2019

2019 Jesse Graham

Howdy!

This is a collection of some of my best photos from the last year.

It's not exhaustive by any means - there were countless more shoots throughout the year, with some truly lovely people in them - but every photoshoot in here, and the people in them, has huge significance for one reason or another.

Some of these photos represent growing points for me, where I started chipping away at new skills, experimenting with new ideas or trying to solve old problems. Others I'm proud of because I feel they're simply some of the strongest pieces I've created. Because they grab your eye, have some emotional weight or just because I had so much fun making the images.

The following pages are me recapping some of the highlights of my year, in terms of photography.

The pain of creating all of these photos is that so many of the images below have yet to be shared in any form, so this doubles as a chance to see some of these photos for the first time.

I hope you like what you see. Thank you to everyone involved in setting up and creating these images, and to you for reading this.

-J

31.12.19

Mansfield I wanted to start my recap of the year with my weekend away in Mansfield, because I feel it's one of the spots where my skills in photography grew the most in 2019.

Earlier in the year, I joined a Facebook group, Melbourne Photography Excursions. The group's purpose is to get people out, sharing and growing their photography skills, teaching them about different equipment and gear and building a sense of community in the wider Melbourne area for photographers of all ages and skill levels.

The group holds a few large-scale getaways through the year, and one of this year's trips was to Mansfield. I ventured up late in the week with a barely-used tripod, a new filter and not a whole lot of knowledge or confidence about approaching landscape photography.

The event organisers (including the brilliant Peter Fogarty) and the group were extremely welcoming and encouraging to myself and the 30-or-so other photographers over the weekend, where we learned about photographing sunsets, sunrises and astrophotography. I came away from the weekend with some photos I was truly stoked with, a lot of photos that became lessons (in what not to do, in patience, framing and the importance of good equipment) and a very genuine feeling of having grown my skills as a photographer.

I've since put some of the skills I learned over the weekend to use (the front cover was taken shortly after getting back, in Healesville), and I can't wait to explore around more - with the group, with friends and by myself - to grow these skills even more in 2020.

Emma When putting together this little booklet, I really wanted to highlight the people, places and events that have helped to shape my photography in 2019. One of the biggest influences I've had, personally, is my friend, Emma Chew.

Emma is a (bloody good) graphic designer and has become one of my closest friends in the years we've known each other. She's also one of my most photographed friends, due to the fact that I'll end up taking her portrait when we see each other (and she'll often take mine in return, which is lovely). You can pretty much track my progression as a portrait photographer back through the images I've taken of Emma since we met.

Emma is a great sounding board for ideas - from the big ones, such as my 1000 Portrait Project, through to ideas about composition, techniques and styles I'm trying to bring into my work - and is always encouraging me to do more with my photography.

One of the things I tell people when they're getting into photography or attending a workshop is that one of the biggest things to keep your interest and enthusiasm for photography high is to surround yourself with people who inspire, encourage and support you. That support can be in the form of going out every weekend together, taking photos and comparing, it can be having friends who you can share ideas with and know you'll get constructive and honest feedback and it can be people whose enthusiasm for their own art, or energy in general, is something that inspires your work. I'm thankful to have a lot of friends that fall into these boxes, and Emma is absolutely one of them.

The pages that follow have some of the many photos we've taken this year, on digital and film cameras.

Steph and Beau My friend Steph is another example of the wonderfully supportive people I have in my wider friend group. We met about six years ago on Twitter, to organise a photoshoot. Since then, we've become good friends and taken photos together every few months.

Steph, who does a lot of illustration and drawing work, gets her hair dyed in a huge variety of colours every few months. When she does, we line up a catch-up and photoshoot to capture the results.

One of the first times I met up with Steph we had a conversation about how people doing arts/creative work needed to stick together and help each other where possible, and that's very much become the basis for our friendship - Steph is always up for helping me try out new thing with photography, from equipment to shooting styles (in exchange for some lovely portraits).

