Capturing the right image

October 2004

A growing band of high-profile photographic artists and practitioners are re-engaging with their art form and exploring the possibilities that advances in technology can bring to the production of an image. Karen Stichtenoth reports.

Picture perfect: Rod McNicol's passion for photography has come full circle. Photo: Greg Ford

Award-winning photographer Rod McNicol's passion for photography has come full circle. Thirty years after enrolling in a Diploma of Art (Photography) at the former Prahran College, he has begun a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) by research in photomedia at Monash University.

Mr Nicol's photographic portrait work has long been recognised for its excellence. His work is included in collections at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library of Australia and the Bibliotèque Nationale in Paris.

In April this year he won the Citigroup Private Bank Australian Photographic Prize for his portrait 'Robert Hunter 1984 and 2004'.

His MFA thesis expands on his A Portrait series of 40 black and white portraits he took 20 years ago and exhibited in Melbourne, Kracow in Poland, and Paris.

The direct, full-frontal images of his contemporaries - including fellow artists and actors - were taken against the same background in the same daylight studio situation. As part of his research, he plans to bring his original subjects back to the same situations and re-photograph them, this time in colour.

Photomedia as an area of study within the Art and Design faculty at Monash's Caulfield campus has experienced a surge in interest at undergraduate and postgraduate level over the past couple of years.

Course coordinator Mr Vince Dziekan says this is largely because of the faculty's forward-looking approach to the discipline, its strong reputation in research and state-of-the-art facilities. Photomedia students are encouraged to go forward with their practice and be innovative.

"Photomedia is about connecting up and converging with what's traditionally been defined as photography practice with a much more contemporary application of image-making," Mr Dziekan says.

"Students still get the chance to go into the darkroom, but by the time they move to a more mature stage of their practice within the course, they will have also been exposed to digital processes, digital video and digital imaging approaches, enabling them to create more sophisticated image-based work.

"Rod is a photographer working within the traditions of image-making from photography, but he is also part of a cohort of research students at a similar level who are working with some very savvy technological issues in their work."

Mr McNicol's decision to study at Monash, when he could have simply developed an exhibition in its own right, was based on his belief that a rigorous research structure for his project would give him the best chance of fulfilling the potential of the series he has waited 20 years to complete.

Almost a year into the course, he has no doubts that he made the right decision.

"Doing postgraduate work can be quite isolating. One of the major benefits at Monash Art and Design is that the postgraduate course is structured in a way that encourages much contact and interaction with fellow students," he says.

"I know this project will probably be the most significant work of my career, and I feel privileged to have this opportunity."

Action
For more information, contact Mr Vince Dziekan at vince.dziekan@artdes.monash. edu.au, or visit the Art and Design website.