Creator: Chris O’Shea All photo’s buy Chris O’Shea and Brenton Priestley unless other wise noted.
Bli Bli Sunshine Coast Quensland.
Winch park, Sunshine Coast
photo Chris Glen
Fresh tracks lake Jindabine.
Back in Australia, spring has ended and another summer awaits. Eight months in the states has past us by, feels like I’ve been holding my breath the whole time. As the clear salt water passes over my head after duck diving a few waves.I pull up and sit on my board, look at my mates as the waves roll in and suddenly I can breath again. Theres nothing like being home!
Model: Teresa Oman Photographer: BeckRocchi.com.au
Landscape of Australia, where harsh sun burns so strong you can almost hear the gum tree’s cracking in the afternoon sun.
Brett Hemmings A quiet man with a gentle soul and humble intelligence. With an eye for detail and passion for his work that transcends into the sport he loves. From behind the lens we learn a little about Brett Hemmings back ground, while he shares with us some of his favorite wake pieces.
buy myself a nice camera, which turned out to be a Nikon D70s. It basically never left my side from that day on. I was hanging out and riding with the Bartley family back then, who introduced me to a bunch of people at local comps that were keen for me to tag along and take photos of them riding. Once I started getting stuff published that’s when it took off as a profession for me. So I guess I owe my career path to the pokies right?... Mind you, I’ve never won anything remotely close to that since. So your career has stemmed from board sports would you say Definitely, Thats where I started and board sports was always the direction I wanted to take my photography. I then went Interview out and started assisting other How long have you been shooting photographers, because I always Chris O’Shea - Brett Hemmings wanted to learn commercial ways of shooting to incorporate back into I’ve been a full time photographer “Jesus are you drinking metho board sports and make my work for the past 7 years. So I’ve or something, bloody hell that different to other photographers. basically been paying my bills smells strong!” Brett says accusingly to Brenton. with my photography for the last 7 So what do you shoot with years. “Yes it is” Brenton replies with He makes this clear, I feel, a little chuckle from the back of All my camera gear is Nikon and because there are a lot of the van. my lighting is Elinchrom. I’m not people out there that claim one of those guys that flames on We had just finished up shooting their photographers but still Canon or Nikon. When I started have another job. So it’s not their with Brett for a couple of days. out I went into the shop and picked profession, it’s a hobby that they It rained super hard and was a up the Canon and then picked up might get a little cash form here mud fest, but Brett still got the the Nikon. I liked the feel and the and there. best photo’s I have ever seen build quality of the Nikon better so of Brenton and myself. After I went with Nikon. I shoot with a How did it start for you shooting with photographers Nikon D3 and a Nikon D3s. from all over the world for I started unintentionally when I the last 10 years, I’d have to You have done some of the was a teenager. I was always out say Brett is the most on point more creative work in the wake skateboarding and taking photo’s photographer I’ve worked with industry. How do you get those of friends with the crappy little to date. He hits the shot every shots. Do you go to riders or do digital cameras we had. I never time and has the right tools for every situation. We were bonking really considered it a profession till they come to you with ideas. I got into wakeboarding. How I got a digger bucket off a kicker in my first Digital SLR is pretty funny A lot of the times, I’ll come up shit light and Brett got the shot actually. I was about 18 at the time with an idea for a photo. I’ll think perfect every hit, using flashes, about a particular riders style that and decided to throw 20 bucks in which if you don’t know the pokies. A couple of spins later I will suit that shot and I’ll approach anything about photography, them about it. Now though, I’m collected just short of $2500. that is pretty amazing. Sitting in starting to get riders come to me the van with scribbled dot point’s NO WAY... Yeah at the time I had no idea what with ideas so I feel it has kind of on the back of an old receipt, I evened out. I like to have a good I’d do with the cash but after a ask him some questions before working relationship with the rider couple of he has to get back to Sydney to so it means a lot to me when riders days I decided to splurge out and shoot for his work.