Earlier this year, Steph's partner, Beau, asked me to photograph their wedding. The wedding was something that really reflected the artistic, vibrant and imaginative side of them, and was something quite different to other weddings I've photographed in the past. I'm so proud of the photos and so happy to have the two of them as friends.

Steph has been undertaking a project to draw every day, and has maintained that effort for several years. The day-to-day drawing can be chipping away at a project or knocking out an entire piece, but the results are always spectacular.

More and more people have been sharing Steph's work this year, which is heartening and extremely well-deserved. Steph is also available to draw work on commission.

You can see Steph's work at instagram.com/steph_draws_stuff

Lizzie Lizzie Skyllas is an incredibly talented photographer, who I had the pleasure of meeting properly and shooting with this year.

Lizzie's work is extremely versatile - she takes some of the most gorgeous wedding photos I've seen, lovely portraits, live music photos, landscapes and boudoir photography. She moved back down to Melbourne this year and we met in the city to have a wander, talk photos and take a bunch of portraits of each other.

Our photo day lined up with my camera needing some repairs, so I came along on the day with three film cameras, some lenses of all sorts and a bunch of film.

Film photography is something I've been working on for a few years, but I've very rarely gone to photoshoots with only a film camera (both because of the quality I can get from my digital images, but also the security of being able to take as many photos as I need, and know that they've come out as needed immediately). I took along a Nikon FE (an all-manual film camera), Nikon F5 (a newer film camera that uses my modern lenses) and an Olympus OM-40 (my uncle's old camera) and got a wonderful variety of shots from the day.

Shooting with Lizzie was wonderfully effortless - we found a bunch of nice spots to take photos of one another, talked a lot about our own photography and tried some different compositions/poses/film throughout the day. My favourite shot in the next few pages is one that happened to line up perfectly with the burn on the first shot of the film roll - while I'd like to say it was intentional, it was a very lucky and happy accident.

You can check out Lizzie's brilliant work at instagram.com/lizzieskyllas

Danielle Danielle has been a huge influence on my photography over the last year. She's an incredible photographer, herself, and uses her background in dancing in taking portraits and for posing as a subject.

The two times I've shot with Danielle have resulted in some of my best, most striking portraits. Our first shoot was at the very end of 2018 in the Dandenongs, where we took photos in the trees and came up with some fantastic shots. A set of photos from the day received a Commended Award in Capture Magazine's Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers 2019 awards.

This year, we went down to the Yarra River in Millgrove (on Dee Road, if you're a photographer keen to shoot there!) and went down to the rocks to take some photos by the water. The trick with shooting out on the river is that your background (the trees, etc, on the far bank) is far enough away that you can use zoom lenses and a wide open aperture to really melt the background away. Millgrove is also a beautiful and quiet spot in the valley, and one I hadn't had the chance to shoot in before.

This year, I invested in Tamron's new 70-200mm G2 lens and it's quickly become one of my favourite portrait lenses. The telephoto zoom produces a really lovely blur that turned the trees and vegetation in the background into streaks of colour.

Danielle has been amazing to shoot with and talk about photography with. It's great following her work to see the beautiful portraits she makes and she's absolutely been a huge influence on my work this year.

You can see Danielle's work at instagram.com/nelle_s

Michael Michael is the owner of Smart. Alec haters in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy.

I visited a few years ago on my birthday, camera in my bag, and thought to myself that he looked quite photogenic and I was keen to take his portrait - but for one reason or another, I never asked. I bought a hat and went on my way.

I stopped by again this year with my partner and, sure enough, Michael was working behind the counter. We talked about hats for a while and when I mentioned my 1000 Portrait Project, he was happy to be photographed - and it timed up well with a smoke break.

We went outside and talked for quite a while about photography - it turns out that Michael takes photos, too - and what makes a good portrait. For Michael, a good portrait is all about the hands - showing someone's hands, with or without props, can convey a lot of their character, or give you insight about the life they live.

We took photos, stopping every now and then to change spots and think about how else to capture his portrait, and he was happy and enthusiastic about the whole process. In the end, the best photos I got from the shoot were the ones that included Michael's hands holding a cigarette or crossing his arms.

