06 March 2009
Capturing Melbourne’s café culture
Melanie Tanusetiawan’s winning photo of Bourke Street’s Federal Coffee Palace.
Moka Gi Gi, as imagined by Dan Tuckmantel.
The photo by third-prize winner, Tom Friml.
Sarah Kate Jones-Buckley captured the action at Degraves.
Melbourne’s funkiest cafes have been captured in a series of stylish and quirky photographs by RMIT University students, as part of the annual Sanpellegrino Café Society competition.
Now in its 10th year, the competition gives final-year RMIT Bachelor of Arts (Photography) students the chance to create images that reveal the distinctive character of Melbourne’s café culture.
The 37 images entered in last year’s competition, including the winning photo of Federal Coffee Palace by Melanie Tanusetiawan, will be on display at a free exhibition in Southgate this month.
Dr Les Horvat, Discipline Head of Higher Education programs in the School of Creative Media, said each student had collaborated with an individual Melbourne café to fulfill the photographic brief, “The art of living in café society”.
“The Sanpellegrino Café Society competition fits brilliantly with the direction of RMIT’s photography programs, which aim to arm students with the practical skills they need to succeed in the industry,” Dr Horvat said.
“The competition gives our students the chance to bring all their talents and skills to the task of working to a brief, which is exactly what they will be doing in their professional careers.
“The students must satisfy the particular needs of the client and they gain a practical understanding of the challenges involved in creatively capturing the atmosphere of a brand.
“We are grateful for the ongoing support of Sanpellegrino and the great opportunities this competition gives our students to develop their creative and technical expertise.”
Ms Tanusetiawan was awarded $1,500 for first prize in the competition, with Sarah Kate Jones-Buckley given the second prize of $500 for her photo of the Degraves café in Melbourne’s CBD.
The $250 third prize went to Tom Friml for his shot of Sandringham’s Ground Espresso Shop, while the Creativity Award of $250 was won by Dan Tuckmantel for his photo of Moka Gi Gi in Brunswick.
As well as the public exhibition at Southgate, the most striking images entered in the competition are each year collated into a calendar and diary.
Sanpellegrino Pacific Director, Brett Hibbs, showed his esteem for the competition by last year increasing the prize pool by 50 per cent.
“The competition has become an integral part of the Sanpellegrino year,” Mr Hibbs said.
“We look forward to seeing the innovation and ever changing influences in the brilliant work produced each year by the students from RMIT.”
Senior Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Victoria, Isobel Crombie, leading photographic artist Earl Carter and Mr Hibbs were the judges of last year’s competition, which is run each year by Hothouse Media.
Ms Crombie said the technical standard of the entries was high and the creative approach was well considered.
“The winner fulfilled all aspects of the brief, creating an unusual composite image with a great sense of narrative,” she said.
The exhibition is at Southgate (mid-level) from 7 to 23 March, as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.
