SoonHoe

 

 

I am a self-taught photographer. Since the early 90’s, I have been taking photographs with my old Nikon manual film camera. With the advent of digital, I retained the same approach to photography by using film-based techniques on a digital platform. I still use film of course and the contemplative nature to film photography still stays with me. My focus in photography is to capture the moment as it is seen or felt at that time. Hence, very little post-processing is applied to the images that I take. 

 

I turned professional in 2015 with my first exhibition in Fitzroy. Invoke/Momentum is a collection of black and whites taken on film and digital since 2008. I was invited back to Malaysia that year to anchor the visual segment of the Kuala Lumpur International Arts Festival with that series. Invoke/Momentum has been exhibited in a few locations in Melbourne and Sydney since then.

 

My approach to photographic art is to create bodies of work that are first conceptualised either through inspired observation or my surroundings. Consequently, two bodies of work were inspired within the Dandenong Ranges National Park in Kalorama where I have a home studio.

 

These two bodies of work are Labyrinth and Forest Unmasked. For the show at KAPI ArtSpace, Labyrinth is the main feature.

 

An example of when the surroundings provide the inspiration for a body of work is Wonderland - a collection of images captured on film and digital from a 3 week sojourn to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia in the winter of 2018. The land spoke for itself. I ( and my camera) was only a conduit to the magic of the Flinders Ranges. 

 

Labyrinth

 

In 2017, I was given a link to a TEDtalk of a Dr. Suzanne Simard on “How do trees talk to each other”. What she said in that talk, sort of, confirmed something that I had subconsciously felt yet not understood. I went on to read a book entitled “The Hidden Lives of Trees” by Peter Wohlleben which explains how a forest is really a single  yet complex ecosystem of interacting, supporting organisms and where trees are the pillars that make up nature’s world-wide-web.

 

Back in Malaysia, there is a forested spot well-known the world over for “crown-shyness”. An area of fully grown over 80 foot rainforest trees ( of the same species) where the crown of one tree would not come into contact with the crown of a neighbouring tree. Somehow, the trees in the area decided amongst themselves not to overlap each other’s crowns. Therefore, looking up from below, one would observe an interesting pattern of interlocking yet not-overlapping tree crowns. A labyrinth of sky and trees. In recent years, a few other spots around the world have reported occurrences of crown shyness. 

 

Being in the forest is one of my favourite things to do. I am one of those who can sit quietly amongst the trees and just absorb the energy around me - being one with nature.Therefore, when Dr. Suzanne Simard and Peter Wohlleben wrote about their respective understanding of a forest, It sort of joined the dots for me.

 

In 2017, I thought that I could locate a similar crown-shyness occurrence in the Dandenong Ranges. I did and Labyrinth is it. Being a photographic artist, I have attempted to create Labyrinth in an artistic way. The patterns created by clouds, the blue sky and early morning sun rays were patiently captured to illustrate my take on crown shyness in Kalorama.

 

Invoke/Momentum

 

The interplay between the fluid water, deceptive light, floating waves, shifting seabed and gracefully dancing fish invoke still visuals that move. Only in Black and White do our vision filter through the complexities of the seas and allow us to see this moving energy. The resultant feeling is untainted and enduring.

 

Invoke/Momentum is a series of black and white photographs which portrays synchronised movement within the sea environment. I have attempted to capture the visual energy naturally created by the interplay between water, waves, light and fish. Painting or sketch-like, the series directs the viewer to focus on the shapes and seemingly moving patterns of the subject matter and its interaction with the delicate environment. 

 

Mostly captured in digital and 35mm film formats, patience and persistence were required in creating the artwork. I had to be at the right place at the right time and under the right conditions. Very little post-processing is applied.

 

Islands favoured by fishermen in Malaysia were the location where these images were captured. The school of fish, being wild, as expected was not easy to locate. I had to seek local knowledge and made several trips there between 2008 and 2016. 

 

Wonderland

The Flinders Ranges is one example of what outback Australia truly has to offer. It is immensely beautiful. I could have stood at one spot staring at the landscape the whole day. There is nothing more to say, nothing more to imagine. Whatever that stood before me, said everything that needed to be said. Wonderland is an attempt to translate that magic to the audience without embellishment. Just picture composition. Enough said.

 

 

Exhibitions

 

Whitehorse ArtSpace, Box Hill, Australia April and May 2018

RHB Bank “Art with Heart” Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Dec 2017

Black Eye Gallery, Darlinghurst NSW Jul/Aug 2017

Without Pier Gallery, Cheltenham May 2017

CoolArt, Mornington Peninsular Jan 2017

Colour Factory Gallery, Fitzroy Oct 2016

Black Eye Gallery, Darlinghurst NSW June 2016

PinkGuy Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Dec 2015

RGB Cafe and Gallery, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Oct/Nov 2015

Kuala Lumpur International Arts Festival, Malaysia Aug 2015

Colour Factory Gallery Fitzroy Jul 2015

 

My work has been sold to collectors in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, Malaysia, the UK and Germany. All work are in limited edition of between 2 and 8.

 

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SoonHoe

Tel 0481399379

justsoonhoe@gmail.com

www.soonhoe.com.au

Kalorama, VIC.

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 Rob Love

 

Rob Love is a Melbourne-based award-winning photographer who’s images hang in a major Los Angeles medical center and private collections in the US east Coast. His photographs have also been acquired by collectors locally in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland.

