photographic processes
Artist call out and planning
To gain artist contacts I initially did a deep dive into researching local makers and artists, contacting at lease 20 creatives in Ballarat and surrounding areas.
To reach a broader audience I then put an artist call out on my socials which put me in contact with a number of creatives willing to get involved with the project.
Creative city Ballarat also reposted this on their story which led to further contacts.
Shoot 1: Wootten
Who are they:
Wootten are a Ballarat based leather working studio. The family practice inherited by Jess Wootten work to create artisan leather boots for people from scratch. I managed to explore and photograph their studio for 3 hours in February.
How the shoot went:
In an old cotton warehouse, the wooden workshop was full of small pockets of light, textural details and endless compositions. This provided me with the opportunity to capture a wide range of shot types leading to a really successful outcome overall.
What worked what didn’t?
The space was fairly low light and the opportunity to use flash didn’t present itself. This meant that I had to shoot at a fairly wide aperture which created some problems when keeping my subject matter in focus.
The main portrait I shot also had some complications with significant shadows on his face which need correcting in post if possible.
What did work though was placing focus on, and celebrating the materials and their textures, and capturing the hands on relationship between my subject’s and their materials too.
Overall I love the warmth and sense of peace within the images.
Feedback given:
Slow down when shooting
Be cautious of light (use fill in)
Make sure to bring the light onto the eyes of a person (especially if they're wearing a hat)
Sequence later
For now capture the feeling of the scenes – the magic of working in these old trades.
What next?
From here I will edit the photographs and try to bring as much detail out of the shadows in my portraits as possible.
I will also use this shoot as a guide for my other shoots.
Shoot 2: Tas Wansbrough
Who are they:
Tas Wansbrough is a Marble Carver working to create sculptures of largely heads and birds using traditional carving techniques.
How the shoot went:
This shoot went really well, Tas and I developed a strong rapport which made shooting far easier. I was able to capture a range of shot types.
What worked what didn’t?
The lighting conditions were quite different across the 3 shooting locations (her shed, her studio and outside). This made it hard to maintain any consistency. The glare outside also posed issues in terms of harsh shadows. And indoors, the low light was a bit of an issue.
To solve the low lighting issues, I used an off-camera flash, this allowed me to fill shadows on her face and illuminate her sculpting works.
Shooting with a shallow depth of field worked well within this photoshoot as it allowed me to emphasis the sense of depth within the photographs. I was able to highlight the form of her sculptures in this way.
Feedback given:
Images are quite cool toned and will need colour correcting in post.
Need to take the time to capture more studio shots.
What next?
Will consider the cooler shots within this series and will try to bridge the gap in the next shoot. In order to develop a cohesive series.
I will also try to capture more portraits in the next series, as my selections were limited with this one, though the ones captured were really successful.
Shoot 3: Minna Graham
Who are they:
Ceramicist living and working near Daylesford, Victoria – nature is a key theme in her works.
Approach: Capture Minna’s approach to art, her why, what, how. Celebrate her art’s practice.
Look feel mood: Warm and friendly, rather light if possible – romanticising it.
Shot list:
Artist:
Front on shot
Staged at work
Relationships
Their why
Memories
Dance of the artform
Hardships
Behind the scenes:
Over the shoulder
Peering over their work
Shot in front of subject
Aerial
The space:
Establishing shot – entry way
Wide angle
Show messy scenes
Flat Lay
Use shape and light
Close up details
The floor
How the shoot went:
This shoot went well, the studio space had plenty of room to explore and capture a broad range of subject matter from a variety of angles. The natural lighting within the space was also enough to illuminate Minna effectively.
The space had a real softness which worked really well too.
What worked what didn’t?
The amount of green within the space did affect her skin tones within the photographs, however this is able to be fixed in post.
The low light also made some action shots difficult in terms of freezing movement.
The shots near the window and the pottery wheel are really effective. They capture the dance and exploration of her medium. The surrounding benches and structural poles allowed me to really consider my framing of these shots, as well as working with the window light next to her.
Upstairs in her studio the light outside case quite bright highlights on the floor which made some exposures difficult. Although more often then not it also served to illuminate the textures and details across her works, which was really valuable.
Feedback:
Try to be more experimental with my shooting style. Explore more creative ways of expression, compositionally and conceptually.
Strong aesthetic and editorial feel.
What next:
Review the interview made with Minna for research purposes.
Edit the images and begin to sequence them with the project goals in mind.
Minna Graham Interview
Can you please introduce yourself and your practice?
Hi my name is Minna Graham I am a ceramic artist, I live and work just outside of Daylesford in central Victoria.
