Exhibition dates: 7th – 21st December 2019
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Elements of Focus
2019
Photos used: 12
Vale Andrew Follows: A life in focus
It is with great sadness that I found out today that artist Andrew Follows passed away yesterday, December 11th, 2019.
If anybody could say that he lived and breathed photography it was Andrew. It was his passion, his reason for being. And he was good at it, very good at it.
With his Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) – a condition which rendered one eye completely blind with ever diminishing tunnel vision in the other – he saw the world like nobody else could. Not because of this, but because he was Andrew, he was just born to be the great enabler. There was no dis/abled with Andrew. He got on with life. He got on with being an artist, being the best he could possibly be with a passion and enthusiasm which I was totally in awe of.
I still remember our trips together to photograph for his solo exhibition Density at Anita Traverso Gallery in 2013 with his beloved guide dog Eamon sitting in the footwell of my car. I mentored Andrew for a year before the exhibition and believe me, he knew what he wanted and how to get the shot. I drove him to the locations we had chosen and helped him set up the camera and tripod. He opened the lens and looked at the screen on the back of the digital camera… and saw the world! He saw things that were only blurs to him before on the screen of that digital camera. That line of light that hovers above the judges chair in the courtroom at Beechworth, where Ned Kelly was sentenced to death, lingers long in the memory. Only Andrew could get permission to photograph, at night, in the old Beechworth Courthouse.
As I have written in an earlier piece, “His is not the vision of im(pair)ment as the rest of us see the world, through two eyes, but the holistic vision of a monocular eye that becomes the root of his photography. The lens of the camera becomes an extension of Self, the shutter his very existence and the digital screen on the back of the camera his tabula rasa, a “blank slate” upon which he writes his experience and perception, his knowledge of the world. His experience of vision and the evidence of his photographs become both the beginning and the end of the work, a place in which his fundamental nature resides.”
Andrew speaks truth to photography, for that was his nature. In so doing he speaks truth to life itself.
He had such a passion for photography. Two postings I did for him earlier, Andrew Follows: Carmania (February 2016) and Andrew Follows: Carmania 2 (June 2016) express what I most loved about Andrew as a person and as a photographer… how he just got so much out of life, and how he saw the world with crystal clear focus and clarity – in these two postings combining his two great passions, cars and photography. I still think these are some of the best art car photographs I have ever seen. There is an immediacy and directness to them, a time and space of great perception. Again, in his new exhibition we feel his love in seeing the world through the camera, offering his unique and fragmented perspective to the viewer, which comes together in the final, holistic image.
Above all Andrew brought people together to enable his projects through his charisma, cheekiness and charm, his get up and go for what he was doing and what he wanted to achieve. He brought everyone along for the ride. Andrew Andrew Andrew what a spirit young man… what energy, love, passion, commitment and talent. We had some fabulous times together. I loved how you taught me as much as I taught you. About life, about photography, and looking and seeing the world. I’m so glad I got to see you at the opening on Saturday and give you a kiss and a hug.
Andrew speaks truth to photography, for that was his nature. In so doing he speaks truth to life itself.
With thanks to Dishan Marikar, Magnet Galleries Melbourne, Fiona Cook and everyone who helped with the exhibition and book. Condolences to all family and friends.
Dr Marcus Bunyan xx
Many thankx to Andrew Follows, Magnet Galleries Melbourne and Dishan Marikar for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image. The book from the exhibition is available to buy from the gallery as are prints, and funds raised from this show will benefit artists with disability in the future with a biennial prize to be awarded from the Andrew Follows Trust. For more information about the book please see the Magnet Galleries Melbourne website.
