelve months is perhaps the difficultly in defining or even recognising myself as fitting into either category as ‘Photographer’ or ‘Artist.’ I still want to pour everything into projects that are engaging on an artistic level, and I still want to work with commercially minded people to make things that are visually compelling.
I have been able to do both for the most part; letting go of part time work that is stable but mostly unrelated creatively (making coffee) in order to build a balance of teaching photography, freelance photography and working on small art projects.
I guess the notion that it has to be either/or will always be there, and I welcome the challenge of working across areas of art and commerce, with the belief that each can lend itself to the other.
So it is with open-mindedness and positivity that I welcome the uncertainty that 2012 brings. Like other photographers or creative people out there I’m sure the pressure to re-imagine, to pay the bills, to satisfy your heart and mind will prevail. Though surely wherever you are- whatever you’re doing, as long as you throw yourself into it, prepared to listen and learn and give it everything you‘ve got- you can make something of it.
Sneak peek of the 2012 iD Fashion Week Image
In preparation for iD Fashion Week next March/April we have been busy over the last couple of weeks testing and shooting the promotional image. I was working with creative director Luke Johnston at BrandAid, make up artist Katy Parsons, assistant Kristy Wood, videographer Joe Gallagher and model Mary Smith from Ali McD agency.
The location we found had a neat Dunedin feel meanwhile being quite secluded that is not necessarily recognisable. Mild Red gave us an amazing range of clothing and fabric to work with, our idea being that the model would be juxtaposed against the dark background in light colours for an image with an ethereal feel.
While the final image is a wee while away from being released, I can’t wait for you all to see it!!
Four Cool Things This Week: SITE
So technically not THIS week, but I would still like to mention four very cool works that I saw at the Otago Polytechnic School of Art SITE exhibition last month. Every year this exhibition seems to get better and better with students coming up with new ways to fill the spaces that the art school has to offer. I exhibited in SITE in 2009 and remember little more than the chaotic preparation, assessments, late nights running on coffee and adrenaline. So well done to all involved!
This year I was particularly impressed by the ceramic works I saw…
Tina Grubba’s The Ecstasy of St Theresa was a mesmerizing space to loose time in. In an almost-dark room lit with tiny ceramic cupfuls of light, water flowed almost inaudibly over a fountain. The work referenced consciousness and the divine in a way that was beautifully quiet and subtle.
Jane Armour’s Adversaria saw lots of little ceramic houses as symbols of ‘home’ sitting side-by-side as if in a linear timeline that spoke of moving from place to place. Each piece felt somehow traditional and personal.
Joe Worley’s Northeast of Northeastland comprised a small handcrafted marquette with a comedic stop-motion animation. It told the story of the airship Italia expedition to the North Pole in 1928 in which a crash occurs resulting in a long comedy of errors with half the crew eventually being rescued.
Phoebe MacKenzie’s Untitled 5 min film loop used mirrored image and undulating playback speed to abstract the video out into hypnotic geometric forms. Juxtaposed against still and unmirrored images that expose the somewhat grotesque reality of beautification, the work draws on powerful female semiotics and construction of identity through consumer culture.
Of course it is impossible to choose only four artists whose work really caught my eye. I was also in awe of Agata Michalczyk’s series of narrative-embedded self portraits in Ten. James Bellany’s intuitive (and performative) way of working with paint is also something which I have not really seen until now (not that I know much about painting, at ALL). This organic process lends itself to works that have a depth and complexity; each painting an infinite space for reflection and discovery… so, so cool!