I make sort of sculptural functional forms, where I do a lot of carving and a lot of surface texture.
What keeps you dedicated to ceramics even after years in the field?
Even after almost 20 years in the field, I feel like I’m even more… I'm always sorry… I feel pretty dedicated to ceramics, even after almost 20 years in the field. I think ceramics is often just one of those things that really grabs you and you can't let go. There's infinite possibilities and variables in ceramics. So it's always exciting and there's always something to look forward to and there's always something new to try.
Clay is such a tactile and raw material, what does working with it give you that other art forms may not?
I think clay is just that, it's so tactile. I don't know any other art form that would allow me to create the textures that I chase all the time. Yeah, I, the things that I notice are always earth-based things and clay is earth, so I think there's something about using the medium, that I'm trying to recreate. It's kind of perfect.
In a world dominated by mass production in digital experiences, what do you think is the role of handmade ceramics? What’s the appeal now?
I think the appeal is just that itself. You know, I think there is so much that I think we're so disconnected from… from the planet, you know, and I think that we’re very used to having everything now and having everything just the way we want it. I think the hand handmade aspect of ceramics, because of the tactility, because it is made of earth, because it comes from nature, it is nature, I think, the fact that it is, itself, a very slow process, the process of looking and feeling and using all of that makes you slow down. So in essence, it is it's sort of a closed loop.
The concept of last trades is really central to my project and sort of like the traditional practises and those sort of things. It’s certainly not a lost trade, but along those lines, do you see ceramics as a practice at risk of being lost or do you see it evolving in a more meaningful way?
I think ceramics is definitely at risk of being lost or certain aspects of ceramics. Absolutely. There's a lot of knowledge of traditional ceramics and of ceramics traditional techniques, and a depth of knowledge that's been lost, even though there's been a resurgence in ceramics.
Ceramics is one of the most involved art forms. It's… you know… there’s the art practise side of things, but there's also engineering, there's also all the technical, there's chemistry, there's science, there’s alchemy, there’s geology, there's so much that encompasses ceramics and I think that it takes a really, really long time to learn ceramics and you can never know everything about ceramics, so a lot of those potters who have been potting for, you know, 30, 40, 50 years, the knowledge that they have is definitely being lost. And yeah, I think, I think there's definitely aspects of ceramics that's in danger.
Does the slow and physical nature of ceramics feel like an act of resistance in today's fast-paced and more disposable culture?
Yeah, but I think that the act of resistance of the fast paced nature of the world, ceramics is definitely, when you’re hand making, I think if you keep in mind all of the techniques that are slowly being lost and I guess my active resistance is to use materials that a lot of people don't use anymore and to mix my own glazes and to make my own clays and to do as much as I can from scratch rather than buying things commercially. Even the tools I use, I try to keep them as simple as possible and to not incorporate and rely too heavily on technology, even technology that is tools and products that might be available commercially. So that's my active resistance even within a really slow process.
You've travelled extensively to learn traditional pottery techniques, I’m pretty sure I read. What drives you to seek out these practises and what do you think is lost when these traditions fade?
Yeah, I think, I really love what's available to you as a ceramicist. There's just so many different ways of making things, there’s so many different ways of glazing or not, and this only different ways of decorating, there’s infinite ways of firing and different resources that you can use in all of those processes and I think, in different cultures, ceramics is developed differently based on need, but also has developed differently based on what resources are within those communities. So I think it's really important as a well rounded potter to know what's available to me. And I think as our needs changes society and it in humanity, there's definitely going to be skills that are lost and are morphed and that change overtime and things are changing already with climate change, so it's a very environmental based practise. So there's definitely things that will be necessarily lost, but also things that will be sadly lost.
And how do you integrate the traditions that you learned abroad into your own practise?
So yeah, I integrate those traditions in various ways. Sometimes it takes me a long time to integrate them, it doesn't necessarily happen immediately. But I think there's definitely a lot of value in learning and knowing about a lot of the more primitive ceramic-based techniques and skills. And I think there are things that are most in danger of being lost, as we move forward with technology, but some of the more simple techniques are really, really valuable because they're so resource-based and resourcefulness in ceramics as a really wonderful thing. It's an expensive craft and it does use a lot of natural resources, so it's probably more those techniques that really conserve resources that I would use.
As someone who specialises in a lot of tea-ware, how do you see the connection between the daily ritual of having tea and the tradition and the handmade ceramics, in the incorporation of that into daily life?
