Friday, October 21, 2016

SUNSTUDIOS Pop Up Gallery Melbourne for Assistants & Emerging Photographer Award

Hey Pals,
My Melbourne friends. Head down to SunStudios Melbourne today, Friday 21st of October 6PM-8PM. For their Pop Up Gallery opening night for this years Assistants & Emerging Photographer Award. You'll be able to see the portraits I shot of Kane that placed Runners Up. Show runs until the 4th of November. of Kane that placed Runners Up. Show runs until the 4th of November.

Friday, September 16, 2016

An Ode to Rembrandt and 17th Century Dutch Still Life Painters

Rembrandt is one of my favourite painters. It's his beautifully crafted portraits and the way he manipulates and uses light to evoke emotion, as well as planting curiosity in the viewer is the reason his art arrests me. I've always been inspired by 17th Century Dutch painters, particularly ones that paint floral arrangements.

This photograph I shot over the weekend is an ode to Rembrandt, his counterparts and the era of the Dutch Golden Age.

Birthday Flowers

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Runner Up - SunStudios- Assistants and Emerging Photographer Award Exhibition

A week ago from today I was lucky enough to be awarded Runner Up for my portraits of Kane Trubenbacher in the SunStudios Assistants and Emerging Photographer Award.

To say that I was shocked was an understatement. Throughout the night I kept dropping the F-bomb (what's new?!) from sheer surprise/amazement/joy.  The yelling and cheering from my work colleagues, who are a part of the Sydney photographic community, caught myself and patrons off guard. Thank you for your squeals and cheering! To my family and friends who turned up, thank you! To judge Ingvar Kenne, thank you for your kind words and thank you for voting for my photographs. To SunStudios thank you for holding such an esteemed event for up and coming photographers and assistants in the industry, as well as encouraging, promoting, nurturing talent. Congratulations to Peter Sharp for First Place and Felipe Neeves for receiving Highly Commended, both your images are wonderful and I am happy to be placed amongst such fine photographers.

There are moments as a creative that you look at your work and doubt what you're producing. But it's milestones like this where you are reminded that you are on the right path. In saying that, I hope to create more photographs that tell stories that people can emotionally gravitate to.


Event Photographs by Nick Turner


Wednesday, September 07, 2016

SunStudios- Assistants and Emerging Photographer Award Exhibition - Thursday 8th Sept, 6pm-8pm

Some exciting news Pals! I'm a finalist for this year's SunStudios Assistants and Emerging Photographer Award. Still can't believe it. Opening night is tomorrow evening, so if you're in Sydney head down. Details below!

This years finalists include:
Alex Brunton
Bernadette Bayley Smith
Daniel Mazzarella
Ebony Kate Dennis
Emy Dossett
Felipe Neves
Heather Raadgever
Henrique Fanti
Henry Lou
Joel Pratley
Maria Cruz
Michael Elkins
Michelle Lake
Nic Gossage
Nick Lawrence
Niki Gudex
Peter Sharp
Ryan Creevey





Image (c) Gibson Fox

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Surface and Symbol


One of the reasons why I enjoy photographing flowers is for their beauty, as well as their darkness. I always say that I prefer dead ones, there is more character in them. Wilted, brown with flickers of colour from when they were alive. Flowers are given in time of celebration as well as in death. The later is what I'm drawn to most.  All beautiful things age, it's the transient nature of youth and beauty. Which, I believe, is something that we shouldn't hold onto. In this fleeting moment, I capture  these flowers in their prime and glory. But I also look forward to when they age because there is also beauty in their death.  

Flowers x Raver Ria Flowers x Raver Ria Flowers x Raver Ria

Photographed @ Studio Mondo

Sunday, June 05, 2016

TA-KU | Vivid Sydney

A short photo diary of Vivid Sydney 2016 and TA-KU's concert last Friday night. I was fortunate enough to attend his artist talk which was a part of Vivid's program. I respect him even more as an artist and person. He is humble and an inspiration, particularly to young up and coming producers. I respect how real, raw and unapologetic he is about his emotions and sensitivities - which resonates in his music. TA-KU has no musical background, but it's a testament that passion, practice, faith and work ethic will get you through.

TA-KU x Vivid Sydney 2016 TA-KU x Vivid Sydney 2016 TA-KU x Vivid Sydney 2016 TA-KU x Vivid Sydney 2016

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Floral Photography Collaboration | Vanessa Timmins

The aspects I love about working for a photography studio is meeting an array of like-minded creative folk. Case in point, stylist Vanessa Timmins.

One weekend I was in studio photographing flowers, she was on a styling job next door and was unaware that I take photos in my spare time. We swapped details and voila a collaboration was set.

Below is what we created, her floral arrangement skills is impeccable!

