Beaute De La Rose

In a quiet rose garden, whispers of the earth can be heard.

Photography: Bronwyn Townsend

Model: Bree Fry

HMUA: Rose Mossman

Stylist: Jessie McNaught

Anniversary Weekend with My Love

A few weeks ago in mid-October, I celebrated my three year anniversary with my best friend and lover, Otis.

Not being able to travel on a holiday together this year, we decided to take a break from Sydney and make a weekend of it.

We left on a Thursday evening after work, heading out toward the Blue Mountains. It was super hot, and as we drove into the setting sun of the west, we ate Thai and laughed.

The first night we just settled into our room and set in for a good sleep before our adventures began the next day!

On Friday morning, we made pancakes with chocolate and strawberries, which was amazing.

Then we packed our bags and headed off to Jenolan Caves.

Along the path down to the cave entrances, I caught a beautiful Wisteria in the midday sun.

We decided to do the two hour River Cave tour. It provided some of the most sensational and beautiful shapes and images with its narrow paths, beautiful deep cave river which is 22 metres deep and all of the stalacmites and stalactites.

By the time we reached the end of the tour, the sun has dropped, and was catching the afternoon light beautifully. Nature is something truly magical.

To rest our feet after our days adventures, we treated ourselves to a spa and some afternoon snacks! We had the most amazing and tranquil view from our room which accommodated kangaroo and wombat friends as dusk rolled in.

Saturday involved bacon and eggs to get our day started, followed by horse riding and quad biking.

Otis, who is a huge dog lover, quite enjoyed the properties canine residents! We also saw tiny lambs just days old learning to walk, some goats, pigs and cows too!

Dinner was served to our room that evening, as this was our anniversary day. We had Barramundi and ribs followed by Mississippi Mudcake and ice-cream. Needless to say we were full by the end!

As we farewelled our weekend home, we drove past paddocks of horses grazing. We drove back toward Sydney to stop in at the Three Sisters and Wentworth falls on our way home.

I had the best, most relaxed and enjoyable weekend away with the best friend I could ever ask for. We had some great memories and the photos to match!

Enjoy x

NSW Bushfires; How Are They Impacting You?

As bushfires ravage through the southern highlands and Blue Mountains regions of New South Wales, we are faced with an array of confronting and graphic imagery. With over 200 houses lost, and over 100 fires burning across the state at present, our media outlets have been flooded with images and footage from the fire zones, with New South Wales now declared in a state of emergency.

How does this visual content of the disaster areas impact on our lives? For those of us who are not immediately effected by the fires can empathise with those who have been severely impacted by the destructive and devastating effects of this all too common natural disaster Australia faces each summer.

The media, as well as emergency services, rely on the impact of the imagery from scenes of the affected areas to not only report on the crisis at hand, but also educate and inform the public of the danger present. 

Too often, those who are not well informed or keeping current with the most up to date information find themselves more severely impacted and at risk than those who plan ahead and monitor the situation.

Having had my father volunteering in the Rural Fire Brigade for over 30 years, I am well adept to the severity and consequences a brutal fire season can impose. With a vast knowledge and expansive understanding of my role and duties during the event of a fire has greatly impacted on my preservation, and the assistance of others. An excellent example of a modern technological resource that provides a beneficial footage for training and educational purposes for new crews was captured on a modern favourite, the GoPro, by Jonathan Mallin

So how does this relate to you, and how can you benefit from all of this footage? You can see the early warning signs, keep up to date with alerts and emergency situations including evacuations, and do all in your power to prevent endangering yourself and your family through remaining informed and vigilant during the fire season. Too many lives have so far been lost, too many homes and memories perished in the blazes that have engulfed all in their path of destruction. The media uses this graphic footage and inform and illustrate the sheer devastation of this force of nature. These developments in the photographic and video world today only prove to be a positive asset in the digital era.

What Is Fashion Photography, Really?

Photography is the art of realism, or perhaps is it deception? With so many technological advancements and the ability to digitally manipulate images beyond recognition from their original, it’s hard to decipher whether photography, and fashion photography in particular, are as realistic as the art form once intended.

Still a relatively new art form in the scheme of the art world and its multitude of mediums, photography, in the format we understand it to be today, didn't rise until late in the timeline of art history, circa 1790.