Not only do I think that these are some of my best portraits so far, but this shoot was really meaningful to me because it's a reminder that having the confidence to talk to someone can lead to great conversations. And if you're taking a portrait of someone, it creates a lovely, albeit short, connection. I'm glad I got to take Michael's portrait, even if it was a few years later than planned.

Justin I met Jason earlier this year - he dropped me a line through social media and asked to hang out sometime. We met up in Blackburn, had a coffee, took a wander and took some photos.

Justin is an incredible wedding photographer. His work is absolutely striking and full of energy and emotion. We spoke for a long time about his photo work, about the portrait project I've been working on and about life around photography.

I noticed during our hangout that Justin was very straightforward and assertive - when we tried taking photos in a few spots where the light was iffy, he was upfront that it hadn't worked out, but used that as an opportunity to find a new spot, try some different things and see what stuck.

I'm not usually the most assertive person when I take photos, which I think is an area I'd like to work on. Being around Justin was great, seeing how relaxed, but professional and honest he was while shooting, and I think that's helped me when I approach photoshoots now - thinking hard about whether the shot I've taken hits the right note, or if it's worth keeping on and trying something new.

The main photo below was taken in a spot where Justin suggested taking my portrait - the composition was so good, I couldn't not steal it and use it for his photo. I was also impressed (and slightly mortified) at his ability to skate with his camera gear.

Baby steps towards that one.

You can check out Justin's work at instagram.com/justinhillphoto

Tom and Emily's wedding A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Tom. I was in the city on a day off, taking portraits of people on the street for the 1000 Portrait Project and had put a message up on Twitter asking anyone from Melbourne to get in touch if they wanted to shoot. Tom was one of the excellent folks who got in touch to organise a photo - we met at RMIT, took some portraits and talked for a bit before parting ways.

Tom then got in touch a bit further down the track, to ask if I was around to take photos of his wedding - he and his lovely partner Emily were getting married at the registry in Melbourne with a small circle of close friends.

We took photos during the ceremony at the registry, before wandering around the Treasury Gardens taking some set-up photos of the couple and the group before they all headed off to celebrate with some drinks and karaoke.

The day went super smoothly and the registry had some brilliant spots around for a variety of photos with some very different backgrounds - the gardens around the back also provided some great shade from the sun, and helped to get some beautiful, evenly-lit photos. Tom had mentioned that he really liked the architecture of some of the buildings nearby, so we worked them into the shots really easily.

Each of the weddings I've photographed so far has taught me a lot about different photography styles, and Tom and Emily's wedding was a fun way of playing the set-up photos by ear, trusting my abilities and experimenting with different compositions.

Kaitlyn and Pat's wedding Kaitlyn and Pat's wedding was a spectacular day and also one of the warmest days I've ever photographed. Kaitlyn is one of the brilliant people I work with at Council, and she got in contact in 2018 to see if I could shoot her wedding with my best friend, Andrew.

She and Pat, who have been together since high school, got married at the Log Cabin Ranch in Monbulk, a wedding venue and camping site surrounded by forest in the hills. The wedding was in February and it was a solid and sunny 36 degrees, but the day still went without a hitch.

After a great ceremony (where, instead of giving Pat a ring, Kaitlyn gave him a keyring - with a key to a brand new motorbike), we took a bunch of family photos in among the trees, then took some fantastic portraits of the bride and groom away from the heat. The portrait of Kaitlyn is one of my favourites from the portrait project so far.

They both performed a choreographed first dance where Pat flipped Kaitlyn - something they told nobody else about (look at the faces in the crowd in the photo below). From there, it was a lot of dancing and a lot of photos with friends and family until the sun went down and the day wrapped up.

Having Andrew there as a second photographer made the day run super smoothly - we were able to capture all angles of the event and coordinate a pretty significant amount of family photos without any real hassle.

Kaitlyn and Pat are a great couple and it was fantastic to be part of their big day - even if I fried myself a little in the process by not wearing sunscreen.

