Thoughts on the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2008

The Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize has been announced and the pictures are on the wall. As a consequence, my personal embargo on discussing the matter has passed and I am free to grant those interested in my mindset a glimpse into the rationale behind my final decisions.



I was very honoured to be asked to judge the nearly 3,000 entries submitted for the prize this year. The Moran is currently the richest photographic prize in Australia and this is only the second year it has been run. To be solely responsible for the selection of finalists and ultimately the winners in all categories was an immense responsibility. It has been a fantastic experience and I hope my selection of photographs meets with the approval of the majority of those who will visit the show or view it online.



I say majority because I know not everyone will agree with my choices. They are after all just that, my choices. To describe them as the best would be naive. In art there can never be such a thing as a definitive best. Photography is not like a running race or a cricket match. There is no finishing line or top score that ultimately determines better or worse. It is purely a subjective assessment that comes down to an individual’s preferences. And even then a person’s subjectivity can vary over time. It can even change over just a few weeks. Were I to judge the Moran again next week, it is highly conceivable my choices would be different.

I’ve been asked what my criteria was for my selection. Before I accepted the challenge I made it clear that I would only do so if the works remained anonymous. I did not want to be influenced either way by factors other than the work itself. As an example, I find very often that foreknowledge of a character, storyline or outcome will be a disincentive for me, rather than a motivation when choosing a film to see. Not knowing who the artists were in this instance made my task much easier as it removed the subtext that would otherwise have clouded or frustrated my desire for unbiased judgement. I also believe it is the only way to genuinely choose an exhibition of works on merit rather than on reputation. Either method is valid in my view, but to pretend one is the other is not.

Once I sat down in the room in front of the voluptuous 40” monitor I preceded the selection process by scanning quickly through the pages of thumbnails. I will say at this time that the eventual winner was an image that caught my attention at that very first moment. It was a curious image that was not fully evident at that small size. But as I went through each photograph one by one I came across it at full size and was further enlightened. I became enthralled by it. Throughout the judging process it held my interest and ultimately satisfied my own criteria for the outright winner that I had set down for myself before I started.

What then was it that governed my ultimate choices for the forty Open finalists and accompanying School section? First and foremost I chose images that I felt were visually powerful. Compositional dynamics played a big role. Even more so than subject. Composition was in my mind, not just a linear equation but one that encompassed colour as well as form. The form being primarily a consequence of light and texture. While colour played an equally powerful role as an energetic force. To me these factors were well beyond the fundamentals of the Golden Mean. They were and are the building blocks of the visual aesthetics that govern eloquent photography.

Of course subject was all important in that I believe photography is the art of visual storytelling. The ability to communicate a thought, or history, or state of being in a single frame. A momentary slice of time and place. What I sometime call “a sliver of the universe”. For me a photograph that has no story has no soul. That story may simply be the richness and delicacy of a red rose in the morning dew or it could be the tragedy of a starving child in the debris of disaster. By contrast it may simply be the innocence of a well adjusted child from a caring middleclass family. Whatever the story, it should be told with eloquence, sincerity and depth.

At this point I should clarify what I mean by this. I do not believe a photograph’s story must be in itself ‘deep and meaningful’. Nor must it contain the ingredients for an academic discourse on the meaning and substance of the subject matter. I find such opinions are often superficial hyperbole for the benefit of those incapable of producing works of merit themselves and who choose instead to feed off those who can. My problem with such approaches is that they avoid quiet categorically the discussion of aesthetics. This I understand is because aesthetics is a subjective realm and therefore cannot be quantified in any scientific manner. I reject such analysis as insubstantial. We cannot accept a critique of music that ignores the melody and engages itself purely in a dissection of the lyrics alone. Why then should we accept such an approach in assessing in photography? Aesthetics is the melody that transports the visual story we seek to communicate to our audiences. Had John Lennon put the words of his iconic song Imagine to a less rousing tune, would the world have sung along regardless? I think not. So without question, it is the style and form a photograph takes that sits in partnership with its verse to ultimately determine its place in history.

This brings me to my second assessment of the pictures I chose. I responded to images that employed a style that was to my eye new or different. Techniques that I considered less predictable or commonplace. All too often a photographer will seek to mimic another’s style that has been judged well in previous years or venues. For instance, I see a lot of portraits today that are derivatives of Richard Avedon’s famous large format full frontal and very static portraits that he initiated many years ago with images of his aged father. I experienced the manifestation of this style first hand some years ago when I visited an exhibition of his American West series at a gallery in Barcelona. Whilst portraits that mirror Avedon’s original style are powerful descriptions of the subject, they do not in my mind constitute contemporary ground breaking work.

In saying this, I am opening up a quandary far deeper than the judging of a prize. Quiet simply, what if anything is new? Have we already explored all corners of the aesthetic landscape and are we in fact simply redrawing a scenery that the pioneers trudged over decades before us. Surely this argument must be true in fashion, music and even painting. How, therefore, do we assess the merits of a photographer’s work in the context of defining what is contemporary. Or are we merely determining its fashion status within the confines of a repetitious trajectory of accepted novelty. I’ll leave that discussion for another day.

