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.

A Leaf About Town by James McManus

how long have you been shooting film?

I was bitten by the film bug back in 1969 at the age of seven when I got my first camera a Kodak 126 Instamatic and have been shooting with film ever since. There was an eight year period from 1993 where I gave up on photography after I lost everything including all my work and cameras in a house fire. An overseas trip in 2001 saw me take up the addiction again and spending large amounts of money to support my habit. In the last nine years, I have owned a couple of those dSLR things as well but never seem to keep them for that long …. give me a film camera and I am happy with my photography.

Boats by James McManus

do you prefer colour or black & white? do you have a favourite film, camera or technique you like to work with?

There is something other than colour …. . I don’t mind black and white but prefer colour for my abstract and shallow depth field stuff. Normally you will find Fuji Reala and Kodak Ektachrome 100VS in my camera bag and I am always on the look out for expired C41 and E6 films to put through the Mamiya 6 or Pentax 67II.

show us one of your favourite shots and tell us a bit about it – how did you take it? is there a story behind it?

Dad’s EH by James McManus

My dad passed away at the end of 2005. While at home a few months later cleaning up for mum, I found a box of his old cameras with a Polaroid SLR 680 amongst them. I went out the next day and got two packs of 600 film to see if it worked. This was the first shot I did of the EH and the last time I saw the car. Brings back a lot of good memories not only of my dad but the many trips made in that car.

show us a favourite shot from the MSM pool. what do you enjoy in other peoples’ photos?

Photos that jump out and grab my attention and make me want to come back to check out more of their work.

Thriller by AAGCTT

question from the previous interviewee: I’d like to know what you do with your photos, aside from putting them on flickr. Do you make prints? Digital or wet prints? Do you hang them on the walls, give as presents to your friends, show into exhibitions?

The only time I seem to get anything printed these days is for an exhibition and that last happened back in 2007. I do have two digital prints under way at the moment and again for an exhibition, this time for Unsensored10. Some of my polaroids get framed and giving away as presents.

please give us a question to ask the next person:

If you could bring back one film that has been discontinued what would it be and why?

Thanks so much James. If you would like to check out more of James work you can find him on flickr or on his blog.

luci everett studio – Olga Bennett

please introduce yourself. what is “your style” of photography?

Not very original, but I guess I’m taking photographs to  capture what seems beautiful to me. I’m influenced mainly by documentary images, and am currently working on a couple of personal projects. One of the called ‘Environments’ is an attempt to document creative spaces in and around Melbourne. I prefer to use fully manual cameras that force me to take pictures slowly.

untitled – Olga Bennett

how long have you been shooting film?

As long as I’ve been photographing. I’ve tried to switch to digital a couple of times, but it never really worked for me. Not being able to check my images straight away allows for surprise, and I feel it’s important element tohang on to. Shooting film allows me to concentrate on seeing and visualizing, instead of checking the results all the time. There is also sheer beauty of out of focus  and low light areas as captured on medium format negative. Digital doesn’t come close to replicating this effect.

untitled - Olga Bennett

do you prefer colour or black & white? do you have a favourite film or camera?
I mainly shoot color, but love black  and white too. It just feels like completely different medium to me, hard to compare. I shoot a lot of Portra, but looking into different options at the moment. I use my very old Hasselblad 500 c most of the times, it took a lot of time and effort to get used to this camera, but now I’m completely in love. I’ve been also playing with Polaroid SX-70 and new black and white  film from impossible project recently. I guess I love squares.

how us one of your favourite shots and tell us a bit about it, how did you take it and is there a story behind it?

“Environments Project” – Olga Bennett

This images come from the test roll I shoot in my old apartment, trying to sort out some issues I had with focusing and depth of field. Almost accidental, they are my favorites. It’s almost depressing to think that  while I’m learning more and more about photography, I can’t beat the simplicity of this shots. It’s a good reminder for myself.

show us a favourite shot from the MSM pool. what do you enjoy in other peoples’ photos?

