With today’s judging of portfolios submitted to the 2014 AIPP Contemporary Photographic Art Awards, or CPA Awards for short, it has emerged that the portfolio of images I submitted received a silver with distinction award with a score of 87. My portfolio also happened to be the second highest scoring portfolio of work submitted to the awards, which is quite exciting to have been rated so highly for my work. The competition in this year’s CPA Awards was very tight with an average score given by the judges of 87 across all entries, amazing considering that’s an average of a silver with distinction award. The highest score in the CPA Awards this year was 92 (Gold), and lowest was 84 (Silver).

CPA Awards entries are a portfolio of work consisting of 6 separate photographs that together with an artist statement comes together to form a piece of artistic expression. As such, my wedding photography would have been quite out of place here. Instead my CPA Awards entry was a set of images I had created using a very old technique documenting the passage of time in regards to the motion of the sun through the sky. I think my Artist’s statement I put together for the entry can communicate this better, so here it is below.

CPA Awards artist’s statement

I titled my portfolio ‘Photographing Time’

Steven Duncan 2014 AIPP CPA Awards

Modern cameras are able to produce images at an indefatigable rate, so much so that it’s often said that more photographs have been produced within the last 12 months than all images created throughout the rest of human history combined.

This made me think.

Was there a way of slowing down?

That is, to capture a single image that encompasses everything that happens within a time frame akin to that 12 months through which the entirety of human visual artistic endeavour has been more than doubled in depth due to modern photography.

This is a series of images that together represents everything that has happened within frame over the past 12 months. Each image’s exposure time ranges from 1 month through to 8 months in length. The white lines you see are the sun’s star-trail as it moves through the sky during the exposure.

The method by which I achieved this is a process called ‘solorisation’ with my own unique twist I developed through very patient experimentation.

Pinhole cameras were used, made from shortbread tins, duct tape and black spray paint. Instead of using conventional media to capture my images I intentionally used out-of-date photo-sensitive paper that I had baked in an oven in place of traditional film.

Using my homemade equipment, I was able to place my cameras in opportune places and duct tape them in place for months on end, producing my portfolio, and capturing essentially 12 months within 6 frames.

CPA Awards Images

The images were displayed in this order.

AIPP 2014 CPA Awards

CPA Awards Exhibition

If you are eager on seeing some of the most creative photographic portfolios the state has to offer, I suggest heading down to the AIPP affiliated Light Gallery run by the Center for Creative Photography when the 2014 CPA Awards exhibition officially opens on Friday 20th of June, 6-8pm located at 138 Richmond rd Marleston, SA. If you can’t make it on Friday, the exhibition closes up on the 18th of July and you’re able to visit Monday to Friday from 9-5 and Saturdays 10-3.