I’ve just been fortunate enough to receive some great news about one of my black and white photographs of Luna Park. I have entered the photo in a selection of competitions and recently heard that it received third place in the Crown Sydney Artist Initiative in the black and white category.
I took this photo from under the harbour bridge with a long lens, and aimed to remove all the distractions from around the famous entrance of the theme park.
To achieve this I stopped down to reduce the amount of light hitting the sensor, then worked the photo a little further in photoshop by converting to black and white.
To begin with, I didn’t really like the photograph. It looked much better in my head than what I saw on the screen when I open the memory card at home. It was actually discarded for some months before I returned and unlocked its potential.
The end result looks like an artist’s drawing or etching from a distance, only revealing itself as a photograph once the viewer gets closer and sees the small details that only a camera could reproduce.
The competition was aimed at up-and-coming photographers and I, alongside the other winners and finalists, will have my work showcased inside the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort in Barangaroo when it’s completed later this year.
The winners will also be published in the Art of Crown hardbound book, which will be featured in all Crown Resorts properties, and exhibited at the 2019 Crown Sydney Artist Initiative Finalist Exhibition, which I am particularly excited about. It will be the first time my work has been printed and shown publicly.
Just having my work and name inside the hotel is a great honour, and one which will hopefully open a few doors should the clientele of the hotel appreciate my work and come looking for more.
In the meantime, it's a small victory to be savoured!