Special 25th Anniversary Offers

This year marks the 25th anniversary of my becoming a full-time professional photographer and I would like to let you know about two celebratory offers. I hope you will find them helpful for your photographic needs this year. Feel free to get in touch for no obligation advice or help for any photography work you may be considering. 


Details are below the slideshow -


Anniversary Gallery - Images by Paul Foley

Offer 1 is specifically designed for any large scale photography projects you may be planning for 2011. The very originally named 'Book 3 or more days & get the 4th for free' Major Assignments Promotion, although a little long winded, represents up to a 25% saving on photography fees.

For assignments of 3 days or more I am offering the 4th day's fee for free. This can be used to make more pictures or even allow for extra time for the existing shot list to broaden the scope and variety of the images. The value of the free day fee can also be applied to the total price if the shoot requires just 3 days.

To provide even greater flexibility a 3 or 4 day slot will be allocated a 5 day period and then can be scheduled as required. For weather dependant shoots this will include a 'raincheck day' to help cope with less than ideal conditions. Essentially, book me for 3 days, schedule 4 days photography and within a 5 day period you will have an extra one to cover for bad weather. It's just another example of how I understand and cater for the vagaries of multi-day assignments. Travel/accommodation charges may apply for location assignments.

There are 2 slots available each month from February to December 2011 for work anywhere in Australia. At this stage you can register your interest or reserve preferred months/slots. The final dates can be worked out closer to the time of the shoot. There is no obligation if you decide not to use your reservation or you can reschedule to another month (subject to my other bookings). All you need do now is register your interest or reserve a slot then send me a brief or outline so I can price the assignment for your consideration. To confirm a booking the usual arrangements of an order/agreement and/or deposit will apply. This offer ends when all slots are allocated.

Offer 2 is for photography assignments of 1 or 2 days and offers 25% off the usual day fees. Just send me a brief or outline and (without obligation) I'll show you the services, experience and savings I can offer. Offer available until end of March, 2011

best wishes

Paul

The vanity and bravery of a true portrait.

Later this month one of my portraits will hang in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra as part of the prestigious 2011 National Photographic Portrait Prize.

While making the exhibition print I spent quite a few hours inspecting very closely the technical details of ink on paper. When I stood away from the print to see the whole picture again I was reminded how a portrait is much more than just a face. It's the story that led to that face, to the light in the eyes and the gaze that opened the camera shutter when the moment was judged to be decisive.

I love photographing people and I do a lot of it. Usually though, it is with a predetermined message in mind and the faces involved are really a means to an end. It's fun to do and rewarding to encourage an emotion - to help create a look that is 'on message' and interpreting the brief.

A true portrait, on the other hand, requires commitment from both subject and photographer in a different way. The subject requires certain amount of vanity just to stand in front of a lens in the first place but it is a vanity rooted in reality and with the confidence (bravery) to express that reality.

The photographer needs vanity and bravery as well. Vanity to believe in her or his vision and the bravery to express it truly yet respectfully. A thoughtful portrait will be both reality and hope - it takes time to create and is an evolving collaborative process.

If you know someone who might be ready to have their portrait made, please ask them to get in touch. 

Vote for the Lone Tree @ the Saatchi Gallery, please.

I 'discovered' the Saatchi Online Gallery through a link from the brilliant Australian artist Margarita Georgiadis. It's a great access point for artists and art lovers to discover and share art. Thanks Margarita!

In their own words....

'We are an open social platform providing the global art community with a new way to discover, share, exhibit, promote, discuss and sell art online. We banded together a dream team of caffeine-fueled developers, creative conceptualists, an international network of talented programmers, emerging and established creators, and self-professed "artoholics" to generate this new frontier. We built this site for artists, art lovers, and anyone who appreciates a creative envinroment. It is a free and open landscape to foster talent, support the process, share ideas and influences and exhibit the result of artistic self-expression. Please let us know if you are feeling at home or if there is anything we can work on to improve the landscape.'

While only new to the gallery I have found it exciting to be a part of. It's a quality way to show off my pictures and to be inspired by all kinds of ideas and the creative, beautiful executions of those ideas.

For the art lover it's a great place to wander around, explore, enjoy and learn. A very pleasant, if temporary, escape from a busy world.

Part of Saatchi Online is their regular Showdown - an online tournament. Saatchi Online artists can showcase their work and go head-to-head with other artists on the site. Saatchi Online members can vote for their favorite works of art and give one winner and one runner-up a chance to display their art at the Saatchi Gallery in London and other possible venues in major art markets.

I voted in the most recent Showdown and found it very educational in helping me understand why I might like one piece of art over another. At first I was voting very quickly - relying on my gut instinct on what appealed and what didn't. After a few minutes I found myself taking a little more time and questioning my first impressions. Why did I like this one more than that? What took my attention first? Colours? Tones? Composition? Subject?

Not surprisingly, I found it was all of those things and more but with different emphasis with every picture. It would be interesting to hear how you find it.

I've entered in the new Showdown and hope you could spend a few moments voting for my Lone Tree.  I took it a while ago now but it is a favourite and important to why I love photography.

Just follow this link (there's a quick registration required) to vote. If you have some free time check out a few of the other entries and have some fun finding out a little more about why you like what you like.

With your help the tree might get to tell its story in Saatchi's London gallery. Thanks and Enjoy!

Artist Statement

I found this tree on a ridge line in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. When I made the picture I saw it as a stoic, if singular reminder, of what the landscape in the valley had once been like when many thousands (millions?) of eucalyptus trees covered the land. Later, when I looked at the print, I also saw in it the determination of the individual and at the same time the futility of the "last stand". The almost vacant, sparse landscape that attracted my eye and excited me photographically now caused a deep sadness. It was as if my forebears had cleared the land of so many trees to give me my picture and by bearing witness with my camera I vindicated the thoughtless waste. These days I prefer to see the Lone Tree's symbolism more positively - the "last stand" may not be futile. At least it has me taking responsibility for the mark I make on my part of the planet. Not a perfect or complete solution, I know...