SCA new digital artist wins Luminaires competition

2008-01-14 10:45:49

Vlad da Cunha, a graduand of the University of Sydney, recently won the Luminaires competition for his photo essay, 17.07.07: a day on the life of Sao Paolo.

The judges (Markham Lane from AAP Image, Toby Grime from Animal Logic and Edward Colless from Australian Art Collector and the Victorian College of the Arts) selected Vlad da Cunha's photo essay from a field of digital artists working across a variety of digital media. Judge Edward Colless said of da Cunha's series, "I found the Sao Paolo cityscapes dramatic, vivid and exciting in both the immense scope and their detail: powerful compositions that consumed the eye and were as arresting as they were intriguing."

Vlad da Cunha has just completed the one-year Master of Documentary Photography degree at Sydney College of the Arts. Vlad says of his winning work, "São Paulo's Congonhas Airport was built in 1936 before the boost in population that would make it the busiest airport in the southern hemisphere, with more than 18 million people travelling through it in 2006. We, Brazilians, knew that it was just a matter of time for a catastrophe to happen. During my holiday to Brazil on 17 July 2007, TAM Flight 3054, a domestic passenger flight attempting to land after flying from Porto Alegre, crashed at high speed into an adjacent building and a petrol station. All 187 passengers plus 12 people on the ground died, making it the worst aviation accident in Latin America. These photos are part of a series of 50 photographs from São Paulo taken on the day of the disaster. I convey the emotional aspects of the event using highly saturated colours, high contrast and making use of the almost theatrical scenery, to encourage the viewer to experience what I experienced. For me, photographing is not only about shooting the subject. I like the experience of taking them. I'm not part of what is happening, but I can feel it, sense it, and try to communicate it to others."

The Congonhas Airport series was exhibited at Sydney College of the Arts during the Postgraduate Degree Show in December.