Photomedia

Elizabeth O’Donnell is a photographer based in New South Wales, Australia. She works across various genres in the photographic world specialising in Architecture and Interiors, Portraiture and Story, Fine Art and Landscape. She loves working with people and collaborating visually to realise ideas - a little germ of an idea can become a reality! She exhibits regularly and has studied and worked in Australia, the UK, Italy and Hong Kong and traveled widely. Her work is in collections in Australia, Japan, UK, America and private collections.

I am a Photographer based in beautiful Leura, originally from the east coast of the United States. Growing up in a small country town, I was surrounded by the natural beauty of forests and farmland, which inspired her creativity at a young age. Throughout my life, I've worked with both film and digital. I work across many genres of photography, creating imagery through Fine Art, Fashion, Portraits, Product, Documentary & Street, Landscape, Botanicals, Wildlife and more. As a creative, I also work with floristry, beadwork, embroidery, watercolour painting, pyrography, ceramics, textiles and illustration. Current and past clients have included Jasco, Eckersley's Art & Craft and Warin Wildflowers, Pip Magazine and various published Authors.

I am a painter and filmmaker. In 2007, I established Frogmouth Films making documentary and environmental, social justice pieces. I am currently in pre production on a documentary titled: Unstoppable Change. In 2024 I am also excited to be part of the Planetary Health group show, in September at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre. Other works include: 2023 Watermark (7:59 min), 2023 Ego's Garden (9:58 min), 2022, Changing the Story (10:44 min), 2021 Another Future (10:44 min), 2020 Esk (7:16min), 2019 Walking (home) (3:33 min), 2018 Courage for the Long Haul (14min) 2013 Knitting Nannas (21 min), 2011 Being with Her (40min), 2010 Throwing Out the Lies with the Birthwater (40min) Selected Solo exhibitions 2019​​ Courage: Painting, film and photography, Platform Gallery, Katoomba 2002 ​​From Away: Funded by NSW Regional Arts C.A.S.P. including site specific sculptural ​​​​installation in Kinchega National Park, exhibition in Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, ​​​​weaving workshops, education kit for schools and video documentary. Contributor / camerawork 2022​​ Another Future and Hadrian projects with Textile Audio/ Eve Klein and Ensemble Offspring 2017​​ Sacrifice Zone, Cloudcatcher Media, David Lowe and Eve Jeffreys 2014​​ The Bentley Effect, Director Brendan Shoebridge 2013​​ Sydney Water Catchment, Lock the Gate from Undermining Australia, Coal ​​​​vs Communities, Director/editor: David Lowe.

I capture stone interacting with the elements in the Blue Mountains.

Hello! I am an artist, pleasure activist and empowerment facilitator. Creativity flows through my veins, I have always been drawn to the arts and am passionate about sharing my journey of being human through my creative work. In 2012 I graduated from Sydney College of the Arts with a major in painting. Today my creative process is a method of revealing and reimagining the dynamic interplay between pleasure and power. I primarily create through digital collage, vibrantly weaving themes of spirituality, sensuality and empowerment. I create kaleidoscopic portals that celebrate human sexuality and call forth a new paradigm of relating. As a Kundalini Yoga Teacher and Sound Healer I also offer workshops and retreats and am currently creating a self love embodiment program called The Temple of Evolution. I am passionate about encouraging people to live a fulfilling and authentic life of radical self expression and aligned action. You can discover more about my story and offerings by visiting my website. I look forward to connecting with you. Big LOVE!

Ian Brown has been walking the Blue Mountains and other wild landscapes for most of his life, and turns those experiences into photographic works and publications. His images reflect his love and concern for nature and wildness. He exhibits regularly and photos are available as fine art prints and by licence for other purposes. Ian's work has been published in numerous books, magazines, diaries and calendars, and he is a four-time finalist in the Australian Geographic nature photography competition. He has created two major public artworks in Katoomba. His Windy Cliff Press publications include an annual "Wild Blue Mountains Calendar" and his most recent book (with Peter Hatherly) is "The Blue Mountains: exploring landscapes shaped by the underlying rocks, uplift and erosion".