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Mercedes-Benz 230SL
2019
Photos used: 11
Year of manufacture: 1964
Elements of Focus exhibition book cover
Elements of Focus exhibition book cover and postcards
Elements of Focus exhibition postcards
Crowd at the opening of Andrew Follows’ Elements of Focus exhibition at Magnet Galleries Melbourne
Photo: Michael Silver
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Ferrari F12tdf
2019
Photos used: 12
Year of manufacture: 2017
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Ferrari F12tdf (details)
2019
Photos used: 12
Year of manufacture: 2017
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT (unrestored)
2019
Photos used: 5
Year of manufacture: 2004
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT (restored)
2019
Photos used: 13
Year of manufacture: 2004
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Ferrari Enzo
2019
Photos used: 10
Year of manufacture: 2003
Andrew Follows with his guide dog Leo and his mentor Dishan Marikar at the opening of the exhibition Elements of Focus at Magnet Galleries Melbourne
Elements of Focus is a very important project that brings together my two passions – motor cars and photography. The cars in this project range from some of the rarest to even a few more common examples, but they are being photographed and presented in a way that has never been seen before.
Being a legally blind photographer, who has tunnel vision, my images offer the viewer a different perspective through my lens and take them on a visual journey. I have an eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a condition which has rendered one eye completely blind with ever diminishing tunnel vision in the other. I can see three metres to most people’s seventy metres, and that through a foggy haze.
My tunnel vision means that I can’t see the object as a whole when I’m photographing a car, I take shots of each individual element of the car, and then piece the final image together like a jigsaw puzzle.
For this very exciting photographic project, I have been mentored by Dishan Marikar, one of the best car photographers in Melbourne. I am very honoured and proud to have Dishan teach me new skills in the area of photography he is so well known for.
For those of you may not know, I have been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus and Elements of Focus may be the last exhibition that I will be able to celebrate with you as I am not well. I’d love to share this important exhibition with my friends, peers and colleagues. Thank you for being part of my journey in photography and life.
Andrew Follows
Text from the Andrew Follows website November 7, 2019 [Online] Cited Saturday 07/12/2019
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Porsche 991 911
GT2 RS
2019
Photos used: 16
Year of manufacture: 2018
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Lamborghini Diablo Roadster
2019
Photos used: 21
Year of manufacture: 1999
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Frazer Nash TT
2019
Photos used: 11
Year of manufacture: 1932
Elements Of Focus is a very important project that brings together the two passions of Andrew Follows: motor cars and photography. The cars in this project range from some of the rarest in Australia to even a few common examples, but they are being photographed and presented in a way that has never been seen before. Being a legally blind photographer with tunnel vision, Andrew’s images offer viewers a different perspective through his lens as he takes them on a visual journey.
“My tunnel vision means that I can’t see the object as a whole. When I’m photographing a car, I take shots of each individual element of the car, and then piece the final image together like a jigsaw puzzle.”
For this very exciting photographic project, Andrew has been mentored by Dishan Marikar, one of the best car photographers in Melbourne.
The exhibition is being held in December at Magnet Gallery in Docklands, a highly respected photography gallery in Melbourne.
“I am very honoured and proud to have Dishan teach me new skills in the area of photography he is so well known for. The team at Magnet has been great to work with and I am very excited to showcase my Elements Of Focus project there.”
Text from the Magnet Galleries Melbourne website [Online] Cited Saturday 07/12/2019
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Citroën DS21 Safari
2019
Photos used: 10
Year of manufacture: 1971
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Citroën DS21 Safari (details)
2019
Photos used: 10
Year of manufacture: 1971
Installation views of Andrew Follows Citroën DS21 Safari 2019 at the exhibition Elements of Focus at Magnet Galleries Melbourne
Pages from the Elements of Focus book showing photographic fragmentation and stitching process
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Porsche 964 991 Turbo 3.6
2019
Photos used: 9
Year of manufacture: 1994
Andrew Follows (Australian, d. 2019)
Maserati Merak SS
2019
Photos used: 9
Year of manufacture: 1978
Marcus Bunyan with his friend Andrew Follows at the opening of his exhibition Elements of Focus at Magnet Galleries Melbourne
Magnet Galleries Melbourne
SC G19 Wharf St, The District,
Docklands, Victoria, 3008
Australia
Phone: +61 (0) 3 8589 0371
Opening hours:
Tuesday – Friday 11am – 5pm
Saturday and Sunday 11am – 4pm
Andrew Follows Photographer website
Art Blart _ art and cultural memory archive 
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