The Thousands

Most creative people I know have no idea how to do what they’re doing. But they still manage to create awesome things. That’s why I’m always surprised to meet those with degrees and doctorates in, um, being creative. What? So photography’s not just about ‘having a good eye’? Shit.

The photographers in group show 8 Days are loaded with training and credentials, but don’t hold that against them! Like, when I see Dr Juha Tolonen‘s mind-bending large format photos, I probably won’t be thinking ‘a-ha! photography academic, for sure’. I’m more interested in whether that ginger cat was shot during Tolonen’s time in the former eastern bloc…or Geraldton. Likewise, don’t really care about Mike Gray‘s Diploma of Applied Science in Photography, I just want to work out where I know this building from.

If I run into Graham Miller (founder of the inaugural FotoFreo Festival and 8-time solo exhibitor), I’m not going to test him on his photo theory. I’m just gonna say ‘How did you score the sweet gig of being the only Australian in Japan’s first massive photo festival?’ Then I’ll ask him if his American road trip was as ‘really, really good’ as his photo said it was, and if he had the balls to get drunk and crash the graduation.