Rossum's Universal Robots Earlier in the year, my partner Carly and her best friend Ashlee worked together to co-write an adaptation of the Karel Capek 1921 play of the same name. Ashlee then cast and directed the play, bringing together a talented bunch of people from the Burwood Student Theatre Company (BustCo) to perform at Vermont Secondary College's Theatre.

The play is set in an alternate timeline where robots are used to replace most of the human workforce, before eventually turning on all humans and wiping them out. I was asked to take headshots and character portraits of the cast. When planning out the photos, I tried to work in the stoicism of the robots, the dynamic between them and their makers and the way the play turns out in the images.

The next image features the president of the company that creates the robots, for example, so I tried to reference the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial, weaving in the themes of slavery and freedom that feature in the play.

Before taking these photos, I hadn't taken any portraits for a theatre production before - or anything like the volume of this photoshoot, which featured the cast in costume, in single and ensemble portraits.

The lighting setup for these images involved to camera flashes with remote triggers, with some umbrellas to soften the light. There was almost no editing or retouching on any of the photos and I couldn't be happier with how they came out.

Later in the year, I had my first session of studio portrait photography and I feel like these photos were a nice start in that space. I'm hoping I'll be shooting a lot more like this in 2020.

Friends No matter how many photoshoots I do, some of the simplest and best photos I take on any given year are the ones that involve friends and I've been privileged to take a whole bunch of photos of friends this year.

I'm still chipping away at the 1000 Portrait Project (roughly 730 portraits in/270 to go), and so I'm always trying to recruit friends to have a nice portrait taken wherever I can. But it's also just nice to catch up with a friend and take some photos - whether you're trying out a new technique or just trying to get a good photo. Either way, having supportive friends has helped so much in building my confidence in photography and approaching freelance work.

Below is a mix of some of my favourite portraits of friends, and a mix of some ad hoc photos and some paid work. In there are some photos of my friend Karina (an amazing photographer), Chantelle (who runs Instinct Pilates in the Dandenongs), my amazing film-andbeer buff pal Janelle, the brilliant writer Seth Hynes, high school pal and now-tattoo artist Lily Parker, close friend Dan and my linguistically-talented French friend, Eugenie.

You can see Karina's work at instagram.com/karinapatten.photo See Lily's tattoo work at instagram.com/lilyparkertattoo Find out more about Chantelle's Pilates work at instagram.com/instinctpilates

Studio shoot One of the areas where I want to put the most work into in 2020 (where possible) is my studio work. Having not studied photography at uni, and because I haven't done much in the way of commercial work, I just haven't spent much time in any studios and so the equipment, process and style of shooting is all a bit alien to me.

In October this year, I decided to put a dent in that and booked a studio at Studio Brunswick. Over the day, I had a few wonderful folks come through for a chat and a photo (or several), from friends to Shai, a model I hired to shoot for a few hours. With the help of the lovely staff at Studio Brunswick (who very kindly showed me the ropes with the lights and equipment I would be using over the day), I was able to take some of the best photos of my career and really build up my confidence in the studio.

The wonderful side-benefit of the day was having my portrait taken by the fantastic Liz Bennett, a friend of mine who swung past on the day.

By the end of the day, I had taken several thousand photos, filled most of my cards and walked away with a very real feeling of having progressed a lot as a photographer in a short period of time. I haven't had the chance to really share many of these photos yet, either, so it's good timing to get these out in the end of year recap.

I'm looking forward to shooting a bit more studio work in 2020 where I can, creating some more impromptu studio spaces wherever I can with lights and backgrounds, and just growing my portrait photography however I can.

Coworkers The whole good thing about having supportive friends around you to help encourage your photography is that I'm one of the lucky few folks who gets to practice during work hours (and some of my work photos from the year are a bit further down).

Working with about 800 people in a corporate setting, people end up needing a new headshot relatively often - whether they're presenting at an event, putting together a poster or a document or just need a new photo for their social media channels. Over the last few years, I've used my lunch breaks and spare seconds to try and take as many of those headshots as I can, for whatever purpose need them for and also for the portrait project.

