The White Series

A little teaser on my current book project, 'The White Series #01'. Check out the 11/11/11 video of my printer at work Chris Reid talking about the project. 

Head On Festival 2011

Try and get along to see some the many amazing shows and seminars being put on as part of this year's Head On Festival. I will be among many speakers presenting this weekend at the National Art School. Along with Mike Bowers, John Donegan and Raena Lea-Shannon I will take part in the discussion titled "From Gutenberg to ipad - The Future of Photojournalism and How to Survive in a Changing Industry", which starts at 10am on Saturday May 14th. 

agIdeas Conference Melbourne 2011 Summary

I was fortunate to be invited last week to participate in Ken Cato's incredibly inspiring and innovative design conference down in Melbourne. I presented about my hand made photography books and got to see some of the other artist's work which was nothing less than brilliant. The stand outs were Nick Bell, Kasimir Burgess, Christopher Doyle, Adam Hunt, Natan Linder, Iain McCaig, Sanky and Susan Bonds. 

Harvard Fellowship Update

I am back from my second trip to Papua New Guinea for my Gardner Peabody Fellowship at Harvard. The project is coming along well as I continue my documentation about "De-Tribalization" on PNG societies. I showed some of my work-in-progress to friends at my new place in Austinmer on the south coast.

Photographic Memory

Aperture is about to release a very cool new book which I am featured in called "Photographic Memory: The Album in the Age of Photography." Edited by the Library of Congress curator of photography Verna Curtis, this book traces the rise of the photo album from the turn of the century to the present day, showcasing some of the most important examples in the history of the medium, as collected by the Library of Congress. I feel humbled to be sitting alongside some of my favourite photographers, W. Eugene Smith, Danny Lyon, Duane Michaels and Jim Goldberg. 

agideas Conference Melbourne 2011

I'll be speaking at the international design conference agideas in Melbourne on Tuesday May 3rd at 2.10pm at Melbourne's Convention and Exhibition Centre. For those interested do come along, check their website and program for details. I'll also be in Melbourne from May 1 - 6, 2011. 

Happy New Year 2011

Wishing you all a fantastic new year, happy, prosperous and creative. Here are some pics over Xmas I took on the iphone. 

Austinmer, Xmas, 2010

Ava at home painting, Xmas, 2010

Bondi Beach, December 22, 2010

Bondi Beach,December 22, 2010

Remember; "A small measure of craziness mixed with a reasonable amount of eccentricity is an attractive alternative to conformity." ~ J. D. Goatwood.

 

Kathmandu Workshop July 11 - 16, 2011

Just a heads up on Jack Picone and my workshop. Our next destination will be the incredible city of Kathmandu. The price is USD$2,500.00 per person and we are now open for bookings so please contact myself or Jack for more details. To check out photos and reviews of the Sydney workshop that has just ended see my blog and click here. 

A Kathmandu barbershop, 2000 © Stephen Dupont

Afghanistan Exhibition Review by Robert McFarlane

Stephen Dupont's Epic Afghanistan Odyssey

Afghanistan: The Perils of Freedom 1993 - 2009
This extraordinary exhibition may be one of the most intricately constructed displays ever seen at the Australian Centre forPhotography http://www.acp.org.au/ Not only has photojournalistStephen Dupont www.stephendupont.com sought to encompass fifteen years of working in Afghanistan’s historically conflicted land, he has managed to display his photography in literally, a floor to ceiling, wall to wall tapestry of pictures. Reminiscent of another legendary exhibition (which I didn’t see personally, but saw much of its documentation) - by acclaimed French war photographer - Raymond Depardon) Dupont seeks to populate his exhibition with cast members of this ancient, ongoing drama - Afghan citizens, both armed and members of the public - and of course, the soldiers - as ever, from elsewhere. In this, Dupont departs from the traditions of previous war photographers who simply amplify the drama of war. Dupont clearly wishes to reveal which forces are in play and to understand, as much as possible, reasons for and possible resolutions to the conflict. To achieve this the Australian photographer employs an unusually varied visual grammar - from telling, almost 19th century style portraits of Afghan citizens (pictured, below left) using a medium formatPolaroid camera to panoramic observations (pictured, above)made with a Hasselbladcamera that are remarkably cinematic in their sweep. Dupont's observations belong more to the tradition of the late Philip Jones-Griffith’s epic book “Vietnam Inc.” than even Don McCullin’s highly charged, epic war observations. “I am a great fan of Jones-Griffiths,” says Dupont, “he went beyond the bang-bang - going behind closed doors - and also into combat to uncover the soul of the U.S. military machine ... and (finally) show what it was like to be a US soldier - giving a humanistic edge to something inhuman. Not just the power and the glory ... he (also) uncovered the grit and the filth of what was going on the villages. Jones-Griffiths was an activist who didn’t hold back ... he was an inspiration (to me).” Dupont(pictured, right, at the ACP) had followed conflict in Afghanistan since that country's war with the Russians.“After the revolution of the Mujahideen, I was inspired to go and see for myself,” says Dupont, “the (country’s) history had an impact (on me) even through Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King” - but I had no idea (photographing) Afghanistan would affect me so much. There wasnowhere in the world like it. Something ... got into my soul. (And) I was achieving something historical that was not being recorded. I was photographing ... history and doing it for the people - who did not have a voice.” Even the U.S. Marines were given their voice by Dupont who asked individual soldiers to write in a small moleskin journal their answer to the simple question: “Why am I a Marine?” The pages of this journal occupy a large part of one wall at the ACP with Dupont adding that the original journal has now been acquired by theU.S. Library of Congress.
Afghanistan: The Perils of Freedom 1993 - 2009 is not an exhibition to simply walk through. It demands the visitor arrive, and take the time to meditate on fifteen years of hard, remarkable work by this talented, tenacious photographer - pictures illuminating the timeless ability humanity has to seek the last option of government - war - as a solution to political differences. “You have this incredibly beautiful country that could be opened (up) if it was peaceful. (But) I don’t see there being a resolution soon ... it seems that Afghanistan has never known anything but war. And it’s not just about Afghanistan anymore ...”Until November 20