The tea ceremonies and tea rituals is really slow. I think ceramics plays a really big part in the ritual and ceremony of tea because it… it's because the ritual of tea itself is a slow process. It slows, it forces you to slow down and when you have a piece of handmade ceramics in your hand, the tactility of it really forces your attention, to focus your attention to that one item, which can be a meditative process, on its own, it in itself, to really focus on the thing that's right in front of you and allow everything else to fall away and it also allows moments of contemplation to just think about what it is that you're holding and who might have made that object and where it might have come from. And I think it serves to kind of deepen connections from one person to another, from the user of that object to the maker of that object and everything in between.
How does staying in tune with nature kind of influence your creative process?
Yeah, nature is my biggest influence. That's all there is to me, I think because I live on the land and live really closely to the land. I live on 20 acres and it's in the bush. We manage our own water and power, our own heating, so it's very hands on and it's really, you know, you’re really living quite closely to the planet and to nature. Yeah, and it it allows me to notice things, and notice small things and large things, but it really… it’s really central to my practise.
Can you tell me about your process? In summary I guess. Steps.
Yeah, OK, my process is fairly in depth and involved. I use a lot of reclaimed and recycled clay and I mix a lot of local found clay into those as well. So I spend a lot of time actually just processing the clay. Wedging it and getting it to the right consistency, making sure it's the right level of dryness... not too hard, not too soft. And then I'll weigh the clay out, if I'm making a sort of series of pieces that need to be roughly the same, or spend some time just getting the weights right. And then I'll make the basic form on the wheel, and throw the basic form and then let that dry out for a few days depending on the weather. When it's dry enough to about leather hard stage, which is like cheddar cheese consistency, that's when I do all my carving and surface work and any altering of forms. And then I begin the rest of the drying process which can take up to a few weeks, or sometimes longer, depending on the weather.
Then I will load everything into the kiln and do a bisque firing, which goes to about 1000°. I'm then I unload it all once it's cool. It usually takes a few days to cool down… unload it and then glaze it. The glazing process probably takes about a few weeks and then I reload the kiln and fire everything to about 1300° and allow it to cool for three or four days and then unpack everything and polish all the pieces and finish all the work up and then I’m all done. So the whole process generally takes around three or four months.
Many artists struggle to sustain a career in traditional crafts, what’s helped you maintain your practise over the years?
I think I've been lucky with my practise and being able to maintain it, I think because, well, I'm very dedicated to it. It is, I’m so passionate about it. I love doing it. There's nothing that I would rather be doing, but I I also think that because I do so many different things and across lots of different medium, not mediums, but to sell it in lots of different ways and move it and exhibit in lots of different places, in lots of different ways. I think that's been really helpful too. Yeah.
You’ve been a part of quite a few sort of workshops and things like that. Do you think community plays a role in keeping handmade traditions alive?
Yeah, community is a huge part of keeping things alive. I think that sharing of knowledge is really important, especially with something that is so technically involved as ceramics, and there's so many different aspects to learn and there's so many different ways of doing everything, the sharing of that knowledge is is super, super important.
What do you see as the biggest challenge for artists working in traditional mediums today?
AI is probably one of the biggest challenges I think. And the rise of fast culture, I think. There's a lot of people who are doing, learning things quickly and not necessarily taking the time to really learn things properly properly and then moving on to teach themselves or put their work out there maybe too soon and that creates a whole little subculture of this is what that looks like and it's not necessarily high quality work. So I think the market is flooded with low quality work that then people think that's what ceramics is, and then it devalues everything. I think also AI is a really, really problematic thing for artists. I think it's a bit dangerous and I think going forward it's going to be really, really hard to value real art.
If you could change one thing about how society values handmade and traditional arts what would it be?
Yeah, one thing… that’s tricky. I would really love to see as much interest and focus on and funding to go to the arts as it does sport. Imagine if we had like, instead of a sport or as well as a sports section in the news, in a newspaper, in the end of the news on telly, imagine if we had an art section. I think that would change how people think of art and how they value art and artists hugely, if we had a national or international conversation daily about art.
Where do you see your work heading in the next few years? Are there any new techniques you are excited to explore?
I’m always interested in exploring new things. I'm constantly exploring new glazes and new surface treatment methods and new forms of carving. So yeah, I really hope to just keep developing my carving techniques in particular. And, you know, I'm always looking at kind of coming up with new forms for me and yeah, you know, I like making sort of everyday vessels and making them with a bit of a difference, so will constantly kind of trying to evolve that. I like the idea that I'm never gonna be there. I like the idea that I'm always going to be looking for something new, always seeking out how to recreate what I've seen in nature.