TITLE: Chemical Warfare.

Poison drips and floods my veins,
each droplet descends...a dropped bomb.
Tiny rivers, veins course choked with chemicals;
seeps slowly, deliberately, burning.

Conquered cells collapse and succumb.
What was once alive, radiant and verdant
now scorched, blackened, laid bare.

Yet in this I am treated...supposedly healed?
Toxicant laced hope, yet to it I cling.
I dream of rivers that flow, pristine and free

AUTHOR: James Russell (Australia)

The adept photographer’s ability to capture a special moment in time or a breathtaking scene that they happen upon has always fascinated me. For the most part, I was absorbed by the unique colours, shapes and patterns captured in the frame, but over time this developed into a questioning of what was actually going on in the scene. As a young boy I remember looking at photos in books and magazines and being lost in thoughts of who, what, where and most significantly…why.

While I loved to look at photographed images at a young age, I didn’t really become interested in the process of making photographs until much later. I can’t remember when I first picked up a camera, but a move to Australia’s Red Centre when I was in my late 20’s inspired me to buy my first DSLR. What began as a casual, occasional pastime changed significantly for me when I stumbled upon my first analogue camera a couple of years later. I started to play around with an old Pentax DSLR and soon after became obsessed with the nostalgia of film and vintage cameras. DSLR, TLR, SLR, Rangefinder....they all became new play things and I was hooked on what could be achieved in creatively controlling aperture and shutter speed, combined with the random flukiness of film in a vintage body. An obsession to collect vintage bodies also developed rapidly.

Since this time I have been absorbed with using both digital and analogue mediums, although like many photographers, the ease and convenience of digital often wins out. Most recently I’ve been hooked on photographing with a Fujifilm X-Pro 2. The classic look and feel of the camera combined with its technical ability and dreamy colour rendition have made it truly addictive. Style wise, I have not gravitated too strongly towards any particular photographic style, however I particularly enjoy shooting portraits, documentary and landscape photographs. I continue to get behind the lens as often as possible and have a great desire to improve at the craft of producing memorable images that impact upon those that view them.