“typical me, I started something and now I’m not too sure” by Deszya Yulian

I’m always drawn to images that have a strong mood or emotion. I like images, that take me somewhere else, like the one above: so dreamy! I can feel the breeze on my skin from just looking at this image. The grey sky, open space and hands thrown up in the air…  I think as photographers we hope that other people can see and feel what we did when we pressed the button. As a viewer I like when I find that connection too.

what inspires and motivates you in photography:

Hope and possibility to show other people how I see the world, I guess! Lots of small, quiet moments, details, spaces and people that I find really beautiful and want to share with others. It seems possible, but it’s very hard to achieve. So I guess it will keep me motivated for a long time yet.

please give us a question to ask the next person:
I’d like to know what you do with your photos, aside from putting them on flickr. Do you make prints? Digital or wet prints? Do you hang them on the walls, give as presents to your friends, show into exhibitions?

Well many thanks for your time Olga! You can check out Olga’s personal website at www.olgabennettphotography.com or on flickr.

I thought I’d share with you all my finding with Lomography’s newest toy, the Lomography Spinner 360° Dolphin.

First off a brief history of panoramic photography.

NOT. There is nothing brief about that subject.

But I will talk briefly about 35mm 360° rotational cameras. The first was the mysterious Japanese Panorax Zi-A or Z1 (depending on your source) made in 1954 or 1958 (also depending on your source) but it was unpopular because it used the inferior 35mm film format, not 120 which was the preferred medium of the time. It was some time before the world saw another 35mm 360° camera. Some people will tell you that the next was the Globuscope in the very early 1980s but it it was actually the Lookaround, created by a chap named Alan Zinn 1978. The Lookaround is a beautiful handmade piece of art in it’s own right, available in Oak, Cherry, Walnut or Mahogany. Mmm woody. Anyway, next came my favourite, the Globuscope. An odd looking contraption, I actually saw my first Globuscope in 1989 but at the time I didn’t realise it was a camera at all. I was being tricked! I thought it was some sort of paranormal activity sensor as it was being brandished by a Dr. Raymond Stantz in Ghostbusters 2, I wonder if it was loaded.

The Globuscope!

Let us now move forward to 1991, Operation Desert Storm begins, Sweden wins Eurovision, Slick Willy throws in his hat to be President of the USA, Paul Keating replaces Bob Hawkes as Prime Minister of Australia and Rick Corrales invents the Spinshot 35S. Now the Spinshot is an interesting camera because a) It is a 360°+ panoramic camera. b) You get about 7 images on a 36 exp roll and c) It is powered by a ripcord in the handle. Sound familiar? No? Well that’s because I haven’t told you about the Lomography Spinner 360° Dolphin yet. The Spinner is: 1) A 360°+ panoramic camera. b) Gets you about 7 images on a 36 exp roll and c) It is powered by a ripcord in the handle. AMAZING! Isn’t it? Any you know what? They look almost exactly the same, except for the viewfinder. Rick died in 2006, only 1000 Spinshots were made. Lomography, I hope  you gave his family some money.

This image was the last on the roll and the spin was not completed, but I still like it.

So here we are, 2010. Lomography releases a cheapo 360° film camera just as I am thinking about selling a particular lens and buying a Globuscope, brilliant. I was tipped off about the Spinner 360° by a Flickr contact who shall remain nameless, a friend of theirs had heard about some people having their hands on a prototype from Lomography. I immediately thought it was bullshit as I do with all news and forgot about it, but then more rumours began to surface and then on the 11th of June it was on their website and despite hating Lomography with all of my heart (especially after what they did to my beloved Widepan) I bought one. A few days later it arrived at work, along with Ambre’s TLR Holga and before you could say “Matthew stop playing with that thing and do some fucking work” I had a film it in and I was running/walking really fast to get outside to take some photos and oh boy, did I get some looks! I should have worn pants.