I’m an inter-disciplinary artist who has for the most part of my career used the camera as my tool to create. With a degree in Environmental Science, I have a passion for exploring where art and science intersect; creating art and experiential projects that encourage behaviour change. From outdoor public art exhibitions to intimate, contemplative works, I strive to innovate and inspire. Following my period at the helm of MTNS MADE, I have returned to my own creative practice – exploring new materials and immersing myself in the natural world – creating artworks to reveal the inner strength and unique nature of the subject, and provide new perspectives for my audiences.

Linda Swinfield is a mid-career Hybrid printmaker whose work is now multi- tangent. Her art making career begun as a visual art student in 1979 where she majored in black and white analogue photography and experimental painting at Meadowbank Technical College in Sydney. Since then photography and drawing have remained a constant diary for Swinfield. In 1983 she enrolled in a Bachelor of Visual Arts at City Art Institute (University of NSW) where she majored in Drawing and Lithography. Swinfield completed a Masters of Fine Art at The University of Newcastle in 2010 and it was here that many of the studio based disciplines of her youth merged, particularly photographic media in printmaking integrating drawing, and painting with the gathering of documents, research, text and history as an intrinsic storytelling process. Since graduating from the Masters of Fine Art in 2010 she has been selected for Artist in Residences with Captivate in Western Sydney from 2019- 20, Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery in April 2017, Thirning Villa, Ashfield in 2015, Laughing Waters Road AIR (Eltham Victoria) with Nillumbik Council in 2013 and the Gunyah AIR in Port Stephens, NSW in 2012 where she returned to in February 2016. Additionally she was recently selected for the Swan Hill Print and Drawing Awards, Hidden Sculpture Walk 2018 and 2015, Sculpture in the Vineyards, Nillumbik Prize in 2014 and 2017 and the Laman Street Art Prize in 2013, The Women’s Art Prize in 2016 and held solo exhibitions in the Newcastle University Gallery. In 2010 she was awarded a NSW Marketing Grant, by NAVA. Contemporary printmaking is now the spine of her artmaking processes, most recently she has extended her printmaking skill into photo lithography and developed suites of objects as installation utilizing contemporary processes of laser cutting and digital media. Her work is represented in public and private collections in Australia and Europe.

Wardrobe styling is my favourite activity. I love playing with clothes and collaborating to actualise a vision. As a stylist I prioritise client comfortability, director's vision and sustainability. Our current fashion industry is rife with waste, toxic attitudes and a focus on perfection. My professional practice aims to rewrite this and shift focus back onto the individual and highlighting creativity rather than perfection. To do so, I exclusively source from sustainable practitioners. I thrift, loan vintage, collaborate with local designers and upcycle pieces. This also allows me to be inclusive of a wide range of budgets, making my services accessible to anyone. I primarily work on shoots, whether it be fashion editorials, personal marketing campaigns or commercials, I am ready to be your portable stylist. I also have experience and love working on performance looks. In terms of client communication, I prefer to have 1-2 meetings prior to shoot/performance day to ensure goals are met and there is enough time to make the necessary adjustments. Depending on the job, one of these meetings will include a fitting or test run of the look and any other communication can be done in person or online. Each job is different and I am committed to tailoring my practice to best suit your needs. Please reach out if you have any questions, I am always happy to talk clothes :) Creative direction and fashion styling usually go hand in hand, however I am open to and love the role of creative direction as my sole purpose. In this role, I conceptualise ideas, manage the team, make all creative decisions for a project and generally lead projects from concept to completion. I love to be in charge and I love to collaborate. My process for CD is similar to styling, with a focus on client comfortability, director's vision and sustainability. However I also manage the team/project and tailor my practice to suit. Photography for me was born out of the desire to capture my looks in the way that I want. I shoot on a cannon digital and vintage digital. I love bts photography and capturing a more candid aesthetic. I am more recently exploring portrait and nature photography, but my main passion lies in fashion and music.

