Introduction Well you can bump and grind It is good for your mind Well you can twist and shout let it all hang out But you won’t fool the children of the revolution No you won’t fool the children of the revolution, no no no The title chosen for the graduation exhibition catalogue immediately made me think of the above lyrics, written by Mark Bolan for T.Rex in 1972. When you enter a course such as the Bachelor of Photography at the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane, you can expect more than the usual bumping and grinding of student life. This year, 50 students will graduate with a Bachelor of Photography in the areas of journalism, creative advertising and art photography. Technically and conceptually these fields are continuously evolving. Photographers consistently need to re-position themselves within their chosen field and they need to acquire and upgrade a vast range of skills.
Subsequently, during the time you spent studying photography at QCA some seemingly disparate concepts were presented to you: the photograph as a document, as construction, as communication, as a technical process, analogue or digital, and as advertisement. Just to name a few. You have got as many opinions on what makes a successful photograph as the number of people you asked. Finishing your degree after 3 years of intensive studies, you could be forgiven to remain a little confused at the end of it: What exactly is photography after all? Photography as a medium continues to elude us consistently. Unlike the classical art forms we don’t come across it only in the confined context of artistic expression. Often without revealing itself it is constantly around us in all shapes and forms. In our society everybody practices and/or consumes it.