The Melbourne Silver Mine Inc. is a non-profit incorporated association of enthusiastic analogue photographers based in Melbourne Australia.
The group has been formed to achieve the following purposes:
- To encourage and promote the continued use, unique features and appreciation of traditional photographic techniques and equipment
- To assist in the exchange of ideas and enable collaboration on projects which promote the continued use of traditional photography to the wider community.
- To support the use of contemporary technologies in order to achieve these purposes.
Although we primarily exist to promote traditional photo technologies we embrace modern techniques. Our members are very technologically aware and seek to demonstrate how traditional technologies can work with digital photography and other modern photographic techniques to achieve a new art form, drawing the best from both old and new methods.
The Melbourne Silver Mine was formed after a small group of like minded photographers met on the photo sharing website flickr.com.
The group continues to grow and inspire more photographers to return to film photography or to take it up for the first time. We share ideas, techniques and equipment. This enthusiasm gave rise to our inaugural exhibition of analogue photography, Unsensored07, which was held at Kerala Gallery in Northcote, Melbourne in November 2007. 12 photographers exhibited 24 works.
In 2008, Unsensored08 grew further with 30 photographers exhibiting 46 works at the Collingwood Gallery from 8th to 20th August 2008. We returned to the Collingwood Gallery again in 2009 for our latest instalment of unsensored with 44 photographers, all members of the Melbourne Silver Mine taking part.
We have plans for events, publications and collaborative photographic projects that highlight the group’s objectives.
Thank you for your interest and participation, you can become a part of the Melbourne Silver Mine by joining us as a member or sponsoring our projects.
the 2011/2012 Melbourne Silver Mine Inc Committee
Deanne Smith, President – president at silvermine org au
Matthew Joseph, Vice President
Jodie Noonan, Treasurer – treasurer at silvermine org au
Chris Zissiadis, Secretary – secretary at silvermine org au
Ordinary Committee members: Jock Blakley, Barbara Fischer, Richard Plumridge, Karen Riley & Lea Williams
Past Presidents
Rhys Allen – (formation – January 2010)
Andrew J Cosgriff – (January 2010 – October 2011)
Honorary Membership
The members of the Melbourne Silver Mine are given the opportunity to acknowledge individuals for efforts they have made to promote the purposes that this group was formed on.
in 2010, our members awarded Honorary Membership of the Melbourne Silver Mine to Australian/U.S. Photographer Maggie Diaz.
Maggie’s work formed part of the Core Program at the 2011 Ballarat International Foto Biennale.
The ABC’s Art Nation program began its series celebrating the lives of older artists with by featuring Maggie.
