Australia - Photography is Alive and Well

It was a pleasure to spend a few days in Melbourne  and Sydney this last week. I had been invited to give a talk on the photobook at Melbourne's Photography Studies College. This is an amazing organisation with a 40 year history, where the calibre of the teachers, students and facilities blew me away. In Sydney I participated in a panel discussion at Photobook Day at the Museum of Contemporary Art, ably organised by Daniel Boetker-Smith founder of Melbourne's Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive.

In my experience, often at these events I never get to see much photography because inevitably one gets wrapped up in meeting people and talking to photo friends.
However all was not lost, as generously, two Melbourne based photographers gave me copies of their latest bookworks. Both these artists are working at a high level, with passion and an authenticity that shines through in the work.

Robyn Daly has produced an enviable body of work. She still shoots on film and moves with ease from colour work to black and white. Her bookwork COLLINGWOOD (Volume One) is well worth a look.

Kristian Laemmle-Ruff's new and first photobook, In the Folds of the Hills is set in the secluded valleys of Lima, Victoria. The work in this series presents a seldom seen side of Australian rural life and delves beneath the surface of the lives of the rich characters living and working on the land.