One of the first images I took with the Spinner 360°

My first impressions of the camera were good. It doesn’t feel as cheap as some other Lomography cameras I have held. It has a heavy metal hood which helps stabilise the camera during the exposure, which happens a lot faster than you’d expect. Keeping it steady and up in the air is not as easy as it looks as it has a tendency to wobble during the exposure. The hood helps but it’s not an absolute solution, so I have tried using my monopod which was a lot better but I may have to resort to *gasp* using my tripod. Even thinking about that makes me shudder but it would also help with the second problem, I am in all of the shots. If I used my tripod extended all the way I could duck under it and you wouldn’t have to see my weird facial expressions and receding hairline. But a tripod? Maybe I will invest in some funny hats. The Spinner is definitely a sometimes camera as it is a bit of a silver guzzler, you only get 7 or 8 images on a 36 exposure roll. As far as image quality goes it’s not bad, it is mostly sharpish, some parts of the image appear to be more condensed than other, almost like the rotation is speeding up. I scan my rolls on my Epson V700, I don’t get the sprocket holes in like the arty kids do but that’s ok with me, a 1200 DPI scan give me an image I can comfortably print at 6×36″ and looks great.

A 36″ long print I made.

So if you’re a panoramic nut with a penchant for ultra wide angles, like me, then this is the camera for you. I give it 2 out of 3 thumbs up.

mid-air

how long have you been shooting film?
It started a long time ago but there was a break of almost 10 years, due to the digital conspiracy:) I have restarted shooting film about half a year ago by finishing 10 year old roll on an old SLR I rediscovered.

do you prefer colour or black & white? do you have a favourite film, camera or technique you like to work with?
I love both colour and b&w film, but there’s something about b&w that is more analog, more artistic. My favourite camera is Zenit – an old friend, simple and robust. I haven’t worked out what my favourite film is yet.

show us one of your favourite shots and tell us a bit about it – how did you take it? is there a story behind it?

Old Quadrangle

This photo of Old Quadrangle at Melbourne Uni was taken with an Agfa Isolette on 120mm b&w film called “Lucky” – there’s something NQR with the film on this exposure, but I think it’s for the best. This shot itself was random – mostly to finish off the roll.

show us a favourite shot from the MSM pool. what do you enjoy in other peoples’ photos?
I really enjoy good portraits, especially ones that are expressive, convey emotions, mood etc.

by Karen Riley.

question from the previous interviewee: How understanding is your family/significant when you purchase another camera and/or lens, do you hide purchases from them?
I don’t hide anything, but if my wife rings you – just remember – whatever she’s asking about – you DID lend it to me:) But to answer the first part of the question – when it comes to film my family and friends think I’m on another wavelenght.

contemplate without hesitation

Question for next person:
What inspires and motivates you in photography?

Thanks for your time, Gedal! You can see more of his work on flickr as Гедаль Basman, and his blog can be found at livejournal.

Dark Path

please introduce yourself. what is “your style” of photography?

I grew up looking at photos of my great-grandfather who worked as a medic in the deep Amazon jungle over 100 years ago. I was fascinated by the cultures, strange animals (such as 20 ft anacondas) and incidents he encountered. As well as showing me my great-grandfathers photos, my grandmother would also encourage me to read her collection of National Geographic magazines. From viewing these images I became fascinated with travel, culture and photography, particularly nature and documentary photography. This has strongly influenced my style.

I do feel a bit lost when shooting in an urban environment such as Melbourne. I am still experimenting and developing my style in an urban environment. I guess my style is documentary with some arty influence.

how long have you been shooting film?

I have always been interested in photography. Growing up I would shoot off a roll with my parents 35mm compacts whenever I could. I bought my first digital camera in 2000. In 2007 I returned to university for a year of postgraduate study (in Photography & Cinematography) and had 24/7 access to a studio and darkroom. This was my first experience at developing my own film and creating wet prints, I was hooked instantly by the tactileness, smells and satisfaction of completing a completely analogue process.

Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán – Lord of Sipan Tomb Museum – Lambayeque, Peru

do you prefer colour or black & white? do you have a favourite film, camera or technique you like to work with?

