:: Michelle Dunn Photography ::

Sarah McKenzie recording at Sing Sing Studios

michelle — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:15:53 +0000

Pianist, vocalist & composer Sarah McKenzie received an Aria Award nomination last year, at age 23, for her first album. Pretty incredible huh?

I joined Sarah & her band in Melbourne’s Sing Sing studio on their final day of recording for her second album. Here’s a little sneak peak of what went on, between recording, jamming, and laughs with Sarah, her band & producer Chong Lim.

Between shooting stills, I also tinkered around with some moving images… but more about that later…

Butterfly Boucher filmclip 5678

michelle — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:33:49 +0000

Nashville based musician Butterfly Boucher was in Australia for a few shows in Melbourne & Sydney recently.

While she was here with manager Dawson Wells, she snuck in the filming of her latest music video for new single “5678″ at Atticus Media studio in Collingwood. I was behind the scenes shooting second camera for the filmclip… but I snuck in some stills too…

Wedding :: Ashley & Claudia

michelle — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:29:26 +0000

The last few months of 2012 was chock full of wedded bliss with me behind the lens. But the wedding of Claudia & Ashley was my last of 2012… and it made my year! It was an all round gorgeous day, with so many moments to be documented, loads of personal details they added & so much love shared. It’s one that was close to my heart as we continue to fight in Australia to have gay marriage legalised and I wish these two a world of happiness for the many, many, many (hey they’re young, they should have MANY!) years ahead together.

I’ve popped this one up as a featured wedding in my gallery, so click here to check out more of the day.

Champagne Serenade

michelle — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:02:37 +0000

The creative brief for this shoot for Melbourne 3 piece cabaret act Champagne Serenade evolved from a much bigger & wilder idea which I’m sure we’ll get to down the track.

Let me first say, these girls have VOICES! Wow. I only got a sneak peak of one of their songs as we were preparing for the shoot, but my bet is that they’d be a hit at any event.

So back to the photo shoot. The idea was to work with the name and make it feel like the girls were in champagne (not realistically). So we went with a gold velvet background, a bubble machine & a super cool mic for a prop, borrowed from friend and Melbourne muso Frankie Alibi.

The shoot was great fun, lots of laughs and some of my favourite shots of 2011 came out of it. Check out the gallery for a few of the winners.

Big West Festival :: Footscray by Night

michelle — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:14:27 +0000

Karaoke with videos by local artists, hilarious standup comedy & breakdancing with Demi’s crew (SYTYCD) all on the rooftop of Footscray’s Little Saigon market. It’s the making of an awesome night, bringing community together. Here’s some photos of the event, otherwise known as Footscray by Night as part of the Big West Festival. Looks like fun huh?

Wedding :: Lisa & Paul

michelle — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:33:03 +0000

Lisa & Paul celebrated their love & cultures on their wedding day with a whole bunch of fun thrown in. This is a little glimpse of what it looked like…

Grolsch Grid

michelle — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:03:24 +0000

Get creative with it – just no f*n boring shots of people looking stiff and awkward.

That was my brief for shooting the Grolsch Grid at Gasometer & The Laundry in Fitzroy this week. I ran with it. It’s not often that you are really allowed to run off the hook and do what you want on a shoot, so when it happens you want to make the most of it.

The idea for the Grolsch campaign is – Get together a bunch of emerging artists from different mediums, put them together in bars around Melbourne and invite the world to come by and check it all out. As always, there’s so much amazing talent around Melbourne just aching for an audience. I’m generally not a fan of electronic music, but Bossman Records (VJ) smashed it. Check em out if you get a chance.

Connected?

michelle — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 04:55:55 +0000

This street photography series began as I was wandering through NYC and ran smack bang into Times Square. Unmissable. The people. The lights. The advertising. The excessive use of electricity screaming – buy Nike, buy Coke, buy buy buy buy.

I was incredibly overwhelmed and sat down to take it all in. What I noticed, was that most people passing through the square payed no attention to it at all. Mobile phones drew their attention in a far more absorbing way. This is in no way unique to NYC, it happens in my own city and I’m sure in most cities in the world. But it did make me think – with all this technology making us more accessible, more responsive and more available, how connected to the present moment are we?

The series progressed and I was particularly interested in people engaging with their mobile phones when there was a lot of other stuff going on around them, or when they were working or multi tasking. I’m not criticising it – I do it. It’s just interesting. The more you look for it, the more you notice every second person oblivious to their surroundings and connected to some other moment and place. Connected to technology, disconnected from everything else.

I totally get it – being connected. When we’re on our way from one place to the next, why not make the most of catching up or continuing to work. But when do we rest? When do we stop, look around us, reflect? My clearest thinking used to happen on long bus rides staring out the window watching worlds go by. I just wonder how or when do we get a chance stop and take things in when we are always ‘connected’. What do you think?

Check out the whole documentary here

Reflecting and moving forward in NYC

michelle — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 05:56:01 +0000

This is an extremely sensitive topic. The location is the World Trade Centre, New York City.

We spent about 3 hours with who told us their experience on the day and and the days, months and years that followed. A retired firefighter, career relaunched into the most horrific job of his life. A respiratory condition that forced him to stop, just days into the search even though there was more to be done. Funerals stretched on for 18 months.

“Strength and Stability” was the motto of the World Trade Centre. As we walked and our guides reflected on the past, I saw literal reflections everywhere. The newly placed glass windows reflected cranes on to the remaining buildings. Past, present, future.

See the full series here

NYC, inspiration and giant meals

michelle — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 07:37:59 +0000

Something happened on this trip. I had a revelation. Nothing dramatic – actually it could very well have passed me by if I wasn’t paying close attention. I can’t even explain it in words, but it is clear to me in the way I am shooting.

I made a decision to only bring my camera and a 50mm lens on this trip. It set me free. I had my camera on me, in fact out and being used, most of the trip. There is something about a smaller set up, without an entourage of lenses and endless options that meant I just shot with the only option I had. I saw everything within the frame of that lens and if it didn’t fit I simply moved closer or further away. Simple. And I never once longed for a different lens. In fact, I loved that I needed to move, get involved, get closer.

Below is really just meant as a snap shot of the trip. Nothing more. They are a journey of inspiration, wandering, the conquering of giant meals, the endless search for “gourmet” coffee, and the absorption of all NYC has to offer. For those wanting something less disjointed, I have 3 series of images that I have come back with, but they will be posted in good time. For now, here’s some adventures we had and I’ll show you what caught my eye in greater detail in coming posts.

Want to know where or what any of the below photos are? Just ask…

To explain a couple:

The girl in the Yale jumper and yellow gumboots is Australian playwright Amelia Roper. Caught up with her and did a couple of portraits at Yale before she took off to Boston, then Russia for performances of some of her plays. Very talented, check her out here.

The shot 5th from the bottom is a religious group singing for our redemption the day before the world was supposed to end.

The shot below the guy looking at the paper mache art is the only shot not taken by me – From left to right – New York photographer Tema Stauffer, Me, Alison Shirley