Former Tweed artist Jared O’Sullivan looks at the world with a unique gaze, capturing the often overlooked and forgotten parts of society on the black and white film of his vintage ’80s Pentax SLR camera.
Rather than shy away from the uncomfortable, the 23-year-old photographer is allured to Australia’s streets and his revealing works will be exhibited this month when he returns to his hometown of Coolangatta for a solo exhibition at Comb Art Space.
“This latest exhibition of ‘Street Ballads’ documents Australian culture, and the way that life plays within a city environment,” said Jared.
“I have found that documenting the streets of Sydney has opened up wormholes into many different worlds. Although we all find ourselves in the same spaces in time, our worlds can be so far apart.
“The majority of these images have been taken at night, so there is a dark tone through the work. I have found that there are often so many signs screaming for our attention these days that, if you can find a moment that is still and unaffected from the city flow, it tends to become more powerful in its subtlety.”
While his primary medium is photography, there’s no denying Jared is an artist.
“I dabble in everything a little bit. I like to experiment with a combination of photographs and text, music and film, as well as found objects.
“Still photography allows me to represent a world that narrates itself. I love the power of photography and its ability to communicate ideas about the ideologies of our time,” said Jared.
The creative-type has gone “old school” with his works, shying away from digital photography as he develops his photos in his own makeshift darkroom at the back of his house in Sydney’s inner west.
“I find using film to be a more involved but more fulfilling process. Not having the image displayed on the screen instantly allows an element of mystery. Since experimenting with different films, I have managed to come up with a process that works for me; it’s more hands on and I like the feel of what I am printing.”
And this element of mystery has carried over to Jared’s next step as he heads north for his first solo exhibition in his hometown.
“This exhibition focuses on the time between the spectacles evident on Sydney streets. I tend to look at the street with the idea that it’s a play continually unfolding, using the backdrops of the city as a set in which the spontaneity of life flows through.
“Looking through the images, there is also a religious influence that comes through – isolation, the effect of Capitalism in a contemporary society. Sometimes I’ll find a backdrop and try to make elements fall into place, talking to people, finding out what people are up to.
“It will be great to have an exhibition at home to take the images shot in Sydney to a different audience. It’s hard to predict how people will react, that’s why I’m interested in doing it.”
These ‘Street Ballads’ are part of a bigger project that will see Jared travel around Australia to gain a greater understanding of the country’s cultural landscape, compiling images and stories for a photographic book.
The seven-day exhibition opens on Friday, April 13 at Comb Art Space in Coolangatta (23 McLean St) at 6.30pm. The exhibition is free with hand-made prints for sale, and runs until April 19.