Reportage Festival 2010 Reviews and Interviews

The festival ended officially last Saturday, November 20. The screenings this year were incredibly powerful and entertaining, projecting loud and clear that photojournalism is far from dead! The highlights I thought were Craig Golding's 'The Fan', a mutli-media time lapse series with Golding's lens aimed at the rugby league supporters, rather than his renowned images of sport's action. Both Adam Ferguson and Gary Ramage's pictures of the war in Afghanistan were incredibly moving and a stark reminder of the inhumane world we live in and the seemingly endless war there. Ian Flander's presented a haunting and personal vision of prostitution that took you on a roller coaster ride through the dark side of life. This multi media piece left you feeling quite floored and numb. Lisa Wiltse continues to make beautiful poetic pictures with her Mennonites essay. James Brickwood's 'street parties' projection was raw and real with plenty of edge. Nick Moir never ceases to amaze me with his ongoing coverage of storms around the world. These images sing out with strength, mood and color. Ed Giles made a very cutting edge anxious driven piece of film around the West Bank. Mixing photos, video, music, graphics and street sounds he produced something beyond pictures and words, something that ended up within the matrix of your brain. Steven Siewert's project on pidgeon racing was everything great photography should be, the moment and the light. Lastly, the student's work also went into elements of brilliance with Conor Ashleigh and Liz Loh Taylor. 

Without a doubt the true highlight of this festival was the 80 large photographs suspended along scaffolding structures throughout the National Art School. The exhibition was curated by myself, Jack Picone, David Dare Parker, Michael Amendolia and Jacqui Vicario and the images were selected as the most important works from the last 10 years of this festival. The collection makes up an iconic series capturing everything from world breaking news events, sports, daily life and social documentary. It is a retrospective that captures some of the most compelling and creative moments by some of Australia and the world's most acclaimed photographers.

A limited edition book of the show was also launched, beautifully printed by Momento. This edition is 200 and available to purchase for $195.00 from Momento.

See multi-media interviews and reviews on the Sydney Morning Herald, News Ltd and ABC Arts.

Review by Andrew Quilty                         

  

 

Reportage Master Class Highlights

Now that the festival and workshop has ended I can start to take it in and reflect on the past weeks. The workshop was a big success thanks to the tutoring and mentoring from Jack Picone, David Dare Parker, Ed Giles and myself, along with a very special presentation by Robert Pledge, President of Contact Press Images. Robert gave a fantastic and memorable talk about photography which included work by Robert Frank, Lu Guang, Annie Leibovitz and David Burnett. Thank you Bob! 

The students were an absolute pleasure to teach and an inspiration too. Their photography was surprising, inventive and moving, each one excelling with their assigned projections around the theme "Performance."

This is what one student wrote

"Very motivating, long hours but worth every minute. This masterclass was certainly the first step in the right direction to improve any project in a new, different and better way. The benefits in time will be no doubt numerous. Getting out of my comfort zone for the theme and kind of lens I obliged myself to use was a great experience. Dialogue with the Stephen, Jack and David was simple, quick at times, and slow. When the right moment came up they all took the time to explain in different ways the same thing till they see we understood it. Great fun and certainly an experience I will remember – thank you!" - Andrea Francolini

Photos © Jack Picone and David Dare Parker

Robert Pledge talks to the students, National Art School, Sydney

Dupont, Picone and Pledge clowning around, National Art School, Sydney

Robert Pledge talks to the students, National Art School, Sydney

Workshop session in progress, National Art School, Sydney

Workshop session in progress, National Art School, Sydney

Workshop session in progress, National Art School, Sydney 

Dupont tutoring students, National Art School, Sydney

Dupont tutoring students, National Art School, Sydney

Ed Giles tutoring students, National Art School, Sydney

Robert Pledge tutoring students, National Art School, Sydney

Robert Pledge tutoring Cara, National Art School, Sydney