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Catch the punt across for $2 return per person from Alexandra Avenue, South Yarra (near Kanteen Café). Last ride back is at 5pm.

Come along, bring your cameras, lunch and drinks! We’ll be sitting on the oval in the middle of the island.

More information here.

The project, aptly named “The Totally Awesome Film Swap Project”, gave participants an opportunity to shoot an entire roll of film in a style they don’t typically shoot in.

Royal Melbourne Show
Photograph by Louise for Ambre

The 18 participating MSM members were randomly matched with another participant.  The only real rule was that the roll had to be 35mm and could be processed in c-41. Naturally, some decided that rule was lame and shot what they wanted to anyway.

Participants were then given a few weeks to shoot and process the film. A set of prints plus the entire roll of negatives was to be handed to their assigned partner.Many of us found giving up an entire roll of images a little unsettling.

As is the case with any shoot, not every frame on every roll was perfect. There were some brilliant shots and some, not so brilliant. The opportunity to share work, and discuss each member’s approach to shooting their partner’s style made for some laughs and a really great afternoon.  Even the sun came out for the event.

Some of the resulting images can be seen below:

Chris Zissiadis, Shooting for Michael Carew

Barbara Fischer shooting for Jock Blakley

Lea Williams shooting for Vinnie Piatek

Deanne Smith shooting for Emma Jay

More pics from the project.

Here are some pics from the swap meetup, at The Boatbuilder’s Yard, South Wharf on Saturday 29th October 2011.

Photos: Deanne Smith (colour) & Emma Jay (B&W)

UNSENSORED11 offers a glimpse into what film in its various formats can produce today. Once again our members are presenting a diverse range of images in both subject matter and tools/techniques. The exhibition includes images produced using traditional processes and techniques through to hybrid works that blur the line between film and digital.

We hope to see you all on opening night.

UNSENSORED11
Collingwood Gallery
292 Smith Street Collingwood

Opening Night:
Friday 25th November 2011 from 6pm

Exhibition dates:
Saturday 26th November 2011 – Wednesday 7th December 2011

Gallery open daily:
10am – 6pm Saturday & Sunday
Midday – 6:30pm Monday – Friday

(facebook event) (exhibition invite)

This year’s show features work from 46 photographers:

Rhys Allen, Gedal Basman, Anthony Begovic, Roberts Birze, Sandy Birze, Jock Blakley, Natalie Blom, Richard Buckley, Michael Carew, Dave Carswell,  Michael James Christian, Andrew J. Cosgriff, Nicole Davis, Melissa Dixon, Barbara Fischer, Stacy Gillett,  Veronica Hodgkinson, Ross Holmberg, Hing Hshen, Timothy D. Johnson, Matthew Joseph, Daniel Lee, Jaye Loring, Suzannah Marshall Macbeth, Marc Morel, Jodie Noonan, Daniel Noppert, Jessica Anne Parker, Ambre Pitt, Richard Plumridge, Karen Riley, Ahmad Sabra, Gary Sauer‑Thompson, Deanne Smith, Emma Starr, Cameron Stephen, Paul Stoney, Reynandi Susanto, Michael Verhoef, Marcus Visic, Christian Were, Katherine White, Liam White, Lea Williams, Damian Young & Chris Zissiadis

Here is a small selection of the images on show at UNSENSORED11

untitled image
Photographer: Katherine White

Scratches and scars
Photographer: Barbara Fischer

G’day Ray
Photographer: Matthew Joseph

Three Crows
Photographer: Sandy Birze

Crossing Lines
Photographer: Deanne Smith

Ache
Photographer: Jessica Parker

Zahrah
Photographer: Ahmad Sabra

We have two group shows in the BIFB11 Fringe program.

Our first show we simply called Melbourne Silver Mine as it has 23 of our members exhibiting thematic explorations of a diverse range of ideas, subject matter and techniques.

Accompanying this show is Just Don’t Call It Street. An installation of  photographs by 17 of our members exploring the notion of street photography.

Exhibition Information:

Melbourne Silver Mine
First Floor, above Woolshed Clothing
48 Armstrong Street North, Ballarat
Corner of Mair and Armstrong Street North (map) (facebook)
(Venue 38 on your BIFB11 Broadsheet)

Melbourne Silver Mine Presents: Just Don’t Call It Street.
The Old Butcher’s Shop
112 Seymour Street Ballarat (Soldiers Hill)
Corner of Seymour Street and Neill Street (map) (facebook)
(Venue 42 on your BIFB11 Broadsheet)

Opening hours for both shows:
Saturday 20th August 2011 – Sunday 18th September 2011
Monday – Wednesday (open only by arrangement)
Thursday – Friday 11am – 5pm
Saturday & Sunday 10am – 6pm

Well actually it’s more like week.

Because WWPPD falls on Easter Sunday they have extended the time in which you can take photos for them to be valid for the official website. So any pinhole images taken between now and May 1st are valid.

This year I will be participating in the photo taking festivities. I recently purchased a Zero Image 4×5 pinhole camera, it’s a thing of beauty. As some of you will know I like it wide and I have been an admirer of the work of Scott Speck aka Integrity of Light for some time and I thought it was time to take some of my own.

