A concept for the awards can be floating around in my head for months, and this image is one of them!
The idea was complex and I delayed the shoot several times. Could my sewing machine even sew the pages of a book into a dress?
I managed to procrastinate all the way up until 2 weeks before the 2017 Australian Professional Photography Awards (APPAs). With one more shoot to do, should I use glue, sticky tape or stitch the pages together by hand?
I nervously sat at my sewing machine with the loose pages and began to sew. The paper moved beautifully under the needle.
It was very exciting, but I knew I had hours of work ahead of me. For anyone who wants to know what the pages of the book is about, I spent the next four days ripping out the pages from "The Triumph of the Sun". I hope Wilbur Smith will understand! I sewed and pinned the pages to an old paper pattern that I last used in high school in 1987!!
Casting for the shoot was going to be important, after all, the subject was going to be stitching together the pages of her life. She had to show that she had lived and experienced a life. She was mature and petite with an expression of wisdom.
My heartfelt thanks goes to Brenda who is the very image of the woman I had floating around in my mind. Brenda beautifully played the role with patience and style! But what is wisdom without someone to share it with? That's where Amber acted out the role as the perfect apprentice - full of curiosity with a love of reading. Amber, you have a bright future and I want to also personally thank you for playing the role.
This had been my biggest APPA project to date. The shoot location was a friend's old house, complete with peeling wall paper. The peeling of wall paper in dreams can also have meaning to letting one's guard down and revealing something of one's self. The meaning of the image is broad and can have multiple interpretations. In the end, the idea is to allow the viewer's imagination to read in to the story.
Competing against the best photographers in Australia is a great motivation and measure of where you fit in to the industry. Winning a Gold Award is reward for the hours spent in planning and then executing a vision. I am beyond excited with my results this year!