Interview with Rhiannon Gamble for 2022 CCP Summer Salon

Photography by Ben Clement

Rhiannon is a Melbourne-based artist who specialises in Photography and Film. We chat with Rhiannon about how applying constraints to the photographic process help disrupt comfort zones and redirects thinking around photographic boundaries and connection and how growing up surrounded by technology has influenced her practice; allowing her to interplay the comparison of people's perceptions of themselves.

Hi, what's your name and background?

Rhiannon Gamble: I’m Rhiannon Gamble, I graduated mid covid without ceremonious pomp—a Bachelor in Photography and Film with Honours in Creative Arts Photography from Deakin University.

What is the story behind your submitted works?

RG: I got involved in Salon as a student visiting galleries and being inspired by local photographers' art. Prompting my work, the idea of applying constraints to my photographic process helps disrupt normal comfort zones—it lets me redirect thinking about boundaries between myself and my subject framing—an awkward interference is layered into my connection with my friends—remixing iconic styles into my personal palette is a good way to change perspective.

What does photography teach you about how to live?

RG: I grew up seeing the suburban streets of Melbourne pass by from the back seat of my family’s old but resilient 60s vintage car. Just like analogue photography, mechanical and chemical technology evolves into different forms, I adapt functional processes that influence how I approach and use the new digital gear to slow down … and walking a lot helps shape my sense of place.

Which is stronger to you the influence of people or the influence of place?

RG: I like synthesising extracted bits compassionately. So spaces in time smoosh ideas of place into oddly tempting dimensions. I’ve developed a portable lighting rig I can carry to people’s homes for photo shoots, where I can draw attention to my subject of people. Infiltrating these spaces let me carefully settle into shared gaps between awkward moments—when boundaries blur and shift.

Has your use of social media changed or influenced the way that you create, share or view your work?

RG: Big time! Talking with pictures helps me stay connected in meaningful ways—mixing up senses boosts feelings across translation hiccups‚ like Dijkstra's moments of transformation. Growing up surrounded by technology and the internet has heavily influenced my practice. Ever since high school, I have inter-played the comparison of a person's online and offline perception of themselves. I enjoy reflecting on the intimacy of portrait photography that enables compositional dislocation.