When shooting film I prefer black and white, mostly because I don’t yet know how to develop my own C41 or E6. Recently I have been mostly shooting with a Voigtländer Vito B. I have been challenging myself to shoot without a meter and guess the focal distance (in feet). Once I am confident enough with this I hope to concentrate on my composition. It is a great feeling when I do end up with a shot I am happy with, knowing there was no electronics involved in the process (until I scan the negs). I am encouraging myself to take my time and think about each shot.

Komodo Dragon – Komdo National Park, Indonesia.

show us one of your favourite shots and tell us a bit about it – how did you take it? is there a story behind it?

This photo was taken on Komodo Island in Indonesia. It is a National Park where you can come face to face with Komodo dragons in the wild. I was there at the end of 2006 with my Indonesian mate Tony (also a film shooter). Tony was kind enough to lend me his Nikon F4 with an 80-200 f/2.8 lens.

Komodo Dragons can run up to 20km/h and kill the occasional tourist. On the island, you are guided by a ranger on the island who makes sure you keep a good distance from them. My mate bribed the ranger to let us up close. I managed to get about 2m away, the dragon watching us closely the whole time, the ranger was really nervous. Shortly after I took this shot, the dragon hissed and looked like he was about to run towards us.

My mate Tony audibly crapped his pants, I had always heard people say “I crapped their pants” but it was the first time I witnessed someone literally crap their pants. At this point the ranger intervened with a big stick and calmly ushered us to safety.

It is one of my favourite shots not just because of the story but also because of the texture of the dragons skin and the cold tones. I also like the shallow depth of field focusing on the dragons eye watching me closely. Perhaps my great-grandchildren will look at this strange beast one day and laugh about Tony crapping his pants.

tyler, by Morganna Magee.

show us a favourite shot from the MSM pool. what do you enjoy in other peoples’ photos?

There is so much variety and unique styles in the MSM pool but I was really drawn to this fantastic and emotive portrait. Whilst it captures a split second in time it also remains timeless and could have been taken any time in the last century.

I am drawn to photos that tell a story and provide an insight into a moment in someone else’s life. I also like to see familiar places that I might walk past and ignore regularly captured in an interesting way.

Degraves Street – Melbourne, Australia

a question from the previous interviewee: Do you like to meticulously plan shoots, or go out (or into the studio) and and see what happens?

I like to go out and see what happens, I prefer the surprise of a happy accident rather than something I have already imagined in my mind.

please give us a question to ask the next person.

How understanding is your family/significant other when you purchase another camera and/or lens – do you hide your purchases from them?

Thanks very much for your time, Marcus! You can see more of his work over on flickr, as well as on his own website.

Dictionary.com defines a voyeur as “An obsessive observer of sordid or sensational subjects.” Here are three examples of voyeurism:

Behind You! by Will Cowan.

* by Spyro Palamaras.

Through the eyes of a Mannnequin [ii] by Vinnie Piatek.

Thanks Dave! Have you seen three photos in the pool lately that go well together? Let us know!

The full UNSENSORED10 terms and conditions can be read here, but briefly the main features of the exhibition are:

• All images must originate from an analogue or traditional photographic technique. From that point on you are welcome to keep it pure analogue or employ digital post processing & printing.
• Due to the popularity of the event, UNSENSORED10 is open to Melbourne Silver Mine Inc financial members only, but don’t panic, you can sign up as a member and take part this year.
• The entry fee for members is $50, this entitles you to a 70cm wide x 100cm high space. This year we are pleased to be able to offer a reduced rate UNSENSORED10 entry fee for full time students and the unemployed of $30!
• All artwork must be at the gallery in a ready to hang state by midday 12th August 2010

Venue: Collingwood Gallery, 292 Smith Street, Collingwood Victoria
Dates: 13th – 25th August 2010

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Scan-090502-0013, by Andrew Cosgriff.

Saturday May 1st is International Commie Camera day, so get out those old Russian, Chinese and such cameras and get shooting!

These two shots are from ICCD 2009, and were taken with my Kiev 60.

emp-t, by Andrew Cosgriff.