Bringing people together

Nick Chalmers : Byron Bay – Photo : Joni Sternbach

When does a photo bring people together?

There has been some magic felt here in Byron Bay lately, with a visit from Joni Sternbach, a photographer from Brooklyn in New York. Joni, through her historic wet-plate collodion process of photography, has brought a sense of community to all of whom have been touched by this incredible experience.

In a day and age of instantaneous moments and fast paced living, this hand’s on approach has stopped people in their tracks. Using the instantaneous wet-plate collodion process, Joni creates one-of-a-kind tintypes that are imbued with a feeling of ambiguity, timelessness and mystery. The photographs are a unique blend of personality and photographic technique, a very personal experience that is different from one individual to the next. Amidst the tears, the joy and the emotion evoked from these photo’s, the one grounding undertone has been Joni’s amazing presence and smiling demeanor.

SurfLand is an ongoing project of contemporary portraits of surfers, with Joni being here for another 3 weeks as part of Art Park’s Artist Residency Program.

We will keep bringing you more of these special moments…
CG

The Camera : Byron Bay