Just as the technology adapted and changed the medium, fashion and the moral of the art form was altered too. With the introduction of computers and the digital age in the late 80’s and adobe releasing its photo editing software, Photoshop in the 90’s, truth has slowly been removed from photography. A method of digital alteration causes illusions from the original work, to what we see splashed across billboards and magazines. Airbrushing and photo manipulation has been slammed by the media and other various outlets of the past few years, with some magazines such as Seventeen Magazine, Marie Claire and The Australian Women's Weekly even turning to releasing issues featuring “no airbrushing” and “real models” (perhaps an indication that society is finally realizing that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes).

However the business of fashion photography has always been filled with illusions, this is the method of sales that the industry pushes; “Buy this dress, look amazing and score that man you've had your eye on!” or better yet “Get a tan, false lashes and this overnight miracle cream and look 10 years younger in less than 10 days!”. The propaganda of the industry has not been assisted with the advancements and increased use of photo manipulation; however it’s not all bad.

Photography, and its vast supply of flexibility and creative diversity offers a niche for just about anyone these days with image sharing over the internet made a breeze (unless of course the issues surrounding Australia’s NBN remain unresolved), and digital formats allowing all creative channels to include and deduce their own interpretation of the form. Traditionalists will still use their film and dark rooms, which offer an authentic touch that no amount of manipulation can truly replicate, but so too are there previously unsought opportunities; citizen journalists use their mobile phones to capture images of events as they’re on the scene and we can upload all those holiday snapshots for our friends to see on social media instead of spending hours passing around the printed, and seemingly long forgotten photo albums.

Dusk Dreams

 Photography: Bronwyn Townsend

HMUA: Rose Mossman

Model: Zoe Penman at Viviens Model Management

Stylist: Gee Hermiz

Why I do what I do.

The sunlight broke through the low lying clouds that crisp autumn morning. As the sky illuminated with hues of vibrant pinks and reds, the occasional click of a shutter could be heard over the rock pools. A solitary silhouette perched on the horizon, poised and ready with tripod and camera in hand…

Capturing the beauty that is the world that surrounds us is what captivates my photographers’ eye. Despite beginning my early days in the art with shooting portraits of friends at social events or the way light cast a new outlook on an object I pass by every day, usually unenthused by its presence, I developed a taste for that which I truly felt a passion for.

Gradually I turned my interests toward a new form of subject, the fast paced and ever changing realm that is fashion photography. There is nothing quite as intense as the bold stare that the audience is drawn in by from the images’ subject. Striking poses and bold colours, obscure outfits and hours of editing are what I thrive for. Fashion photography offers that which is not too dissimilar to a new lease on life, its strong and gives you a sense of freedom unlike anything else. You can create something so uniquely your own, that thousands of others love and appreciate. It is not the praise you receive for your work, but the sense of accomplishment you achieve yourself. It feels as though nothing could be quite so invigorating, seeing this tiny glimpse of any idea formulate into something beautiful and spectacular.

I view my surroundings differently. I see this infinite potential. Whilst I may photograph naturally beautiful people, they are so very much the essence of natural art, and are sometimes beyond belief. You slowly begin to notice things you’d never seen before, although they had always been there. The way the light filters through leaves as the sun slips into a slumber for the evening, or the way pain flitters across your sitters eyes before they prepare themselves for the day ahead. You read people, not only externally, but internally. You have the power to make the subject connect with themselves in a way they never have before. But most of all, you are an artist. You are the representative of beauty and pain all at once. A paradox of what fashion and beauty is supposed to be; you are the truth in the lies.

Who Am I?

In Short, I am a twenty-one year old with some big dreams, several yet to be completed studies and a general sense of wanderlust.

However if you dare to delve deeper, you will discover a writer, poet and photographer who views their world with eyes more focused like the lens of a camera, than the mindset of a typical Gen Y. Those big dreams are slowly becoming reality as my photography work is splashed across pages of magazines, and I’m never comfortable if I’m not learning. Living in Sydney far from satisfies my hunger to explore, and I don’t expect to be settled for long.

My avatar has been selected as I feel it depicts the very essence of who I am. It’s simple, and shows my followers exactly who I am. As a photographer, and someone who follows a myriad of other photographers in the industry, I find our own image gets lost in the mix as people are more familiar with our work, than us. Yes, this is the classic “selfie” from Instagram, and that’s exactly what I want, a true representation of me, not a logo or one of the images of my work. It’s a personal touch, for a personal art.