If the two circles of a simple Venn diagram are labelled, “Documentary Photographer” and “Film Director” then the intersecting segment is small but meaningful, filled with topics such as “lighting” and “composition”. It seems to me that the parts that don’t overlap, the exclusively directorial or documentarian parts are far bigger in area than the quenelle in the centre.
A fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, mathematician and Church of England Vicar, Rev John Venn is best known for his diagrams, pictorial representations of the relations between sets that have become an often used tool in the teaching of mathematics and logic. An interesting sideline to his academia was that he also invented strange machines, one of which bowled cricket balls. The machine was so intriguing that when the Australian cricketers were visiting Cambridge in the 1870’s, the machine was used to entertain them on arrival. The story goes that the machine bowled out the top Australian batsmen four time consecutively!
A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure in documenting the work on set of a group of highly dedicated young professionals as they went about the complicated business of shooting for an upcoming short film called “Call me Puritan”. The pleasure was intensified, (pleasure and pride are closely linked) because the director of the film is my son Archie.
Being essentially a documentary photographer, I have always cringed slightly, when my job has required me to direct the subjects in front of me. “Stand up straighter!”, “use the other hand!” or the worst one of all which I have learned never to use, “look happy!”. I’m so much more comfortable lurking in the shadows, observing, blending in, and trying to show the viewer what actually happened rather than what I want them to see.
So, watching this son of mine standing with authority in the middle of the set, taking control of his actors, guiding and cajoling them to produce the performance he is looking for, while at the same time allowing them to express themselves, made me realise the creative chasm that lies between us. And what a wonderful thing that is!
We have our own worlds. His is invention and ideas, storytelling and emotion, mine is a quiet search for truth in reality, and an impossible quest for compositional perfection.
And yet the bridge between these two worlds, over the chasm that I mentioned, is strong and well worn. I’m glad that his career is not a clone of my own, but I’m also extremely grateful for the segment in the middle of the Venn diagram that allows us to be friends.
“Call me Puritan” will be released at an event the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne in September 2021
