A LOCAL photographer is realising an artistic goal nearly a decade after picking up a camera.<\/p>\n
Following his attendance of a Ballarat International Foto Biennale exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat\u2019s Backspace venue in 2015, one of Ian Kemp\u2019s creative endeavours has been to display in the space himself.<\/p>\n
Now his Neverlasting exhibition, which will run until Friday 22 October, is the fulfillment of that goal, with a collection of 10 photographs capturing the mountainous regions of the Argentinian Andes.<\/p>\n
Kemp said the works on display are the ultimate statement on his recurring theme on the transience of human life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, I\u2019ve taken elements of nature that have a short lifespan as a metaphor for human life, things that are ephemeral and temporary\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere, it\u2019s kind of reversed. The landscape feels like it\u2019s the constant. We\u2019d stop a vehicle out there and it\u2019d just be the 12 of us with no sign of civilisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCivilisations come and go. You\u2019ve got your own time but everything else is so immense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kemp\u2019s trip took place in March and April when he undertook a more-than-2000-kilometre circular tour beginning in Salta as part of a nine-photographer crew.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in an Alpine plateau in three four-wheel drives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re 3000 to 5000 metres above sea level and all getting work out of it to go in exhibitions. The sense of scale of the place is so hard to capture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the 10 photos, six are relatively unembellished while four were with developed into black-and-white through Kemp\u2019s favoured photogravure technique.<\/p>\n
He said the contrast brings an exciting difference to the collection.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the dramatic qualities you get in photogravure and what it brings to people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I\u2019ve got quite a softer spread I\u2019ve done that are digital images where I haven\u2019t really played with their colours at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith photogravure, I etch a digital image into a photopolymer plate. I ink up the plate and you end up with certain tonal qualities of the work really standing out with black and white.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith black and white, people know it\u2019s not real, and I think that\u2019s the artist\u2019s creation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The photopolymer etching plate Kemp used to create the photogravure pieces is also featured in the show.<\/p>\n
Neverlasting is part of the 2023 Ballarat International Foto Biennale, while another 10 of Kemp\u2019s images from his trip to Argentina trip will go on display tomorrow at Mr Jones Dining as part of the event\u2019s open program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A LOCAL photographer is realising an artistic goal nearly a decade after picking up a camera. Following his attendance of a Ballarat International Foto Biennale exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat\u2019s Backspace venue in 2015, one of Ian Kemp\u2019s creative endeavours has been to display in the space himself. Now his Neverlasting exhibition, which […]<\/p>\n