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Jocelyn Watts
Australia Nominee Fine Art Professional "Flying on Cloud 9" Breaking free of oppression in flying style. SHE IS an accomplished artist and photographer yet her modesty is so great, not many of us would ever have known. That is if she didn’t allow her arm to be twisted so her talents could be revealed to the Fraser Coast. Jennifer Chapman chats with photojournalist Jocelyn Watts about her fascination with all things art. Jocelyn was given her first camera – a Box Brownie – when she was eight years old. Just three years later, she won first prize at a regional photography show, fuelling her passion. Since then, she has rarely been seen without a camera in her hands. “For me, photography is about capturing moments in time,” explains the Maryborough resident of 18 years. “Including,” she adds, “the ever-changing light in landscapes, fleeting moments in sport or at family gatherings and social events – things that happen too quickly to be captured with an artist’s brush. “A camera lens can also block out peripheral objects to home-in on patterns, shapes and colours, as in macro photography, that could otherwise be missed by the naked eye.” Jocelyn does not favour certain subjects when it comes to photography but she does enjoy snapping travel experiences, sport, people, nature, landscape and architecture. She has always used Canon equipment and recently upgraded to a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a 17-40mm wide-angle lens. Her Canon Powershot A540 also comes in handy, easily slipping into a handbag to be put into action when a larger camera is too cumbersome. Jocelyn is a member of Hervey Bay Photography Club, as well as the Australian Photographic Society. “Being involved with photography groups offers me the opportunity to improve my work with qualified judges critiquing photos and offering advice. “My goal is basically to keep on improving and create the best images I can. “If a travel company offered to pay all my expenses to travel, take photos and write, I wouldn’t argue,” she laughs. “But being more realistic, it would be nice to show my images in an exhibition or coffee table books, or calendars some day. Bagging a few awards, if I were lucky enough, would be a bonus.” Speaking of awards, Jocelyn has already won a few including the photography club’s Colour Print of the Year for 2009 and second prize for Mono Print of the Year. In 2003, she swept the pool at the Australian Photographic Society B9 print folio awards with five first places in Open Print categories. Between 1998 to 2009 she added to her collection another four first prizes, five second prizes and a third in the Fraser Coast Show. And in 1999, Jocelyn took home the Qld Country Press Association Awards title of Sports Photo of the Year. Jocelyn’s creative flare was no doubt inherited from her father, an international award-winning photographer, who gave her that beloved Box Brownie. But it is not only photography, this artist is skilled at. “I’ve always drawn, sketched or dabbled in some sort of art or craft,” she explains. “Art was not a subject at the outback high school I went to, but soon after leaving I enrolled in an oil painting workshop being run at the town’s cultural centre that my parents co-founded. “During the 1980s I designed motifs that I machine-appliquéd on t-shirts, tops and cloth nappies, as was popular at the time. “After moving to Maryborough in the early 1990s, I was working part-time and in my spare hours delved into painting again, this time with pastels and acrylics as well as oils. “Landscapes, streetscapes and nature are still top of my favourite subjects for art.” Jocelyn describes her style as realism but she also loves impressionist art and looks to move in that direction. “I’d be great at counterfeit,” she jokes, “If I had the inclination to make a few bucks on the black market. Seriously though, reproductions could be a specialty.” Jocelyn has never held a solo exhibition, for art or photography, but is hopeful that day won’t be too far away. - Jennifer Chapman, journalist, Fraser Coast Chronicle, April 13, 2010. |
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