ST MICHAEL'S CALENDAR

Nov 19, 20078 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Nov 19, 2007

2.2K Views

QUICK UPDATE:

Back in July I was commissioned to produce a calendar for St Michael's Uniting Church in Melbourne. Having only been in Australia for 5 months at that stage it was the perfect opportunity to apply all my practice over the past couple of years to a real world project. It would be the church's first calendar and we were both eager to try and do something a little different. As it would turn out there isn't a single full interior or exterior shot of the church. Instead we wanted to show St Michael's in a new light, so to speak, and to show a side of the church that hadn't been seen before.

Photography started back in early August and continued until the end of September. I was given full access to every crook and cranny, allowed to stop by unannounced and spent hours working in the church by myself. I climbed the church spire that even the caretaker hadn't done, fumbled around on the roof and spent hours playing with the lights. I remember in those first days feeling completely lost - with the vaguest of briefs - and a little overwhelmed at making a church calendar somewhat exciting. I mean, common, how my boring old calendars have we seen??

Yesterday, over 3 months later, the calendar and limited prints were released to an enthusiastic reception and lots of positive feedback. A lady who helps with the church archives kindly commented that she "has been photographing the church for years but never like THAT".

~ St Michael's 2008 Calendar ~

Photography & Design by Gary Annett

What I learned was that if you take the time to look long enough you'll find those hidden gems and when you do find your feet and start to look at things differently those 'keepers' start to show their face. I remember one afternoon when the church was dark looking up to see a 'cross' of reflected light peaking through a crack in the door. Quite appropriate for the setting (you can see it on the 4th page). It might not be a breakthrough image but I think it's a nice example that there's potential for a great image everywhere if you look at it the right way.

I've spent more time in church these past couple of months than I have in my entire life and hopefully we picked up a couple of nice images along the way. We started with a folder of hundreds and slowly, painfully, whittled it down to 12 pages. Of course some personal favorites didn't survive the chop. But what you get is a different look at St Michael's that I hope captures a little spirit of the place while satisfying the needs of the church to promote their new gardens and have some consistent visual theme throughout.

Let me know what you think and if there's any you particularly like I'll try to get them uploaded as individual deviations.

The calendars and prints are available from the 2nd floor of St Michael's Centre, Collins St, or after each Sunday service 10-11am. For more information please contact the church directly at (03) 9654 5120 or email office@stmichaels.org.au. All proceeds are in support of Activate Australia and their Leadership Development Programs for disadvantaged young people.

Many thanks to Leah, Sylvia & Alana for all the hard work on their end to make this happen and get my mini portfolio of sorts into hundreds of homes.

Be good. And keep shooting! ~ Gary

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COOL NEWS:

If you liked the last time-lapse check this one out. It's been around for a while but it's pretty impressive! www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B26as…

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