Excursion to “The Dark Side” for Photography Class

On Friday July 28^th, Year 10 Photography students had the opportunity to view “The Dark Side”, a body of work produced by local photographer, Ross Allen, with the artist himself in attendance to discuss his practice.

Ross introduced himself to the students, explaining how his photography interest began with graphic design and commercial photography in Melbourne. He explained how this collection – his second exhibition at the Nautilus Arts Centre – concentrates on black and white images so that details can be highlighted, and the viewer can focus on elements other than colour. He strives to capture subjects in the real world in interesting ways.

The photographs feature images from our local area, interstate and around the world. He uses minimal manipulation apart from cropping and exposure adjustment in order to emulate exactly what he sees with his own eyes on location.

Our students have recently been focusing on compositional techniques and were given two specific techniques to identify in Ross’s work. They were motivated to look closely at the photographs and analyse the way he has creatively worked with composition.

We are extremely grateful to Ross for his generosity of time and his willingness to share insights and experience with our young photographers; he definitely helped to enrich their knowledge of the artform.

~ Mrs. Annette Kelson (Photography Teacher)