Participating in a second exhibition

Earlier this year I saw an advertisement by Garrie at the XYZ photogallery for submissions for an interesting sounding exhibiton, Japan, 2022 - 2025. 

It was an open call, with any subject matter accepted, as long as it was taken by an Australian photographer, in Japan, within those three years. 

The overall idea was to see what fascinates/interests Australian photographers, and how that intersects with Japanese aesthetics and national understanding.

To that end, the entries were to be judged by two Japanese people, a photographer, and a journalist.

With a maximum of ten entries per person, there was plenty of scope to mix up subject matter - competitions are extremely subjective, and what might be an absolute favourite might not enthuse the judges. I certainly went with a bit of a scattergun approach!

It turned out that 681 images were submitted, with 43 chosen to be printed and exhibited. 

Of those, the judges recommended that some be printed in a larger format than was initially suggested, with eight selected to go up to A2, another 15 have been selected to go up to A3 and the final 20 selections can be as large as A4.

I was fortunate enough to have two selected, one by each of the judges. One at A2, and the other at A4 which I'm pretty happy about!

We attended an opening night catchup on Friday 13 March for the exhibitors, before it officially opened on Saturday. 

There were some stunning photographs covering a range of genres, we're looking forward to going back in May with some fresh perspectives.

All the pieces on display are available to purchase, so if you decide one would look great in your space, you can arrange to take it home after the exhibition closes.

Garrie has all 681 entries as a slideshow presentation scrolling through, so there's opportunity to see what other wonderful photographs were submitted.

Thanks to Garrie at XYZ Photogallery for hosting the exhibition, the two judges, Minako Kanda and Ewerthon Tobace, and everyone who submitted their art, regardless of if they were requested to have theirs printed or not.

And, a big shout out to Prism Imaging in Moonee Ponds for doing my prints for me!

If you'd like to visit the exhibition, it's located at:

312/757 Bourke St. in Docklands.

Opening hours are from 1pm to 5 PM, Thursday through to Sunday, with this exhibition closing on 19 April.

So, I'm guessing you might be interested in what I have on the display?

Here's my two images:

Passing Shinkansen - taken while travelling north to Kumagaya on the outskirts of Tokyo from one Shinkansen of, and through a Tokyo bound train.

Tokyo station. Most Shinkansen services terminate here, and head back out, but not before a small team of cleaners pass through the train, and the seats are turned ready for the outbound journey in a few short minutes. It really is a sight to behold.

And a couple that didn’t make it…

Some cool reflections to be had in Japanese cities, I really like this one taken from the train reflected in the JR building, Takanawa, southern Tokyo

Osaka Metro, with a train arriving. Unlike the new Melbourne tunnel stations, these are only half height screen doors.

Thanks for reading, and, if you get to the exhibition, please let me know what you think.

Regards,

Scott