Rob was recognised by the US Professional Photographers Association with an Award of Distinction, in 1996. Hewas invited to address the New Zealand Professional Photographers Association in 1992 and the Institute of Photographic Technology seminar at RMIT Universityin 2009.

Rob has exhibited widely in Melbourne, including Without Pier, Black Eye Gallery, Sydney, Colour Factory, Fitzroy, Gold Street Studios, and the MLC Acquisitive Art Exhibition. Rob was also selected for the USA Darkroom Gallery ‘About Trees’ juried exhibition in 2013.

As a commentator, photographer and journalist Rob was intimately involved in the America’s Cup from 1983 through to 1992. He covered the 1987 World 12 metre Championships in Sardinia, the Admirals Cup 1989, sailed on Fisher and Paykel NZ in the 1989 Fastnett race and was information officer for the 1988 NZ America’s Cup challenge in San Diego.

From1989 to 1992, he was Yachting editor for Boating NZ and concurrently founding editor and main photographer for the upscale STYLE magazine.

He has twice been a semifinalist in the prestigious Moran Contemporary Photographic Competition.

 

Rob's Work

 

"Rob creates breathtaking photographs of the natural interplay of water and light. The images are captured by applying slightly extended shutter speeds, and without the use of image-enhancing software." 

 

"Rob Love has an affinity to light and its interplay with the natural environment. This attraction has inspired his work since he first pressed a shutter decades ago.  For years, he explored clouds and his work provided the backdrop for an international publication that was translated into 13 languages. His latest work explores the visual symphony created when sunlight dances with water."

Ellie Young, Gold Street Studios

 

"The photographs are spiritual, tranquil but with an energy that pulls you into the depth of the waves - you cannot look away." 

Simon Johnston, Professor, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena California

"Rob Love's beautifully crafted images of waves capture the ceaseless energy and flux of the ocean, and by implication, all of nature. This is what each moment, each now, looks like: ever renewing, ever fresh, ever different." 

Dr John Horton, Hanzelik and Horton medical practice, Westlake Village, CA

 

"Rob Love's photographs have graced our medical practice reception area for many years. Patients frequently ask where a photo was taken or who the artist is. We have a mix of photographers in reception, but the comments and questions are always about Rob's work. Our patients have come to expect a warm, calming and welcoming feeling in our office and Rob's photos are a big part of that feeling. One "image, in particular, is a beach in late dusk with the most incredible amber light, waves and twinkling lights in the background, waves and sand in a perfect dance. Rob not only has an eye, but can capture nature at its most gorgeous!" 

Jordie Albiston, winner of the 2010 NSW Premier's Award for poetry

 

"Rob Love's clouds are unique: moody, majestic beings that possess something godlike. I have a fuming cumulonimbus on my wall, with thirteen tiny birds flying across its mouth. These birds are so perfect, I thought Rob must have photoshopped them: he hadn't. My cloud is alive. It has continued to change & alter (as well as changing & altering me) years after first finding its place on my wall." 

 

 

Exhibitions

 

Current

Exhibition opening August 26th at Gold Street Studios.

Official opening 2pm by Ellie Young.

Everyone welcome.

Gold Street Studios & Gallery, 700 James Ln, Trentham East, from 22 August – 21 October 2018

A chance acquisition of a 1950s Zeiss Contax reignited Rob’s passion for black and white film photography.

The end of Rob’s street leads on to Port Phillip Bay. That brings wonderful interactions with light, sky, water and people and rich pickings for black and white photography.

The Zeiss Contax IIIA is also relatively discreet and that helps in spontaneous settings.

Master printer Les Manning worked with Rob in producing these silver gelatin photographs.

http://www.goldstreetstudios.com.au

 

Past Exhibitions

·       Black Eye Gallery July 18 - August 6, 2017, 3/138 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst, NSW

·       Without Pier Gallery May 7-29, 2017, 320 Bay Road, Cheltenham

·       Exhibition at Coolart Homestead Exhibition, Somers, January 7-28, 2017.

·       2016 Colour Factory, Gore Street Fitzroy October-December.

·       2016 Black Eye Gallery, Darlinghurst, Sydney July.

·       2015 Solo exhibition with the Colour Factory, Fitzroy, Melbourne.

·       2013 Gallery U, Red Bank, New Jersey United States
Cover image promoting the exhibition.

·       Semi finalist 2012 and 2013 Moran Contemporary Photographic Competition.

·       Darkroom Gallery, USA, Among Trees 2012 juried exhibition.

·       2007 Entrant in Oceania Photographic Competition.

·       Two works accepted for 2005 MLC Acquisitive Art Exhibition.

·       Invited to address the Institute of Photographic Technology seminar in May 2005 at RMIT university.

·       2003 Exhibited at the Gold Street Studios Gallery, Collingwood.

·       2003 solo exhibition at the Kingston Arts Centre, Melbourne.

·       In April 2002, solo exhibition with the Photographers Gallery in South Yarra and then a combined exhibition at the same Gallery later in 2002.

·       2002 Exhibition in the Rembar Gallery, Armadale.

·       2000 Commissioned by LA doctor's clinic for series of photos for reception area.

·       My photography appears in several books produced in the US.

·       1996 Award of Distinction from the US Professional Photographers Association.

·       1992-2001 numerous photographic assignments throughout the United States, Asia, Australia and Europe.