About Anne Bentley

The decision to become a practicing artist came into my head most likely as a mechanism to stop me from going completely crazy in pay-the-rent jobs.

Always one to dabble in taking photos, one day a friend said, "I like what you see..." and suggested I do a course to understand my camera as a tool so I could get on with creating images.  I did a single weekend workshop that showed me the concept of black & white photography, using a manual SLR, hand-processing film and darkroom printing.  One weekend was enough to prompt me into self learning and practice.

I work partly with traditional film and digital photography.  I am not currently printing in the darkroom, mostly due to the water shortage in Australia - even with an 'eco' archival print washer, darkroom printing uses more water than I am comfortable with but I still hand process black and white film.

I have worked in many jobs in my adult life, beginning by on the job learning how to restore antiques & polish reproductions.  I've been a builders labourer, gardener & rubbish remover (more fun than it sounds), a shop girl and office worker. I dabbled in music journalism & briefly managed a band.  I wrote some truly corny short stories but managed to have them published - obscurely.
Now I am beginning to work more and more for myself in an area I have chosen independently rather than circumstantially or out of necessity.

Solo Exhibitions:

Heaven (is looking up...) 5 - 15 July 2007 at the New View Gallery Newtown NSW
Formula None 16-26 November 2006 at New View Gallery Newtown NSW
Fig & Waiting 1-11 June 2006 at New View Gallery Newtown NSW 
 
(Selected) Group Exhibitions:
The Olive Cotton Award For Photographic Portraiture 2008 (finalist)
The Olive Cotton Award For Photographic Portraiture 2007 (finalist)
Under The Blue Moon Festival Exhibition 2007 in Newtown (by invitation)
Transferring the Image 2007 Works on paper – at Mura Clay - Newtown  (by invitation)
Christmas Show 2006- Mura Clay Newtown (by invitation)
Post It - Art Mail Project @ Peloton June 1 to July 1 2006
Newtown Community Art Show 2006
The Olive Cotton Award For Photographic Portraiture 2005 (finalist)
Liverpool Hospital Campus Mental Health Centre NSW 2005
Kellys on King (Hotel, Newtown, NSW) in 2005-06
Sydney Esquisse 2005 (in the Just Shop exhibition space - Lomographic Society Australia)
Walking The Street 2004 (Newtown, Sydney)
 
Photographs published:  
The Australian Directors Guild Newsletter
Spin Magazine (Australia)
Australian Photography Magazine
Sydney Morning Herald
Brag (various editions)
Film:  LOve&MOtion - a Lomography Documentary by Christian Schmidt-David - FilmproduktionMoghul (Berlin, Germany) - a number of my “lomo”shots are included in the doco. Christian's film was on the big screen in Germany March - April 2006
 
Interviewed by:
UR Magazine (Sydney University Union Review)
The Glebe (Sydney)
Eden Dreaming: A Double Shot of Urban Soul - broadcast July 2006 (TVS Sydney)
 

other pages at: lomography.com; myspace.com; blogspot.com