Because I work in communications, I end up meeting a lot of the folks at work here and there and learning a bit about what they do in the community. Getting to take portraits of folks is lovely because I also get to learn about them as people and help to capture a great photo of them to share with others. It doesn't hurt getting to get out of the office, too.

We're just about all based in Lilydale, which also means I have no shortage of lovely backgrounds to use for portraits around the place (though I do have one or two that I almost always use for some solid lighting).

Below are some of my favourite portraits of my brilliant coworkers from the year. There have been so many portraits of so many good folks, this was one of the hardest areas to cut down on.

Sydney Sydney is one of my favourite places to travel and one of my least favourite to drive in. It's fun just wandering around with a camera, exploring the different streets and alleyways and new places. As confusing as the streets can be, part of the adventure is just heading off and trying to find your way back, or trying to find your way to the Harbour Bridge or another landmark.

This year I went to Sydney with my youngest brother, Cody, for his first interstate trip. While we were there, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Sarah and Phil, a model and a photographer (who, it turns out, are friends) to take photos.

Sarah and I met at the end of the day and walked around the city, taking photos using shopfront lighting and seeing what we could get using different backgrounds and filters. The photo just below was easily my favourite from the shoot and, when I was taking it, I had that great feeling of knowing I got the shot.

Phil and I, meanwhile, met up in Redfern, talked about our work and art over a beer and took photos of each other over an afternoon. I managed to shoot a roll of film while I was in town and got a photo I really adore, of the woman walking past a wall covered in art.

I shot a bunch of film while I was in Sydney, and feel like I'm getting better and better at reading light and going with my gut when it comes to film. When I started shooting film a few years ago, most of the shots on any given roll were pretty rubbish - that's shifted the other way since, which I'm very thankful for. The trip was a lovely long weekend full of photos - and encouraging my younger brother to try vegan fast food.

Melbourne There are just so many photos from around Melbourne - the inner city and the outer suburbs - that I loved from the year just gone. I try, whenever I can, to have a camera on me all the time so I don't miss a photo when I see an interesting composition or something worth documenting. But up until this year, most of my photos have been closer to street photography, with people very prominent in the frame.

This year (admittedly, a bit late this year), I've been trying to work on getting more landscape photographs - capturing interesting colours or places. I'm privileged to live close to the Dandenongs and the Yarra Valley, not too far from the city and a quick hop, skip and jump away from the Mornington Peninsula, so I figured I have to take advantage of that. Landscapes are probably my weakest point in photography, and by taking the time to unpack the tripod and try out some different things, I've already learned a ton (though there's so very much to learn from here).

This year I joined the Melbourne Photography Excursions Facebook page (mentioned way, way back up there at the start), which has helped me to get out of my comfort zone here and there. It's also just been great meeting up with a keen group of photographers and feeling very encouraged to spend the day snapping pictures. Some of the photos at the Queen Victoria Market, below, were taken at one of their street photography events.

Anyway, I love the photos below and they're a small snippet of my adventures around the state in 2019. Hopefully there'll be new places to explore and photograph in 2020.

Work I mentioned a little earlier, I'm very lucky to be able to take photos for work. A big part of my job is taking photos of Council-related programs and activities - or promotional photos for them - and coming up with the communications (media releases, videos, social media) to go with them.

This year was definitely my best yet in terms of work photos - not just in the sheer volume but also by the fact that I've been able to walk into almost all of my photoshoots this year with confidence and walk away with photos that came out well and work well for their purpose.

There are absolutely more events to name from the work year, but a highlight is always doing a quick promo photo for the Halloween on the Green event in the Dandenongs. For the last few years, Council has provided Grants for Community funding for the event, and as part of their promotions, they usually get the Mayor and some other folks in some spectacular makeup for some photos.

I also had the privilege of taking a series of portraits, of people of various genders who work in roles that, traditionally, carry a strong gender stereotype (steel workers, artists, firefighters, police officers, Council's outdoor crews, music teaching, kindergarten teaching and lawyers), which were then made into posters for children at kindergartens and early learning centres around Yarra Ranges. The posters' theme was 'you can't be what you can't see' and reminds young children that they can be whatever they want, not just what people say people of their gender should do.

