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