do come to me with ideas that they want me to shoot for them. So who are you working for at the moment At the moment I’m working for a magazine publishing company full time. I’ve only be there for about 4 months. Prior to that, I was assisting advertising photographers and shoot ing freelance. So that pays the bills and the wakeboarding is kinda something else on the side I’ve always been interested in sports. My end career goal is to end up being a sports photographer. So the job I’m doing now is more of a resumé job that I see myself doing for about a year or two, Just to get the experience on paper. Then I’ll move onto fulfilling my goals as a sport photographer. Are you a self taught photographer? No, I standby the belief that you need to get out there and do some assisting. I assisted for 6 years and that’s where I learnt a lot of my stuff. I also did 2 years at Tafe and got my certificate in Photo Imaging. There’s no better experience then getting out on the job and assisting other photographers regardless of whether the work they are shooting applies to the things you shoot. With technology, iPhone’s and red cameras etc, you hear people say things like ‘photography is dead’, how do you feel about where photography is going and the future of it? The next few years are going to be tough. I think we will see budgets decline even further and the need for freelance photographers falling off a bit. Companies will start relying more on in-house photographers and people who are willing to work for free will get
jobs over professionals regardless of the quality of work they supply. Although, that just makes me want to push my work further to make people want to use me and use my work in their magazines. As a professional, if your not pushing to be one step ahead of the game, you might as well move on. Do you feel it’s important for aspiring photographers to experiment with film? I do. Film gives you a good foundation of what you need to do with your camera. There’s a lot more lenience with what you can do with digital files than film, so making a mistake can be quite costly on film. Film fits into every photographers path differently, some never touch it, some only use it, and some just experiment with it, but regardless of what you choose to do with it, it’s a great foundation to start with. Do you have someone you look up to, who inspires you in photography? I’ve always avoided looking up to a particular person because I never wanted to adopt somebody else’s style. I’ve always wanted to create my own style. When I look at other peoples photographs, I tend to ignore who shot them. A lot of my favorite photo’s I couldn’t tell you who actually shot them but I know how they were shot and the type of lighting used. You could say the same thing about Wakeboarding. As you grow up you tend to know the names of your favorite wakeboarders but you shouldn’t try to ride like one in particular. Taking little bit’s of inspiration from all and make your own.
photography magazine from the US or a commercial magazine that isn’t related to wakeboarding or what I do with sport. I might see a lighting technique that I can then incorporate that into wakeboarding some how, and that will get things flowing again. What are some of your favorite Magazines. I read Photo District News, an American photography industry magazine. Also I get National Geographic magazine, theres always good editorial shots in there, and lastly Archive is good for commercial work. What are your plans for the future with wake photography, Is it something you always see yourself doing. Wake photography for me will always be my bread and butter, Regardless of how much I’m not enjoying shooting full time work or what ever it is, I will always turn back to Wakeboard photography and enjoy shooting it. I love riding myself and that really helps me create good relationships with riders and stay motivated and involved with the industry. This is what makes Brett different to most. He’s a legit rider who understands what the riders he is working with are trying to do. At this point we are pretty cold in the van and the fire over by the camp site is looking pretty good. So I ask, what’s the Brett Hemmings legacy.
So where do you look for inspiration if you don’t have a favorite photographer?
I guess just to live a happy life and keep on doing what I love. I don’t need to make a million bucks out of it, as long as I’m out there shooting the things I enjoy, sharing my photography and growing as a photographer, I’ll be happy.
A lot of the time if I’m struggling for inspiration I’ll pick up a
Thanks Brett we are stoked your in our sport. Safe travels mate.
I asked Brett for a riding picture of himself. I knew that it was going to be quality. When he sent this over to me I was blown away. The one man band, I do it all Brett Hemming. Here’s what he had to say about it. When Chriso mentioned to me he wanted a shot of me riding, I knew I wanted to do something that was a little bit different to the usual Wakeboarding shot. I toyed with a few concepts for a while and ended up coming up with this idea. Being a one man team on most of my shoots, I wanted to try and incorporate what I do behind the scenes into a photo somehow, and this was the result. It wasn’t anything to fancy, just a Backside 180 over a small land gap, but it was a heap of fun to shoot.
A few years ago I shot a photo of Mitch Sykes doing a backside 180 over a tennis court net with a makeshift pool setup on the court. I liked the idea of incorporating 2 different sports into one shoot and the photo got some really cool feedback as a result. I was at Ben Tolsons property a few months later when I saw his dam was covered in a thick green weed that looked exactly like a golf green. We put the idea in motion and had it all lined up, but to our surprise a few days later all the weed had turned brown and died off, the shot was gone as quickly as it came about. Almost a year went by until I had a phone call from Ben telling me it had grown back. No screwing around this time, we had it set and ready to shoot the next day. There was no second chances with this one, once Chris cut through the weed it was ruined, so luckily we nailed it first go. The most common thing I get asked about this shot is ‘so the balls and pin are retouched in right?...’ and the answer is no. The pin is a simple pipe with a makeshift flag wedged into the mud and as for the balls, ping pong balls probably wouldn’t work to well in golf, but they do float!
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Chris pretty much summed this shot up in the interview... It had rained heavily for days and we were already limited with time despite the crappy weather. The whole area turned to a mud puddle, to the point where all of our cars had to be towed through sludge to get off the property by the excavator used in the shot. I setup a bunch of flashes running around madly trying to race the demishing light, and Chriso nailed it just in time with a backside nose blunt - Brett Hemmings.
