A few words from our president Rhys Allen on the wonder that was UNSENSORED09:
Unsensored09 by Michael Verhoef.
I may be going out on a limb here, but for me, this year’s Unsensored exhibition at Collingwood Gallery felt like the coming of age for the Melbourne Silver Mine. In 2007, just 12 inspired miners made the journey from film to frame – in 2008, that number had jumped to a very respectable 30. In this, its third year, Unsensored09 saw 42 members put work on the wall at Collingwood Gallery, and in my opinion it was our strongest show yet. This year I was fortunate enough to be able to sit the gallery on a number of days, and as a result, got to know the show quite well. In addition I met some fascinating people, introduced a few digital shooters to the wonders of film and partook in numerous glasses of cheap unlabelled Chardonnay. Bliss.
UNSENSORED09 by Roberts Birze.
Putting together the show is always a heap of work – work which I would normally embrace with gusto as it’s pretty much the only useful thing I’d be doing for the year. Of course this year’s Unsensored planning happened right in the middle of my wife’s pregnancy, the resulting birth and subsequent late night crazies. So, with great rationality, (yet not without some regrets) I sat on the sidelines as others put up their hands to co-ordinate the show. Both new faces and old pitched in to get Unsensored off the ground once more, and I think I speak for all MSM members when I offer my since gratitude to those involved.
This is Unsensored09 by Matthew Joseph – make sure you view the large version!
For me, Unsensored is first and foremost about giving our members the opportunity to showcase their work to the public. Art demands an audience after all, and Unsensored serves to provide that audience. But the second main purpose of Unsensored is to showcase the beauty of film based photography. By keeping film alive in the public mind, by showing them what can be done with that dust gathering relic of a camera at the back of the garage, I hope in some small way we can assist in keeping a demand for film on our shelves. The market right now looks great – true we’ve lost a few good films – most notably Polaroid last year and Kodachrome this year (though nobody had shot it for years really) but on the other hand there are new black and white emulsions coming out, chemistry is still available, and film scanners keep getting developed to ensure that we film shooters may have our share in the digital revolution. It’s a good time to shoot film.
the heavenly queen by Jaye Loring.
But I digress – back to Unsensored09. We seemed to cover all bases this year. The range of films, cameras, styles and subjects was quite remarkable, and for a show which is uncurated and unselected by a central committee, I felt there was a wonderful sense of order about it all. There were a few notable highlights for me. I really loved the way Hamish Innes-Brown’s untitled piece shared the colour pallette of Jaye Loring’s “The Heavenly Queen”, a mere two spaces away and completely different in other respects, but united by simple purples and blues. Well done to the hangers for that move. Jesse Swallow’s “thought crime,” a typical piece of “mugley” irreverance, was a hit. I spent much time trying to convince prospective buyers to part with $1000 to own a picture of a man in kangaroo mask holding a rubber chicken, and I reckon if either I or one particular buyer had had one more Chardy, I might have done it.
Bikes by Jodie Noonan.
Then of course there was Jodie Noonan’s untitled print of a damaged polaroid, those redder than red bikes seeming to throb off that cotton rag paper. It was deservedly a multi seller, and a continually popular shot. Personally I also really loved the gentleness of Roberts Birze’s “When Time Happens: The Rocks,” and found myself continually returning to Cameron Stephen’s “Kantju Gorge” for a blast of outback psychedelia.
Momentarily Sidetracked by Tim Heraud.
But the two most talked about pieces of Unsensored09 without doubt were Tim Heraud’s gob-smacking “Momentarily Sidetracked” – a masterpiece of mosaic mayhem, and of course, Lucian Chaffey’s controversial “Addicted to You, 2″ While Tim’s piece had us talking about method, design, process and materials, Lucian’s powerful work deliberately provoked us into considering the role of art, and the role of the female form in today’s society. It divided the crowd, perhaps as good art always does, and inspired many interesting debates, both on and offline. That both pieces were sold and now part of private collections is no surprise.
US09 once again succeeded in demonstrating to the public that film continues to be a unique and beautiful medium in which to work, and hopefully we inspired a few punters to dust off their old film cameras and rediscover how good it can be. Congratulations not only to those who achieved a sale, but to everyone who participated and made this year’s Unsensored such a wonderful show. I’m already looking forward to next year.
Unsensored Coda by Cameron Stephen.
