FotoFreo Adventures at Rottnest
I must confess that one of the greatest rewards of volunteering with FotoFreo 2010 is the opportunity to meet many of the visiting guests. Whilst there have been a few “oh dear Lord” moments when one comes face to face with, say, a noted Magnum photographer, by and large the experience has been very casual, friendly and enjoyable.
Last Wednesday, we organised a trip to Rottnest with visiting guests as a bit of a break from FotoFreo events and to also officially open Peter Eve and Monica Napper’s exhibition at Rotto “Yiloga! Tiwi Footy”.
Eve and Napper’s exhibition at the Salt Stores on Rotto documents the significance of football (that’s Australian Rules Football, or footy) to the people of the Tiwi Islands. Their images chronicle the dedication of islanders to the sport and the importance placed on the matches and their outcomes.
But, exhibition openings aside, it was a great opportunity for visitors to see the beautiful cyanotypes by Elizabeth McCaig, on show at the Rottnest Lodge, and the delicate flower-portraits by Oliver Cardona at the Holy Trinity Church, both part of the FotoFreo Fringe Festival.
A highlight of the day trip to our very own Greek-style island, though, was swimming at Geordie bay and dive-bombing off the jetty. It was great to be able to shrug off the reins of formality with the photographers and just go for a dip. The boys from Oculi provided a bit of a show on the jetty, sumo-wrestling before launching themselves into the air (and water).
A fine time was had by all, best encapsulated by visiting Dutch fine art photographer, Annet van der Voort, who claimed that it was just a “fantastic day” – the best she’d had for a long time!
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