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Lake Jindabine, Rocky mountain landscape which thrives with snow enthusiasts all winter long. Is virtually a ghost town in the summer, leaving a beautiful lake for us to enjoy on the Jetpilot team trip in early December this year. Glass water as far as the eye can see and sunsets like they were reborn for the first time in your mind.
Back pack stocked for Jindabine and all it’s glory.
FUCK IT IT’S A RENTAL
The days and trips you live for. Miles and miles of glass water to shred.
Photo:Dimi Limnatitis
Shida Art
http://shidaart.tumblr.com/
Rodgers massive Ollie north - leaves the life guards on the beach confused!
Kirra beach tide pools,Gold Coast Australia
Mitch Langfields progression and creativity is untouched in our eyes. Weather being the first to do a new line in the park or making a Back side 360 his own. He is one of the most creative riders out to date. Making simple tech with the detail he put on his moves makes Mitch’s style one of the best to watch.
Wrapped Mute BS 360.
The Iacconis junk yard paradise. The place is out of hand with scrap metal laying around everywhere, Rob always ready to weld up whatever we can think of to build. The option’s are endless. We only had a couple of day’s there before we had to make our way up to the gold coast. Never the less we made the good.
Day one was a mud fest from all the rain. Sleeping in the blue contaner while the gromets went back to the Iacconi’s cossy house and mums cooking. Roughing it around the fire was awesome. Pretty much drinking till we past out.
Josh Robinson
ALLUSIVE
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COLLECTIONS
Allusive Collections are a collaborative project featuring a variety of artists using clothing as a canvas as well as selling prints, holding exhibitions and promoting new bands and artists, with the money contributing towards the continuation of creative design by funding the artists who have contributed to the unique and original works the Tshirts and art work have to offer. We caught up with the guys from allusive collections and had a quick chat with them too see what they have been up to and there future plans.
Interview with- Jason Hazle Where are you guys based? We are based in Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast. Why did you guys decide to use clothing (tshirts in particular) as a way to showcase different artists? Clothing is just one of the ways we showcase the artists work. Clothing it’s a good way to promote the artists because so many people can view their work this way which then, hopefully, will get people interested in the company so they will check out the website or come to an exhibitions and see other displays by the artist which will help to get their name out there. We want to hold some more events with a bunch more artists and bands and hopefully create another range. We are only new so we are still trying to build and promote the company and we are hoping to get some more artists involved to promote. We saw you guys had an exhibition last month which looked super rad! Any chance you’ll be putting on another one some time soon... maybe in Victoria? Our goal is to hold at least four a year and hopefully we can double that in future, we would love to start holding some interstate and if people would be interested in us holding one in brissy it is something we would defiantly be interested in, maybe you guys can cover it?? What’s your advice to other local artists who are looking to get there work seen? Get a blog or a website going and promote your work, get involved in the art scene and start hitting up people who run events or gallery’s to see if they would be interested in show casing you, if all else fails hit up allusive collections. Why do you create art? Art is an expressive and relaxing past time and hobby to me. When I just want to be calm and relax, I paint. Where do you draw inspiration from? I draw my inspiration from movies that I’ve watch or books that I’ve read and from other artists that I admire.
Do you have a favourite artist? Picasso. I think Picasso is awesome, he was so ahead of his time but is still so appreciated and admired today. How long have you been painting, More importantly how long have your been sharing your art with the wider world?? I’ve only been really getting back into it full time in the past three years because my aunty, who is an artist, inspired and encouraged me to get back
Where can our readers find your threads and art work? At the moment we are stocked in, Black anchor, Hello friend, House of humility, crosstown, Fred & ginger, Atlas divine, Mofo and corridor clothing, Please visit their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Allusivecollections/200588413299675 or website www.allusivecollections to see more information on artwork and upcoming events.
Allusive Collection
Happy New Year
Jan 1st 7:20am Text Message. co(chriso) BP(Brenton) (co) Yeah still no sleep, come over. I’m eating noodles, everyone is asleep. Playing guitar watching the sun get higher and higher. (BP) Lol crack up. So you started feeling better? (co) not really gum still has a whole in it. (bp) fuck and still no sleep (co) think the meds Im on kicked the JD buzz in a little harder. (bp) Fuck we needed them last night hahaha (co) Noodles are helping so I can eat my meds. (bp) hahaha (co) I had a whol now I’m goingnto say I have a creator. Gum dives are us. Step right up free gum dives. (bp) hahaha go to sleep cunt (co) mm noodles (bp) lol (co) sleep would be good but need to sing a song first (bp) Do you need someone to sing to or somthing mate. (co) Nar I’m singing to Melbourne. Fuck my guitar is out of tune. (bp) hahaha. Iphone app! (co) Got this buy ear my hearing is amazing right now (bp) Wat (co) I thing I can hear you and Merry fucking it’s so good. (bp) hahaha how’d you know.
livesimple.it
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