pause and reflection

Jing Wei Bu in her home studio. Photographs by Emma Byrnes

Sometimes all you need is a suite of fresh images to demonstrate what it is you do, who you are or why you do it!

Chinese-born Adelaide-based visual artist Jing Wei Bu was in such a position. Jing Wei herself takes lovely photographs but she needed an outsider to capture the everyday atmosphere in her home studio.

So she booked in a morning session and we had a delightful time. In amongst flurried bouts of activity and creativity she carved out quiet pauses for us to reflect on our progress with Chinese tea ceremonies and conversation. 

If you require some extra images for your website/social media profiles don’t hesitate to get in touch.
We could enjoy a version of Jing Wei’s “pause and reflection” in your working environment.

fair share fare

Photographs by Emma Byrnes

Amongst many other ambitious projects, Canadian Métis (Indigenous)/Australian artist-researcher, Jen Rae has established Fair Share Fare - a collaborative, multi-platform art project focused on future food security in a time of climate change. And for the second year running I have had the great pleasure of documenting REFUGE at Arts House for Jen.  

REFUGE is now in year three of a five-year project that examines potential climate-related disasters and traces how we might collectively respond. It explores the role of artists and cultural institutions in times of climate catastrophe…extreme heat, rising sea levels, forced migration, increased spread of diseases, social unrest, extinctions.

In 2018, the theme for REFUGE was PANDEMIC - artists examined a pandemic event and what happens when the risk of contagion mean no public gathering?

In Jen’s project - a horticulturalist, a masseur and a beekeeper each had significant roles to play and she places them in an immersive spa-meets-science-lab-meets-urban-agriculture environment.
In most instances during this documentation process the light was extremely low which for a photographer can be very challenging as light is what we paint with! But I think the limitations allowed for some dramatic images.

For in-depth detail and photographs of the project visit Jen’s website.

capturing the golden moments

Photographs by Emma Byrnes

Thanks to Jetstar Australia for featuring a lengthy photo essay and interview on my Vietnamese adventure times in their most recent July issue. It was great reflecting on the special time spent there with my family in 2016 and a reminder that as a photographer it is always worth getting up before the sun rises to capture the golden moments :-)

These images first appeared on my travel blog - Lifestyle Traveller - that I keep with my husband, Peter Barrett.

rutherglen

Photography by Emma Byrnes

This is a round-up of images I took recently on a trip to Rutherglen some of which were featured in a road trip story by my husband Peter Barrett for Domain Review.
See the article here.

a taste of italy

Photographs by Emma Byrnes

Seductive wines, delicious produce, spectacular scenery - the King Valley was a wonderful muse for a story I photographed for Go Places winter magazine alongside my word-smithing, partner-in-crime aka husband - Peter Barrett.

creative castlemaine

Photography by Emma Byrnes

There is such a burgeoning art-scene in regional Castlemaine and Toyota Go Places Magazine commissioned me to photograph a story to accompany a piece written by my husband Peter Barrett. These are just a few of my favourite images from the piece.

merging materiality with modernity

Melbourne artist - Katie Stackhouse (top) and artworks from Embodied Materialities, 2018 and Perspicuity, 2018. Photographs by Emma Byrnes.

I have had the pleasure of documenting two of Katie Stackhouses’ exhibitions these past months.
The Melbourne artist’s sculptural works refer to the emerging experiential technologies of virtual reality, and the enquiry as to how these technologies may affect human relationships. Her use of limestone to carve sculptures of what are essentially VR goggles allows her to marry the serenity of the natural environment of her home-base in Warrandyte with the inner-cityscape in her work “Embodied Materialities” at Assembly Point. Following on from that at Rubicon Ari was “Perspicuity” - a work that continued the conversation - combining elements of the past with the present.
I was very happy to hear that Katie was able to use these photographs to communicate her creative work for successful grant applications.
For a blog post about the importance of documentation for artists see here.