Born and raised in the Blue Mountains, I have always been drawn to incorporating my love of nature into my art. I create art that explores the themes of identity, our connections to nature and spirituality in this ever evolving world, with the multitude of new technologies we have available to us. My work spans the realms of painting, wool felting, digital, generative and photography. Over the past few years, I have exhibited my work in a number of galleries and shows across the world, including multiple exhibitions in both London & New York City. My work has been auctioned through a renowned Chinese auction house and has also been published in Australian Art Collector Magazine in 2021.

Damian Castaldi is an artist, percussionist and sound designer currently based in Katoomba. He lives and works in a house and studio he recently oversaw the building of (as an owner-builder) with his wife Solange Kershaw. His solo and collaborative career is built on a practice of mixed media installation, performance, electroacoustic and audio-visual production and the occasional exhibition. He has lectured in Music and Sound Design at the University of Technology Sydney and Audio Production at the School of Audio Engineering Sydney. After graduating from the Sculpture, Performance & Installation (SPI) studio at Sydney College of the Arts he returned to SCA to work as the Studio Supervisor in the Electronic and Temporal Arts department, whilst also graduating with an MA in Media Art from the UNSW College of Fine Arts. As a young man he acquired the skills of big band, swing and improvisational jazz drumming. Soon after he spent a year working with the English craftsman Dickie Blackman in his workshop at the Margaret Little Memorial School with whom he acquired hand woodworking and musical instrument building skills. The conceptual and creative focus in his current work varies from exploring playful human/object based interaction to more severe community based human/environment or human/human based interaction. The technically creative focus is on designing real-time interactive systems using software, sensors, signal processing, new musical instruments and sculptural objects for performance, assemblage and multi platform audio-visual installation.

Fiona Vaughan is a visual artist and writer living on Dharug and Gundungurra Country in the Blue Mountains. Her art practice mainly includes digital photography and alternative photographic processes and began in analogue black and white photography. Fiona is inspired by the beauty and intricacy of ‘nature’ and a sense of kinship. Learning about ecosystems through observation, conversations and 'desk' research is an integral part of her creative practice, as is the process of walking in the Blue Mountains National Park. Fiona recently exhibited in the environmental art show ‘Disruptor: for all that matters’ at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre. Previously, her photographs have appeared in group exhibitions at Articulate Project Space, Leichhardt, Point Light Gallery in Surry Hills, the Blue Mountains Heritage Centre in Blackheath, and in the #everydayclimatecrisis Visual Petition at Climarte Gallery, Richmond. They have also been shown in award finalist exhibitions, including the Olive Cotton Award for Photographic Portraiture and the Hazelhurst Art On Paper Award. Fiona took part in the post-bushfire ‘Recovery’ arts & ecology project and her photos and poems appear in the resulting online exhibition at ecoart.space/recovery. Her poems have been published in anthologies and one was broadcast on national radio in a documentary called 'Trees I've Loved'.

Naomi Oliver's art practice includes experimental digital video and animation, sound, and performance art. Oliver is interested in combining analog and digital mediums and processes when creating experimental pieces. She often incorporates older, more physically fallible technologies in her practice, such as VHS and audio cassette tapes. Since 2002 she has exhibited work and collaborated with artists in Australia and internationally. She has been an artist-in-residence at Arteles Creative Centre in Hämeenkyrö, Finland and also at The Lock-up Gallery art residency in Newcastle, NSW. Most recent exhibitions include 'ULTRA-SONIC' at Sydney College of the Arts (curated by Haines & Hinterding) in 2023 and 'Motif', 2022, a solo show and artist residency at Woodford Academy, NSW. Completing her Bachelor of Fine arts (Honours) in 2003 at Western Sydney University, she currently lives and works in the Blue Mountains, Australia.

