Ballarat International Foto Biennale

[Kevin Caulfield]

I was in Balarat a few days ago and had almost completely forgotten about the Foto Biennale. I checked out a few things. There are several exhibitions in fairly close proximity to each other in the Art Gallery, the Mining Exchange and the old Post Office. The Mining Exchange is kind of the hub of the whole show. One absolute bargain there is the Fuji ACMP Australian Photographers Collection books for $20, yes $20 each. I already had numbers 1 to 6, so I bought 7 to 10. I got the last copy of 10, so sorry everybody else. One very cool exhibition in the old Post Office is that they have set up a camera obscura looking across Sturt Street. It was quite clear and bright when I saw it so I took my kids back, but by then it was unfortunately a bit overcast, so the image was dull. Very cool though - that's the first camera obscura I've seen. The Biennale runs until the 4th October, so check it out if you get the chance. Most exhibitions etc are free.

[SMBooth]

Been a bit disappointing that been busy and unable to get to Ballarat to see some of the showings. Although I will be in Trentham on the 3rd doing a pinhole thingo so might see some shows there.

[Poisson Du Jour]

Visit Trentham Falls while you're up that way, but picture them in the water, not from the path. You're not afraid of water, no??

[SMBooth]

Visit Trentham Falls while you're up that way, but picture them in the water, not from the path. You're not afraid of water, no??

At least I don't fall over in it

[Poisson Du Jour]

Aye, you'll have plenty of opportunity to find out how refreshingly cool streams are very soon...

[nexus]

I'm really bummed about missing this, but with my folio due in mid-Nov, going to the AIPP Tassie breakaway and not having a car anymore, I couldn't go :-( I could've taken the train, of course, but it limits what I can see and when I can leave and return. I went to the second Daylesford one and enjoyed that, but some of the cafes and pubs just weren't the place for looking at photographs with customers sitting at the tables right near the images. Also the lighting wasn't fabulous in some places, so I'd have been interested to see how they did it in Ballarat.

[Poisson Du Jour]

I agree absolutely that cafés and pubs are no place to display photographs, irrespective of how passionate, professional and evocative the photographer's work is (this also applies to many artists). It's how I started 20 years ago, displaying my work in Castlemaine, Maldon and Bendigo, but only 3 photographs were sold with no recouping of high set-up costs. Amazingly during that time, fringe art — the stuff made of discarded tin cans, chains and fencing wire and paraded about as "limited editions" — sold better to a seemingly more enthusiastic and appreciative public, and this is no more conspicuously so in Daylesford than in Maldon or many other small towns.

Go for the big galleries (despite their infinitely frustrating range of demands and high cut from sales) and leave the Mickey Mouse weekenders and 'boutique' watering holes to the latté-sipping, chardy-quaffing Audi set.