20160123-RaverRia_024 20160123-RaverRia_033 20160123-RaverRia_074 20160123-RaverRia_126
Photography: Yours truly
Stylist: Vanessa Timmins
Location: Studio Mondo

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Jeremy x ColouredNoyz

Portraits I shot of talented Sydney based producer Jeremy AKA ColouredNoyz - calm and born cool. It's a small (Sydney) world as we share a mutual friend, photographer James Mullins.
Location: Studio Mondo


Jeremy x ColouredNoyz xRaver Ria-1 Jeremy x ColouredNoyz xRaver Ria-2 Jeremy x ColouredNoyz xRaver Ria-3

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

#WCW Roslyn da Rosa of Ripe Journal

I can't believe I haven't posted this image yet! Meet Roslyn da Rosa of Ripe Journal. She was kind enough to free up her Saturday last year to sit for me for a quick portrait test shoot at Studio Mondo.

Follow her food and lifestyle adventures via her instagram account - go to girl for all things food!


Ripe Journal x Raver Ria

Monday, May 02, 2016

Melbourne Photo Travel Diary | Things to do in Melbourne


During the ANZAC day long weekend AF and I flew down to Melbourne for all things food, art and music. Melbourne knows how to do things right- coffee and fashion for example. It is my home away from home, the cooler and hip cousin of Sydney. AND people are ridiculously nice! It actually made me feel a bit weird, Sydney-siders are notoriously cold and snobbish in a way. So walking into stores or eating at restaurants human interaction with staff was a novel experience, Melbournians are pleasant and up for a chat.

Looking for things to do- here is a list.

EAT
Izakaya

Drink

Record Stores


Sunday, May 01, 2016

Creating art with Made by Mara

A few weeks back my sister and I collaborated to create marble like abstract art. If you've been following my instagram page you would have seen inspiration posts like these. It is art I've been meaning to create for a while and I am glad I finally had a chance to get around to it. Watch this space  as you'll be seeing more of these bad boys.






Friday, April 15, 2016

Frame 17A Exhibition at the Australian Centre for Photography


Hi Pals,

I'm happy to announce that I will be a part of a group exhibition, Frame 17A, at the Australian Centre for Photography. Come along if you are in Sydney for this evening's opening night.

Exhibition launch:
Friday 15 April 6 - 8pm
Exhibition open 11am - 3pm, 16 April - 15 May 2016.
Presented in ACP's Social Gallery

A bit about the exhibition:
Writing in the 1980 book Contact Theory, Martine Franck described her process of reviewing several similar frames on a contact sheet to select the best one for printing, “Frame 18a was discarded because of the towel on the left, the figures in the background were confused and I had framed too close to the shadow of the hammock. Frame 16a was a possibility but I would have had to crop the bathing suit on the right which I preferred not to do and the man doing push ups in the background was in a less interesting position. The image that had the greatest intensity and concision was to my mind frame 17a.”

In this quote “frame 17a” represents what most photographers are hoping for – that moment when everything comes together to produce an image that stands out as being better than the others. Generally the other frames are then neglected, perhaps just being seen as steps on the way to the good image. The idea of this exhibition is to look at all of the frames from a roll of film without prioritising any particular one as being the best. By doing this we get to see the working process of a photographer – where they start, what options they explore, how one decision leads to another.

A roll of film is a bit like a short story – there is a beginning and an end but only a limited amount of material in between with which to work. Depending on the film format the number of frames might be 10, 12 or 36. Within these boundaries each photographer makes their decisions. Some devote the entire roll to exploring variations on one idea, while others cover a range of locations and subjects. Some are trying for a great image, while others are 'practising their scales' - doing it for the pleasure of photographing or exploring a technical aspect.

Many film photographers don't like to show their proof sheets, so I appreciate the generosity of the participants in this exhibition. Some are established professional or fine art photographers while others might be described as beginners. Despite their relative experience, each of these proof sheets has something to tell us about the photographic process, via all the frames that aren't 17a".


Featuring work by:
Gerard Azar
Steven Cavanagh
Jun Chen
Aislinn Connolly
Maria Cruz
Deb Cybula
Josef Geranio
Stephen Godfrey
Bill Green
Maclay Heriot
Diego Ibanez
Neville Leung
Paul McDonald
Prab Naththarampatha
Adam North
Geoff Roberts
Sergio Leyva Seiglie
Stuart Silcox
Benjamin Stone-Herbert
Gordon Undy
Michael Waite
Anthony Whelan
Pedro Xavier

*Image shot by me - featured in Frame 17A Exhibition

Sunday, April 10, 2016

A bunch of flowers for your Sunday

Hey Pals,

Happy Sunday!

Sunday means Columbia Road Flower Market in East London. As I no longer live in the UK, I thought I'd share a tribute post to the famed market. These photographs are long overdue, it was a flower light test shoot I did at Studio Mondo last year.

What is your favourite flower market?


* Images shot by me @ Studio Mondo