April 2006 - Chewton.net

BUSINESS(ES) OF CHEWTON
A sign that appeared along the highway at Manchester Street indicated that one of
Chewton's well known heritage buildings was open for business once again. One
of the thirteen butcher's shops that once served Chewton is now the home of
BLACK WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY.
One of Chewton’s newest businesses has opened in the building that began life in the
1860's as Ottery’s Butcher Shop. Libby Hogg launched Black White Photography at the
end of 2005 and for the last few months has been busy changing her dream into reality.
Libby specialises in black and white images; photographing, developing and creating prints.
Family shots, photos of children/babies - and even pets as sometimes requested. Libby
has a passion for costume and dressing up subjects, and loves to film staged sequences
often making the photos appear to be set back in time. Printing from old negatives is
another service offered, this being something very rare in this area now. For special photos, hand printing is an
authentic alternative to the more modern electronic scanning and printing. Libby has greeting and post cards bearing
her black and white images for sale.
Libby’s journey to this business in Chewton is a fascinating one. She was born in New Zealand before Libby’s father
(doctor and history buff) took the family to England where her love of old buildings, castles and historic sites grew.
After nearly 10 years the family relocated to Melbourne before
returning to New Zealand a few years later. Libby worked as a film
and video censor in Wellington for more than seven years, viewing
thousands of films during that time. She’d studied film at university,
and began exploring photography during this time. The photography
interest grew to the extent of wanting to study it seriously. This led to
a relocation back to Melbourne where she enrolled at the Photography
Studies College (PSC) in South Melbourne. This four year course
also involves weekend workshops at the PSC “Country Campus” -
the A-frame in Golden Point Road! Travelling up to the first workshop,
Libby remembers thinking “God, where are we going?” By the end
of the weekend that thought had changed to “I want to live here!”
This seemed impractical so Melbourne remained home for a while
longer. A day trip with a friend to this area rekindled the desire to
move here. Jack Stuart’s gave her three houses to look at , and the
first one inspected was bought. Libby was then able to set up her
dark room in Gingell Street Castlemaine.
Portrait photography can be difficult and confronting as the
photographer learns to engage and be at ease with the people being
photographed. Libby’s daughter proved invaluable by being a very patient subject, even allowing Libby to indulge in her
passion for staged sequences. Her daughter has also settled in this area with her partner, and Libby now enjoys
photographing her new grand daughter as well.
Welcome to Chewton Libby - we look forward to seeing your photographs and prints around. A2.
BLACK WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY Libby Hogg
PO Box 523, Castlemaine, VIC 3450 5472 5399
Corner Main Street and Manchester Street Chewton (open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday).
Although Libby is not on the web yet she has plans to be in the near future.