INSTAGRAM LOVE…

Balingup, Sean & the first fire of the season ©Sam Harris 2013

I am perhaps a bit late to the party, but recently i’ve been playing with my iPhone and Instagram and loving it! For me it’s an opportunity to be more spontaneous with my photography, expand my diary and share images that would otherwise just sit in a hard drive.

This is a welcome change for me as usually my work process is much slower. With my family work, Postcards from Home and the new series The Middle of Somewhere I’ll often wait a year or more before trawling through my archive to discover what i have.

But it’s not only about shooting and sharing… Instagram is also about staying in touch and seeing  other photographers images.

Take a look on Instagram – samharrisphoto and check out those i follow…

Bali ©Sam Harris 2013

Bali ©Sam Harris 2013

when the ink runs out… print error ©Sam Harris 2013

Balingup ©Sam Harris 2013

Balingup ©Sam Harris 2013

Perth ©Sam Harris 2013

Bali ©Sam Harris 2013

PUBLISHED IN CHINA

Photoworld – China. Feb issue 2013

Celebrated Chinese art-photo magazine Photoworld has run a 13 page feature on Postcards from Home in their February edition. This is one of 12 monthly features on the works of contemporary Australian photomedia artists, curated and written by Alasdair Foster.

below are a few pages from the article, including some new images from the forthcoming series ‘the middle of somewhere’

Photoworld – China. Feb issue 2013

Photoworld – China. Feb issue 2013

Photoworld – China. Feb issue 2013

Photoworld – China. Feb issue 2013

STRANGELOVE REVISITED

Patrick (Paddy) Duff – Strangelove © Sam Harris 1993

20 years ago, back in February 1993 i directed my first ever video clip for the band Strangelove. I’d just returned to London after living in L.A. for a year and back then i was still very much experimenting with my creative direction.  Hollywood is full of movie people and culture so perhaps it was only natural that i wanted to  get into directing, and with my love of music, video clips…

Stranglelove were a new band that i’d just photographed for Food records. I liked the band, their energy and attitude. Paddy the lead singer was a great performer who reminded me of a sort of Dickensian cross between Johnny Lydon and Morrissey. So when the band’s manager Cerne asked me if i wanted to have a go at making a video clip, albeit on a shoestring budget… i jumped at the chance!

Hysteria Unknown was shot on Super 8 film (camera Susie Hug) at Rockfield recording studios, Wales over one night with additional material shot on the way home, along the Old Kent Road and at Kings Cross, London. I edited the footage with the help of my friend, film director Gareth Roberts.

We were all pretty happy with the result and MTV played it on rotation on the show Alternative Nation.

I enjoyed the process and the result and went on to make a few more music videos, but eventually made the decision to dedicate myself to documentary photography and my diary.

Below you can check  out my 1993 directorial début

Strangelove – Hysteria Unknown 1993

RECENTLY…

a few from the light table

#1 © Sam Harris 2012

I’ve been beginning the process of editing my next series ‘the middle of somewhere’.

Meanwhile i’m always shooting and these are a few I took recently. I’m not sure yet which ones i’ll end up using if any… but something i always find interesting is the process of selection and elimination and the idea of finding the definitive image from a sequence… the one shot… Sometimes i feel the sequence itself has something more to reveal, something else more akin to the flow of cinema… any thoughts on this?

© Sam Harris 2012

#3 © Sam Harris 2012

#4 © Sam Harris 2012

#5 © Sam Harris 2012

#6 © Sam Harris 2012

#7 © Sam Harris 2012

#8 © Sam Harris 2012

#9 © Sam Harris 2012

#10 © Sam Harris 2012

#11 © Sam Harris 2012

BOOK OF THE YEAR & AUSTRALIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR

Postcards from Home wins the 36th Annual Galley Club Publishing Awards – Book of the Year & Australian Book of the Year.

Totally unexpected, i’m blown away and greatly humbled… This is the first time ever a self-published / print-on-demand book has won either of the two main titles at the annual publishing awards. Up against major publishing houses such as Thames & Hudson, Penguin, Random House, Harper Collins and Hachette et al, this is a milestone for indie book makers everywhere!

“The Galley Club of Sydney encourages and promotes the highest standards of excellence in book and magazine production”.

A special thank you and well done!! goes out to my book making partners Momento Pro Australia for fantastic printing and binding… Teamwork!!

Look inside the Limited Edition of 50 version below:

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from the book Postcards from Home © Sam Harris

from the book Postcards from Home © Sam Harris

NIGHT WALK

Jana Zilcayova, New Delhi – Photo Sam Harris © 2012

McLeod Ganj – Photo Sam Harris © 2012

McLeod Ganj – Photo Sam Harris © 2012

McLeod Ganj – Photo Sam Harris © 2012

McLeod Ganj – Photo Sam Harris © 2012

McLeod Ganj – Photo Sam Harris © 2012

McLeod Ganj – Photo Sam Harris © 2012

Night bus to Delhi – Sam Harris © 2012

McLeod Ganj for me will always be McCloud Ganj… this small town nestled high in Indian Himalayas is after all cloud covered much of the time. But also McLeod Ganj is home to the Tibetans in exile, dreams and prayers fill the air as a people led by the Dali Lama hope to one day return home. So again, the cloud for me always symbolic with dreams and perhaps prayers too, comes to mind. I like to call the place McCloud Ganj…

I was there to convalesce and feeling weak i didn’t have much energy for anything, even photography… However, the night before i left, feeling better and hanging around the town square, buzzing with life as the weekend Punjabi tourists filled the night air with noisy excitement, a flash of colour caught my eye and out came my camera.  Most of the above photos were made in a burst of about 10 minutes as i walked through town.

BALINGUP MEDIEVAL CARNIVAL

Once a year my adopted home town, Balingup (Pop: 500) is transformed for the weekend and taken over by thousands of Medieval clad fanatics. They come from far and wide… not only from Perth and the surrounding region but also as far away as the east coast. Dressed in full attire whether princess or pauper, monk or maid they really go the whole nine yards.

This year together with Claire Martin, i ran a weekend photography workshop. One aspect of the workshop was a portrait booth / tent set up at the heart of the carnival where students practiced taking portraits. I couldn’t stop myself from jumping in and taking a few shots myself.

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Claire Martin with subjects at our workshop portrait tent – © Sam Harris 2012

The candle lit banquet.This shot was taken by one of our students. Photo by Tony Stefanhof © 2012

Balingup Medieval Carnival  © Sam Harris 2012

Balingup Medieval Carnival  ©  Sam Harris 2012

Balingup Medieval Carnival  © Sam Harris 2012

Balingup Medieval Carnival © Sam Harris 2012