urban
I’m always inspired by Melbourne’s architecture, the juxtapositions of old and new are endless and make for dynamic compositions. Lately, I’m intrigued by the reflections and the abstraction created by warped perspectives. Here’s a recent one shot on Collins Street in Melbourne’s CBD.
Collins Street, Melbourne
A little while between posts, but I've been busy working on variety of new projects. In contrast to my street photography where the focus is on people, I'm also drawn to the abstraction found on our urban walls. The marks, gestures, graffiti and urban decay combine to create a layered history of moments in time. I find this really intriguing as it helps to form a dialogue between city and people. I will be exploring this concept in more detail as I experiment with new work.
This piece explores abstraction through firstly selecting some of my original photos. I don't set out with a plan of the how the work will look, it's more of an intuitive process of selecting images that speak to me at the time. I then proceed to add and subtract elements of the images by tearing of cutting as needed. In this piece I wanted to introduce some interesting layering by including transparency. Once the composition is complete, I glue it to the substrate and scan to enhance digitally. Some addition textures and minor colour adjustments were made, as seen in the final piece below.
'East' - Digital collage. Started analogue and finished digitally.
This shot was captured on Flinders Street, during my daily commute home from work. The street crossing provides a good backdrop to capture the energy of Melbourne's CBD, combining interesting architecture with people in motion. Like this image, I shoot and edit a lot of my street images with my iPhone, because it's the camera that's always with me.
On Friday 10th of June I was selected to take part in the one night only exhibition, 'TREND', presented by RAW Melbourne. RAW is an independent arts organisation for artists and focuses on spotlighting independent talent to the public.
Every second month they hand-select and showcase approximately 40 artists in film, fashion, music, visual art, photography, performing art, hair and makeup. Naturally, I was very excited to be approached to showcase with so many talented artists.
Another awesome thing about RAW is that once you've showcased in your hometown, you can then showcase at any RAW city, anywhere in the world in places like New York City, San Francisco, London... and beyond!
This was quite different to other group shows I've taken part in, as it wasn't you're usual white wall gallery exhibition. It was good experience deciding how to best display and hang the works. I created urban signage and designed some self-promotional postcards to accompany my display so that people could take away a little piece of my work, as seen below.
All works are available as limited edition prints, framed and unframed. Email lesley.bourne@gmail.com for more information on pricing.
I've been trying to challenge myself with my photography lately and experiment with more with shooting film. I seem to be more thoughtful about my composition and lighting, and I can anticipate the 'moment' better which brings a true sense of achievement. Here are a few images I shot around my neighbourhood in Brunswick and Northcote.
Here are the latest landscapes from my my 'Urban Fragments' series, capturing Melbourne abstract and up-close. I'm engaging with the streets around me with a fresh perspective and framing these small details that draw my eye on a daily basis.
These street walls are in themselves a canvas for texture, typography and photography to be revealed in abstract and interesting ways. It's the smaller details we are surrounded with and the beauty in the ordinary that I'm celebrating with these images. They have a strong focus on composition and typography and by cropping a small section and creating an abstraction, a new narrative can be created. More to come, stay tuned...
A few more images from an ongoing photographic series I've begun, 'Urban Fragments'. These images aim to abstractly document the ever changing landscape of Melbourne. Peeling back the layers and capturing the beauty in the ordinary that surround us all every day.
Welcome to my new blog! This is my first post and I am very excited to launch an exciting new project. For the past few years I have been fascinated with the urban landscape, and as a result focused much of my photographic work on this theme.
Since moving to Melbourne almost 2 years ago, my eye has become finely tuned on the plethora of stimulating texture, street art and architecture surrounding me. Working between collage and photography, the urban surrounds fuel my creativity within both mediums. The accidental collages of torn posters and the abstract formations of the power lines provide some very inspiring source materials to work with.
These often overlooked and neglected things are a constant inspiration to me and I feel an irresistible urge to record them. As a result, I have decided to begin an ongoing documentary of these abstract designs and fragments that reveal hidden layers, exposed once again to unlock new meanings.... Enjoy!