My history with pinhole photography is rocky to say the least. My first taste was with a digital SLR and a body cap, needless to say that was not money well spent, in both cases. My second taste came in the form of a 6×12 panorama pinhole camera, it was ok but it did give me a splinter and at that time I had no easy way of scanning the big negs.

Next up was an M39 Leica Screw Mount pinhole for my Voigtlander cameras, that one wasn’t too bad. Now more recently there was the Pinwide, despite being for digital cameras that $40 piece of plastic opened my heart to pinhole photography again and prompted the purchase of the Zero Image 25B.

So far I have had a fantastic time with the camera. It has forced me to slow down and take more time when I am taking a photo. Thinking about the exposure time, keeping the monopod still and trying to not get my hand in the frame all at the same time is a challenge. Also getting back into the darkroom and tray developing my negs has been a hell of a learning curve. Multiply that feeling of anticipation when you’re waiting for the lab to process your film x10.

So yes, dust off your trusty pinhole camera, take the old girl out for a walk and burn some film. Some of us might be getting together on Tuesday so be sure to check the Flickr group for details.

Happy ‘Holing Everyone!

-Fotodudenz

photo: Gedal Basman, taken by Andrew Cosgriff.

As mentioned over here we’re getting together at Time Out cafe at 10:30 in Fed Square this Sunday morning for brunch and some photo-taking opportunities. You’re most welcome to join us.

The meeting at the Yarra Community Youth Centre, 156 Napier Street Fitzroy at 7pm on Wednesday 13th October.

There are three resolutions on the table for members to vote on. If you can’t make it to the meeting, a reminder to get your proxy voting form in prior to the meeting. This form was sent to you via email on the 29/09/2010 by our Secretary, Chris Zissiadis – with the official notice of the AGM. If you have any questions or need some clarifications please email them to secretary@silvermine.org.au.

We are planning drinks after the meeting at a location nearby, keep your ears peeled on the evening for where we are headed. See you there.

This years show was an even bigger success than the three that proceeded it, as the exhibition goes from strength to strength. Opening night was massive! With an estimated 350+ people scrolling through the Collingwood Gallery. Rhys Allen was awarded “The Hangers Prize” for UNSENSORED10 with his image and awesome prize are depicted below (sorry bout the digi photos!).

If you couldn’t make opening night, but wondered what is was like – this video from Matthew Joesph is as close as you will get to the real thing:

The exhibition finished with a total of twenty sales; with Roberts Birze individually responsible for ten of them. You can check out his image in the previous blog post.

Thank-you to all of the exhibitors, sitters, hangers, booze purchasers/distributors, helpers, designers, prize makers, musicians, everyone who visited/commented/purchased, collingwood gallery and of last but not least the committee. We very much look forward to doing it all again next year!

The 75 Tram on Flinders Street, by Roberts Birze.

UNSENSORED10 is a unique photography exhibition of over 70 works based on one common element: film.

Presented by Melbourne Silver Mine, a growing organisation of passionate film photographers, the exhibition showcases a range of themes including street photography, portraiture, urban and rural landscapes and still life.

UNSENSORED10
Collingwood Gallery
292 Smith Street Collingwood

Opening Night:
Friday 13th August 2010 from 6pm

Exhibition dates:
Saturday 14th August – Wednesday 25th August 2010

Gallery open
10am – 5pm Saturday & Sunday
Midday – 6:30pm Monday – Friday

More information at: http://unsensored.net/.

This year’s show features the work of:
Rhys Allen, Olga Bennett, Roberts Birze, Sandy Birze, Jock Blakley, Natalie Blom, Richard Buckley, Zaeem Burq, Matthew Carr, Dave Carswell, Lucian Chaffey, Andrew Cosgriff, Sophie Curzon-Siggers, Barbara Fischer, Stacy Gillett, Tim Heraud, Ross Holmberg, Tim Johnson, Matthew Joseph, Mike Le Fevre, Jaye Loring, Suzi Macbeth, Iain Maclachlan, James Mcmanus, Piers Morgan, Jodie Noonan, Vinnie Piatek, Amy Piesse, Ambre Pitt, Richard Plumridge, Mike Reed, Kevin Reeve, Karen Riley, Ahmad Sabra, Jesper Sidhu, Deanne Smith, Cameron Stephen, Paul X. Stoney, Reynandi Susanto, Jesse Swallow, Liam Thomas, Jacqueline van Zetten, Michael Verhoef, Marcus Visic, Christian Were, Dee Whalan, Katherine White, Liam White, Damian Young, Chris Zissiadis

Waiting, by Dave Carswell.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the first installment of this idea. A special thanks to those who chose to join the mine to take part in SAM and for those who shot specifically for the event.

Let’s get together for a drink and the opportunity to watch a digital presentation of the images collected this year.

For a preview of the images in the presentation, head to the flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/sam2010/

For details on the venue’s panoramic projector craziness head to the Horse Bazaar website – http://www.horsebazaar.com.au

This is a one night only event. So lock it in your diary now.

Everyone is welcome, bring a friend, entry is free, drinks and food available at the bar.

Date: Thursday 6th March 2010

Time: 5:30pm onwards

Location: Horse Bazaar, 397 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (Map)

The Melbourne Silver Mine would like to thanks Light Leaks Magazine for their generous sponsorship of the Low-Fi prize that is part of SAM2010
Magazine – http://www.lightleaks.org/
Shop – http://shop.lightleaks.org/