Using drawing as primary research process, Wendy Tsai re-forms the information gained through observation and intuition into personal narratives that interrogate meaning and given-ness. While attracted to and nourished by the natural environment surrounding her home on Dharug and Gundungurra Country, in the Blue Mountains, Wendy also recognises the devastating impact of climate change and human interference, allowing this disquiet to inform her work, through intimate reveries that are both tangible and ethereal. Relying on an embodied knowledge of place, Wendy has a ritual of walking to experience and adapt to the idiosyncrasies of the natural world. She also photographs, collects and manipulates digitally the images that hold specific memories of place. Her drawings are an attempt to ‘be in’ place through a peaceable communion grounded in the landscape. Wendy regularly at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Gallery. She also has work in collections in Tasmania and in the Kedumba Drawing Collection.

Working across multiple disciplines, I explore materialities and aesthetics of memory, experience and place, distilling these ephemeral qualities into a range of physical, visual forms. I explore expanded notions of drawing and painting, compositional abstraction, colour, collage, printmaking, casting (beeswax), assemblage, sound, digital and analogue photography and film. I engage with the languages and processes of collecting, grouping, making, reframing and composing to translate visceral experiences into tactile works. I manipulate materials, light and space, to tell personal stories contained within planar and architectural contexts. Compositions are restrained, with sympathetic relationships formed between materials, surface, space, and the viewer. Extraneous matter is eliminated via material opacity and colour fields, transforming feelings and experiences into veiled, sensual, quiet planar surfaces. The space is gently framed and delineated by the works' edges, providing an entry point for the viewer to focus on the field and find a sense of stillness. My practice also incorporates curation and production of collaborative, site-specific projects held within unique architectural spaces, that explore and expand ways of creating and presenting art forms, and enable deep audience engagement with art and place. Please contact me if you would like to commission a work or discuss a project.

Hi I am Chloé, owner of Clovar creative. I provide bespoke content marketing solutions to help individuals and small businesses. I believe in having a chat with my clients to really understand and experience their business. I can offer skills and services in: * Content creation * Crafting blogs * Website content ( brand new from scratch or reviving existing content) * Social media content * Newsletters * Photography * Copywriting * Creative branding I also sell my photography as art pieces for individuals, businesses and via commissioned projects. I am here to help bring those creative ideas come to life, no dream is too silly or too big. Let's chat.

Judith Martinez Estrada is a Spanish-Australian visual artist, designer and researcher. Judith has exhibited in Australia and overseas. She has been artist in residence at Alfred University, New York, Megalo Print Studio in Canberra and was the 2019-2020 recipient of the State Library of Victoria, Rick Amor residency at Baldessin Press Fellowship. She has a Bachelor of Design and Master of Philosophy in Fine Arts from UNSW, where she is currently a PhD candidate. Her research and creative practice explore the retelling and recreating of biographies through archival investigation and memory studies.

The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre showcases innovative, diverse, distinctive and creative cultural programs for enjoyment by residents of, and visitors to, the Blue Mountains. Located in the heart of Katoomba the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre encompasses the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery, Katoomba Library and Into the Blue, an interactive exhibition that explores the history and natural landscape of the Blue Mountains. Visitors can also enjoy the viewing platform that takes in stunning panoramic vistas of Katoomba and the Jamison Valley. Opened in 2012, the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery features major touring, curated, regional and local exhibitions. Its Altitude Exhibition Program is dedicated to showcasing artists who reside in the Blue Mountains Region. The Gallery also hosts many quality exhibition programs such as curator and artist talks, educational workshops, gallery tours and outreach programs. The Cultural Centre also hosts school holiday programs for kids, pop-up art activities, artisan markets, performances, and a wide range of community related events. The Blue Mountains Cultural Centre also features a Gallery Shop and Café, both of which aim to highlight local makers and produce. The Shop stocks a wide variety of quality Australian made gifts, books and homewares, with a focus on artisan products designed and made here in the Blue Mountains. The licensed Gallery Café has a particular focus on quality, locally produced ingredients. You can enjoy freshly roasted coffee, delicious cakes, and a seasonal menu while overlooking the magnificent Jamison Valley. Please email culturalcentre@bmcc.nsw.gov.au to get in touch!