Thirdly, I felt it was important to select images that would form a worthy exhibition. A collection of photographs that would engage and entertain an audience. Images that would challenge, some that would amuse, others that would question. Very importantly, a selection not all leaning in one direction paying homage to the judge’s personal preference. In that I found it hard at times to determine the worthiness of artworks that were not in step with my own chosen speciality. In grappling with this I found myself returning to my original preface in that the exhibition was to be made up of my own choices of what I liked and valued without compromise to the opinions of others. The substance of the sole judge philosophy. If others more learned in a specific genre than I, challenge my assessment, then fair enough. I acknowledge that they may have a deeper understanding of the technical or subjective aspects of the work than me. In the end I can only do the best I can with the tools at hand and be prepared to let the audience determine the level of my success.

Whether you agree or disagree with my approach, I would be interested to hear your thoughts. I can be emailed at North@ThePhotoStudio.com.au

View the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize on-line at or visit the exhibition at The State Library of NSW 10 March 2008 until 4 May 2008.

The Mini Supermodel Mini Photo-shoot

Balmain Art & Craft Show at Father John Therry.

The Photo Studio was delighted to be part of the Balmain Art & Craft Show activities last November. Now in its 13 th year, the show has become a popular fixture on the arts calendar in the inner west. For the first time, this year we set up an out-door portrait studio in the Kid’s Activity Area. For a small contribution, kids were invited to be photographed by leading advertising and people/portrait photographer North Sullivan. He and his crew treated the children to a fun and entertaining session that was every bit the real thing, only smaller. Parents looked on with amusement as North wove his magic and brought a smile and a giggle to the face of even the most reluctant star.



The images were then brought up on computer screens and the parents and subjects got to view the 20 to 30 shots then and there and to choose their favourite. The images were later given The Photo Studio magic with special enhancing and retouching tricks to make every portrait truly shine. Each session included a beautifully handcrafted archival fine-art mini-print.



The photographs made wonderful Christmas presents for Grandparents and friends, while others were destined to take pride of place on the family mantelpiece. Everyone had a fabulous time, especially the kids and best of all, the portrait project contributed nicely to the weekend’s charity fundraising.



Thanks to all the hard working volunteers from the parent community at Father John Therry School. A special thanks to Kendra and Cathy for their fabulous support.

We’re all looking forward eagerly to doing it again this year.

Portraits that tell a story.

As the upcoming judge of a rather prestigious photographic portrait prize, a few people lately have been asking me what I think makes a great portrait. So as the first entry in my newly created portrait blog, I thought that was a good place to start.

Photographing people is something I happen to be passionate about. I love the chance to engage with someone new and to gain that privileged access to a small part of their personality. I’m fascinated by people. Everyone is different and inevitably everyone has their own story to tell. And that is the challenge for me, to tell their story in a single frame. Photography is like a window through which the audience can take a peek at what lies behind the public facade. My job is to open the blinds, just a little, so the rest of the world can take a glimpse inside.

Portrait photography however is not documentary or photojournalism or paparazzi. I don’t consider it some random image caught in a blaze of flash and motor-drive in a media scrum or an image captured by a sniper with a long lens from across the street. Those images have their place on the menu and are just as valid, but they aren’t in my view portraiture. A documentary image of a beggar on the street shot without their consent or knowledge is not a portrait, its documentary photography. People pictures of any persuasion are not by default portraits. Portraits are considered, constructed and conducted. Even when the photographer deliberately allows the subject to run free in front of their lens. That to me is a technique not a definition. Some I know will disagree, but that’s my view.

Whenever I take a portrait photograph of one of my subjects, the first thing I want to do is engage with them. I need to form a connection with them on some level. More than any other genre, portraits are collaboration between subject and photographer. Even when a subject for whatever reason is uncooperative, it is still collaboration because the way in which they respond to you and the manner in which they conduct themselves, ultimately defines the photograph and in turn the story the picture tells about them.

It is common for people being photographed to be nervous and uncomfortable. So unless that is a primary part of the story you want to tell, then the first task of the photographer is to help them relax and enjoy the experience. Subjects will invariably be looking to the photographer for direction and reassurance. I believe it is the responsibility of the photographer to guide and direct the sitter with confidence and not leave them stranded out in the open with no sense of where they are supposed to be going. I have always said that a good people photographer is like a ring master in a circus or a conductor in front of an orchestra. To be a good people photographer you need leadership and a good measure of showmanship.

If someone is new to portrait photography, my first suggestion is always to get your technical stuff down pat BEFORE you start your session. There is nothing more confusing for a subject than to have the photographer worrying more about the equipment than about them. Like driving a car, learn the gears and how to steer before you take a road trip through the country or you will never see landscape.

Lastly and most importantly, make your story interesting. No one likes a boring story. Be that words or music or a photograph. If John Lennon had written the words to Imagine and put it to a not so catchy tune, no one would have bothered to listen. It is the music that carries the inspiring lyrics that bears the message. Photographs should be the same. Photography is an art and art is built on aesthetics, not technical rendition. The technical side is the craft not the art. Craft is your vehicle. But without craft there is no art, just images. It’s awfully hard to play beautiful music if you can’t hit the notes. That doesn’t mean you have to master the most complicated Beethoven Sonata. Lennon and McCartney couldn’t read music when they started the Beatles and if you have ever looked at some of their early hits you will see the structure was very basic. But it worked and worked wonderfully. So clearly it’s important to learn the craft but not to play beyond your ability. Some of the greatest photographs in the world have been the simplest.

And the final tip is present your masterpiece well. There is no point in producing a wonderfully insightful and artful photograph if the print is flat and dull and horribly pixelated. It would be like listening to that famous song on some worn out transistor radio from the 1960s. Do your picture justice and present it well.

And remember, “Every picture tells its own story”.

© North Sullivan, 13th January 2008