The Fleurieu Festival of Photography.

That name has such a great ring to it. So it wasn’t surprising when Grant Petras of Victor Harbor approached me last year with the idea of building an event around photography, in our fabulous Fleurieu region, I said count me in.

We’ve been mourning the closing of the Shimmer Photographic Festival, which was run by the energetic Onkaparinga council, it was an attempt at bring South Australia a Ballarat International Photo Biennale style event. Perhaps Grant could kick this off.

Grant is president of the South Coast Camera Club and wants to make an inclusive celebration of photography around the club’s annual exhibition, embellished with an international guest (Kerrick James) to run workshops and an International Print Salon. The print salon is where we come in.

Grant asked if we could print all the accepted 130+ entries to produce a cohesive exhibtion, where acceptances were all presented identically and professionally at a resonable cost. With the help of Ilford (CR Kennedy), who supplied the paper, we would print each on a suitable material.

It turned into an enormous job as the delicate paper that worked well in the top-clamped hanging systyem, had to be lightweight to hang flat, and the various shapes of prints had to be balanced so each acceptance shared a similar use of wall space. All this meant lots of reprinting to make it work. Something we do well.

The end result was spot on, I was very proud. And the idea of printing all the entries provided such impact.

As to the Festival, it is early stages, but the Fleurieu is a big place, covering four councils, it’s perfect for day trips or weekend stays. It is packed with exciting locations and venues and natural wonders. South Australia could do with a photo focussed event, we’ve all missed the AIPP’s regular events, and we all look with envy at Ballarat.

Congratulations Grant and the South Coat Camera Club.