Australian Photography — January 2018

drawings and photos. Make some

notes before you forget.

• Step 2: Think how you could go about
  this idea (carrying out the concept).
  Go out and take the images you need
  for your project.


• Step 3: Put them together the way you
  have in your mind’s eye (prints, slides,
  3D). Make a “contact” sheet of how
  you want people to look at your images.


• Step 4: Make a book or have an ex hibi-
  tion and/or enter them for APS CAPA.
  (You do need to be an APS member)
  Most of us uploaded our images to
  the private APS CAPA Facebook page
  for comment from other applicants and
  specially selected mentors who helped
  us crystallise our ideas.
  If you think it’s easy to upload your
  ideas, you are mistaken. It is hard. You
  might not like the comments but you
  have to listen to them because the

W

hat is concep-
tual art and
what has it got
to do with pho -
tography? It’s a ques-
tion that more than
one Australian Photo-
graphic Society (APS) member has asked
as the Society’s Conceptual Art Portfolio
Awards return for the second year.
I was one of the bronze applicants last
year and initially, like many of my fellow
applicants, I found it hard to understand
what was involved in preparing a con-
ceptual portfolio of photographic work.
Briefly, shooting a conceptual art
photography project can be broken
down into four steps:

• Step 1: The concept: You have an
  idea that you would like to explore
  and you write your intentions down
  with some accompanying ideas,

APS FOCUS

WITH PHILLIPA FREDERIKSEN

mentors know what they are talking

about! That said, if you do disagree

with the feedback, you are free to ex-

plain why you’re pursuing a particular

thought process.

Final assessment is done on the Face-

book page where applicants upload their

finished portfolios to individual albums.

If you are not a Facebook user a mentor

can still help you along the way and up-

load your finished portfolio for you.

I think people who entered last year

accelerated their artistic development

and broadened their understanding of

conceptual art. I highly recommend

it for anyone looking for a new photo-

graphic challenge. ❂

To find out more about the Australian

Photographic Society’s Conceptual Art

Portfolio Awards email Phillipa Frederiksen

at [email protected]

BIG

IDEAS

Exploring creative

concepts awat

from ‘traditional’

photography, like the

APS’ new conceptual

art portfolio awards,

can be a real

challenge.

For photographers in search

of new challenges, the field of

conceptual art offers plenty of

scope to explore and learn.