I genuinely love my job and it was such a nice experience going back through the photos from the year - though narrowing them down to these, below, was really difficult. Hopefully next year is better still.

Healesville Healesville is the town I grew up in, where I spent the first 20 years of my life. It's where I had my first jobs - and the start in my journalism career - went to school, made friendships and where I picked up my first camera. It's an extremely lovely, extremely photogenic place, and having lived out of the Yarra Valley for a few years now, it's somewhere I appreciate a whole lot more when I get to visit.

My visits usually end up being about catching up with friends and family, or to get a quick photo or video for work, so I can't say I spent anywhere near as much time as I would have liked in town to take photos for fun. But after all these years, there's always something new to photograph on the times when I'm not in a hurry to get home.

The first few photos below were taken right after getting back from Mansfield, where I learned how to better take long exposures and photos of the stars. I had a free evening and so I drove around with my camera and tripod ad came across this mural by the talented Paul Sonsie (of Sonsie Studios). On my way back home, I stopped on the edge of the highway and took some photos of the stars and passing ars. I had actually stopped in the same spot several years ago to try and do the same thing, but without knowing too much about my camera, so the photos fell a bit flat and I left a bit frustrated. It was very rewarding to drive home feeling like I'd come a long way with my photo work.

The other photos are various shots from around town (and Dominique Portet winery down the road in Coldstream) taken on film.

In 2020 I'm going to try and work on my night photography a bit more and spend a few more nights out in the Valley seeing what I can capture.

Family I think 2019 has been one of my strongest year for producing photos that I'm proud of, ones that I don't think I'd have been able to take one or two years ago (from lack of knowledge, skill or confidence).

The simple fact is that, along with the support and influence of everyone you've seen so far in this booklet, support from my family and my partner has been the linchpin in the whole year.

Photography takes up a colossal amount of time, and if you don't have support and licence to take that time to work on your craft, things can unravel pretty quickly.

In the years since I got my first DSLR camera, I've had a huge amount of support from my friends, family and loved ones who all saw how passionate I was becoming about photography and helped me in countless ways. My family have always given me that help and encouragement, from attending exhibitions and events, through to simply not minding when I ran out the door at midnight with a tripod and some ideas about late night photos in town.

Sometimes, the most important help can be someone encouraging you to stop and take a breath, to break the cycle of overthinking that can torpedo your confidence in project, and to remember that it's okay to not always be doing something.

My partner Carly has been one of the most significant supports to me, across all facets of my life. This year, I've tried to focus a lot on my mental health, untangling some of my anxieties and bad habits and becoming a better person. She's been endlessly supportive and encouraging, and always helps to put things in perspective - along with our puppy, Bilbo.

Here are some of my favourite photos of these beautiful folks from the year.

Wrapping up Compiling this small photobook has been a great, mildly timeconsuming experience.

With a lot of my photo work happening outside working hours and the work happening within hours being prepared with short timeframes, it isn't all that often that you get to review your work. It's even less often that you get to review your last year as a whole and look at how your body of work is shifting, changing and growing.

In terms of volume, the last year has been quieter than the last in taking portraits and other photography adventures. At the same time, I think the quality of work I've created has improved dramatically, and continues to get better as more shoots come along - particularly those that push me out of my comfort zone or force me to try new things.

That said, improving your art is about so much more than just using your equipment over and over again. Growing in photography requires time - to plan shoots, experiment, to edit and review with care and give yourself the room to try new things. More than anything else, it requires support from other people.

That support comes in more ways than I could mention on a page - it can be people giving up their time to be a subject, sharing their expertise to help you improve your work, listening to ideas and giving feedback, all the way through to engagement on social media, sharing work with their friends and family, the very tangible financial support or just opening this photobook and having a flick through.

It's all important and it all means the world to me.

I can't wait to top all of this in 2020.

Get in touch if you'd like to help out.

Thank you