lpm

La Petite Mort 8th - 19th December 2009
La Petite Mort is a major photographic exhibition opening in December (09).
A personal project from one of Australia’s top ranked fashion photographers exploring his fascination with weightlessness, power, athleticism and beauty tempered by the melancholy embrace of gravity. Working with a lighting rig that allows him to shoot bursts of 40 frames in 4 seconds Ta-mé is showing large scale video and 2d images created in collaboration with internationally renowned hiphop and dance tricksters.
 

in conjunction with the exhibtion, hamish is hosting a series of free talks and discussions around the show. being an exhibitionist - the business of staging an exhibition thurs 10th, wed 16th 6-8pm artists talk - creative process and idea developement - sat 12th, sun 13th, sat 19th 11-12pm the work - technical overview; capture, lighting and more - fri 18th 6-8pm

Ta-mé has had a long held fascination with the idea and longing for weightlessness, the desire for release from gravity and the moments that make up an athletes trajectory.

In his work he brings together elite athletes and a special lighting rig that allows him to shoot bursts of still images to capture the movements over a few seconds.

These images are composited into two-dimensional artworks as well as animated into short video loops.

Ta-mé wrote in a recent interview “I seek to create an environment where we can observe an explosion of gross physical output as an athlete flings themselves at the sky, hangs for a moment in the purity of weightlessness and then starts the fall to earth.

It is only through the beauty of art that power and aggression is made vulnerable, allowing mankind to find our only liberation from the laws of nature bestowed upon us.”

The title of the works, La Petite Mort (the little death), relates to the period of melancholy on their return to earth and the shackles of earthbound mortality.

The final new-media component is an animation of these images into a looping video work.

Media
The show, even before it has opened is gathering media attention.
The Dec issue of the(sydney)magazine has a mention in their coveted calendar section.
Keep an eye out for mentions and reviews in daily media as well as radio interviews during the time of the show.

Desktop magazine has run a four page story.

Better Photography has also run a comprehensive feature article.

Artist’s biography
Hamish Ta-mé (pronounced Dahmay, background Basque French) Is one of Australia’s leading commercial and fine art photographers.

Currently ranked number 8 in Australia for his fashion work, Hamish is also well known for his many exhibitions. In 2008 he exhibited twice at the Australian Centre for Photography and a major solo show in December, from which these images were taken.

His fashion work can be seen in magazines such as Vogue, Madison, In Style, Who Magazine, Crema, Famous and many others.

From his Moore Park studio, he is heavily involved in the fine-art community nationally as the founding president of International Noise an artist run initiative with an innovative guerrilla art program.

His work appears in many private collections in Australia and abroad.

He has a technical degree in photography as well as Masters degree in photomedia.
He lives at the beach in Sydney’s east and surfs as often as possible.

Event: Photo and video exhibition
Date: 8 – 19th December 2009. (Opening night Wed 9th)
Address: Depot Gallery, 2 Danks St Waterloo
Admission: Free

Backround to the exhibtion.
(from an interview for news.com.au december 2009)
The exhibition has been quite a journey. It all started in 07 when I was down in Melbourne shooting fashion week. I was heading back to the hotel after a show and heard some beats coming out of a small shopping arcade. Being the inquisitive bastard that I am I headed down to have a look.  What I found was a small group of bboys (hiphop dancers) freestyling (random practice and mucking about) around a simple beatbox (sound system).  They were incredibly good. A brilliant mix of bravado, athleticism, speed power and control. I shot on motor winder with a bit of added flash in bursts of about 6 frames at a time.  I never did anything with the images, but kept coming back to them. There was something deeply engaging about the sequences, as I had recently finished a Masters degree that specifically addressed cinematic approaches to portraiture it seemed like an extension of that.

There was also something that referred back to images that photographer Eadweard Muybridge had done in 1872. Muybridge was commissioned to capture the movement of a trotting horse. His work was the perfect synthesis of functional scientific intent and aesthetic outcomes.

Among other visual references Tim Storriers Burning Rope Series was also heavily influential and is an important factor in the decision to leave the lighting rig visible in the final images rather than retouching it out.  Further to that, I loved the balletic sequences as the dancers moved through the arch and downwards to the floor and back up again..  In 08 I then started shooting with battery powered portable fash units that could be remotely linked together. I used this gear for a few location fashion shoots and was testing how far I could push it when I heard about an upcoming hiphop event.
  I started testing the portable flash gear and set up backstage at the event to shoot the bboys and bgirls.
  It was at this stage that the ideas of using the dancers as a mataphor starting coalescing parralell to the shoots.  The early shoots were good but a bit rough round the edges, they also served to introduce me to the scene and gain some contacts.  After shooting several events with the simple battery gear I heard about a new Broncolour flash pack that could shoot VERY fast. I hired one and invited several dancers to my studio for a shoot. (picture)  These images were the start to the series as they will be shown at Depot Gallery 8-19th Decemeber.

The show, called la petite mort (a little death) is all about power, ecstasy and mortality.