Hands on flesh

[Nnnnsic]

The rest of the images from the protest can be found here.

[Alex]

Leigh, Love the first two, especially the 2nd, facial expressions are excellently captured.

Alex

[PiroStitch]

Was this protest on the news? Love the emotion captured in the 2nd pic.

[Nnnnsic]

Was this protest on the news?

Apparently so. I've recorded pretty much all of the news feeds from the day, but I haven't gone through them yet.

[marcotrov]

Another gorgeous moody set Leigh with a real reportage feel. Like #1 but I would be tempted to try your tried and true B&W treatment on this one You are developing quite a unique personal style here Leigh
cheers
marco

[Nnnnsic]

The black and white would work with it, but sometimes I just feel more like a bronzed or sepia toning for some images.

[wendellt]

amazing leigh you covered that event with such passion and shot over 100 images and processed them in a short time, you should join the press

i noticed in some of the pics there were children there walking in the background with priceless expressions on their faces

In particular i like your high contrast style

[Matt. K]

Good work Leigh!
These have a dramatic touch to them. I notice that one of that women had her breast uncovered. I'm wondering if you noticed that also?

[storm]

I love the subject material. wish I could have been there. looks like a wonderful opportunity to capture the odd in the familiar. first two are my fav for sure. top one looks a little soft. was that woman in the second one holding that face or did you catch it in transition? gotta love people of the arts. I would be interested in seeing different crops of the first two.

[sirhc55]

Excellent

[Nnnnsic]

I do believe she was doing the face in transition, but making some emotive faces as if to show pain.

And yeah Matt. There was a bit of controversy over that.

What happened was there were two girls who were topless originally... the one who's in her twenties I think is the one I have in both this post and the other one and another one in I think her forties or mid-to-late thirties, and the older one was asked to put her top on by the security or police or something because of a reason of her being too sexually explicit with her top off or something... and yet I'm still betting it was because they'd prefer to look at the younger girl.

They're probably quite lucky one of the art school's older and larger life models Jill didn't undress there.

[Simon]

Good to see these. I saw the news item on TV and wondered if anyone here would get it.

I reckon the hue (read: sepia toning) is a tad too much and wonder what these would be like in straigh b/w

Thanks for the post too.

[MHD]

Brilliant work Leigh! Love the emotion..

Cops look bored, good to see it was a successfully staged event

What is the background to the protest, is NAS under threat?

[birddog114]

O/T

MHD,
You're just surfaced after a long dive

[Nnnnsic]

The National Art School was Bob Carr's baby, so the school has been government subsidised for the past x years.

When Carr left, the safety of the school got to the point where it would have to be sold or become a higher priced independent to survive. The problem is that since it's government owned (it's former East Sydney Technical College (TAFE)), technically the government are the ones deciding its future.

So last year, NAS took to the streets for a protest to either remain independent or hopefully get Macquarie Uni to buy us out over UNSW's COFA (College of Fine Arts).

What you've gotta understand here is a bit of history:
The National Art School is one of the only art schools, and I think it is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere, that uses the old system where the masters teach the apprentice. You've also got to learn a lot of history, something that is left out at COFA, and a good majority of the people who go to Uni at NAS are aged between 28 and 70: that is, it lets people in that most Uni's would normally shudder at doing.

COFA on the other hand, while being technically named a school of fine arts, is more about graphic design. That said, their photographic facilities are amazing, but NAS focuses on drawing, painting, sculpting, ceramics, printmaking, and photography, as well as history... and you're literally being taught by artists. In the painting department, Adam Cullen is one of the guys teaching there.

Macquarie don't have a good hold in the fine arts uni's, and they were set to buy the campus out but their new chancellor got smart and pretty much pulled out of the deal earlier this year.

Strategically he's probably right. There isn't a lot of money to be made in this place.

Likewise, things got ridiculously out of hand when students in last year's protest thought it would be great if they decided to write on the Macquaire building they were protesting out in front of to help their cause.

So now NAS either has to remain independent (which the government would probably have to help oversee) or be bought out by COFA which, if you can tell by any of the protests I've shot, is pretty much what no one wants but what will probably end up happening.


edited by gstark - spelling.