46 Douro St, Nth Geelong. Ph: 03 4222 8359
Focal Point Photography Studio, Darkroom & Gallery
Creating and celebrating great photography.
46 Douro St, Nth Geelong. Ph: 03 4222 8359
Creating and celebrating great photography.
Happy New Year and welcome to our revitalised and improved centre for creative photography.
We are again open our normal hours,
Wednesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm.
There are still some restrictions to meet COVID19 safety requirements, but the darkroom and the studios are open any day by appointment.
Our current exhibition, Masters of Australian Photojournalism, is one of our best yet and features over 120 photos from 16 of Australia's best news and documentary photographers. Featured photographers are: Noel Butcher, Karen Dodd, Glenn Gibsom, Julie Hough, Clive Mackinnon, Julie Millowick, Bruce Postle, Ilana Rose, Annette Ruzicka, Helga Salwa, Krystal Seigerman, Michael Silver, Mark Strachan, Peter Ward, Craig Watson and Phil Weymouth. We thank them all for their support of the exhibition. This is a must-see exhibition, not just because of the fantastic quality of the work, but also for the historical significance of many of the photos and events they cover.
We thank all of our customers, friends and supporters for keeping us going through what is likely to be another very challenging year, and we look forward to welcoming you to the gallery for the many exciting exhibitions, meetings and special events we have planned in 2021.
Thanks for your continued support, Watto and Family.
Focal Point members get free admission to most of our exhibitions, discounts from everything in the shop and workshops, access to hire our darkroom, free access to our huge library of photography books and can hire our studio at half the rates of non-members for non-commercial w. Plus exclusive member-only exhibitions.
We have Geelong's only fully-equipped studio for hire, with a small cyclorama (infinity wall). The studio is 9m x 4m, while the cyclorama is 2.4m wide and 3m deep. There are three shooting positions within the studio, with a range of backdrops. The studio is most suitable for portrait and product photography.
Hire rates are very reasonable
We have Geelong's only fully-equipped studio for hire, with a small cyclorama (infinity wall). The studio is 9m x 4m, while the cyclorama is 2.4m wide and 3m deep. There are three shooting positions within the studio, with a range of backdrops. The studio is most suitable for portrait and product photography.
Hire rates are very reasonable.
We have numerous studio flashes, stands, backdrops, reflectors, modifiers, etc available as well.
Our darkroom is available for hire: Currently, due to COVID19, we can only have one person or one household at a time. We have a great choice of professional-quality enlargers, from 35mm to 4"x5", all suitable for Ilford Multigrade. We also have a dedicated film processing room, which can be put into total darkness, so you can load films
Our darkroom is available for hire: Currently, due to COVID19, we can only have one person or one household at a time. We have a great choice of professional-quality enlargers, from 35mm to 4"x5", all suitable for Ilford Multigrade. We also have a dedicated film processing room, which can be put into total darkness, so you can load films out on the bench, rather than using dark-bags. Basic chemicals are included in the hire.
We aim to celebrate photography in all its forms: from hand-printed black & white prints to colour digital files; hard-hitting news to fine-art; historically significant to contemporary works; from established and well-known photographers to emerging.
Our upcoming exhibitions include Photojournalism; contemporary photography; landscapes; p
We aim to celebrate photography in all its forms: from hand-printed black & white prints to colour digital files; hard-hitting news to fine-art; historically significant to contemporary works; from established and well-known photographers to emerging.
Our upcoming exhibitions include Photojournalism; contemporary photography; landscapes; portraits; works by students; and special themes from individuals or groups of photographers.
We want you to enjoy creating beautiful photographs as affordably as possible. We have everything you need for film photography, from film to printing paper. We even have some pre-owned cameras and other equipment. Of course, we would like you to enjoy our darkroom, but if you want to build your own darkroom, or already have one, then we
We want you to enjoy creating beautiful photographs as affordably as possible. We have everything you need for film photography, from film to printing paper. We even have some pre-owned cameras and other equipment. Of course, we would like you to enjoy our darkroom, but if you want to build your own darkroom, or already have one, then we can supply the chemistry, paper and accessories you need, as well as some pre-owned enlargers and other darkroom gear.
We have regular workshops on photography and darkroom techniques. Dates vary. Contact us or see our events section for details or to book.
We understand that sometimes people want to do a workshop but can't make it on a particular day. We can tailor a darkroom workshop to suit your requirements and when you are available. No matter what your level of skill, from complete novice or beginner to experienced professional, we will work around you to teach the skills you will need to confidently work in our darkroom and produce fantastic analogue black-and-white prints. Contact us for more details.
From time to time we will have guest presenters doing workshops on advanced techniques, alternative processes, analogue and digital photography techniques and lighting. Contact us or see in the upcoming events below to book.
Craig “Watto” Watson worked for several years in retail and industrial camera shops before beginning a course in photography at RMIT in 1986. This led to a part-time position at Leader Newspapers in Blackburn, which in turn led to a full-time position as darkroom technician at the Herald & Weekly Times.
Watto worked in the darkroom for two years, before taking up a position as photographer on The Weekly Times newspaper, covering all aspects of country life, including farming, news, sport, politics, gardening, cooking, the environment and industry. During his six years on the The Weekly Times, he won numerous prestigious photographic awards, in state and national media competitions.
He began photographing motorsport and classic cars in 1994, and in 1996 left the paper to begin a freelance career specialising in classic motoring, motorsport and corporate events. Since then he has been published in over 40 magazine and newspaper titles in Australia, the United Kingdom and USA, being the sole Australian contributor to six motoring magazines in the UK for a decade.
His corporate work has included official events photographer at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, including the relaunch of Blood on The Southern Cross in 2003, a visit by a Chinese delegation for the opening of the Chinese mining display in 1998, and the Royal Visit by The Queen and Prince Phillip in 2000.
In 1997 he was the official photographer at the Avalon International Air show, and he has been official photographer on charity bush rallies for Camp Quality, Canteen and Make-A-Wish, as well as numerous other events.
In 2000 he worked as Photographic Supervisor (Cycling) at the Sydney Olympic Games and Photographic Manager (Cycling) at the Sydney Paralympics. While not photographing at these events, his role was looking after international photographers to ensure they had everything they needed to carry out their work.
From 2004 to 2017, Watto ran his own niche market motoring magazine covering British cars from Mini, Morris, Austin, MG, Austin-Healey, Jaguar, Rover, Leyland and others. Unfortunately, the bottom fell out of the market in 2017 and the magazine was closed down in June of that year.
Following twelve months’ research and planning, and acquiring of equipment, Watto and his family opened Focal Point Darkroom and Gallery in North Geelong in February 2019. The primary purposes of the business are to support and encourage local photographers, from students to well-established, and to provide a local photographic hub to bring photographers together to create and celebrate photography.
The business consists of five main components, being:
• The gallery.
• The darkroom.
• The Studio.
• The shop.
• The library (with over 700 books on photography).
Access to the darkroom and library is via Focal Point membership, which also includes discounts on shop merchandise and workshops, as well as free entry to most exhibitions in the gallery.
We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours.
46 Douro St, North Geelong, VIC 3215, AU contact@focalpointdarkroomgallery.com.au
The darkroom is currently available for individual hire, between 9am and 6pm any day. Bookings essential. Additional fees apply for Monday and Tuesday or outside our normal hours.
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