About Joseph Cali

After moving to Canberra in 1985, I developed my interest in outdoor and adventure activities like sailing, bushwalking, cross-country skiing and ski mountaineering. They complemented my photographic interests in nature and landscape photography.

With limited access to darkroom facilities, I spent the next 7 years shooting exclusively on slide film. Some of that time was spent using a camera with a faulty light meter. I became very adept at understanding ambient light and judging exposure levels without light meters. In 1992, I discovered an organization called Photoaccess, a community based photographic art access and education centre. I returned to B&W photography using the centre for the next two years. Following a year of travel in 1994, I set up my first home darkroom (unless you count the store room under the stairs at my parents home when I was a teenager) and have never looked back.

I am interested in all forms and genres of photo media art. In 1996, I began teaching workshops at the Photoaccess art centre after a lot of encouragement from then workshop manager George Serras. I have taught workshops on such diverse topics as Black and White darkroom; beginner and Advanced Camera Skills; Travel photography and Digital Photography (Adobe Photoshop). I have travelled extensively around Australia and overseas over the past decade. I have exhibited my work extensively in galleries in the Canberra region in recent years. My most recent exhibition was a solo entitled "three for the price of one." In the past two years, I've held two solo, two joint and five group exhibitions and written and photographed a 14 page feature published in Australian Geographic Apr-Jun 2005 issue.

I've just finished co-curating a major exhibition of photography to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Canberra Photographic Society. This exhibition will take place in the large exhibition space at Canberra Museum and Gallery. The space has about 50 metres of wall. We've hung 124 works by 40 photographers spanning 1950-2006.

What sort of equipment do I use to take photographs?

The two most important pieces of equipment I have are my eye/brain for composition and my tripod. Cameras & lenses are not so important. The camera body is just a film carrier. While a sharp lens is nice, a soft lens produces B&W photos that are more luminous and dreamy. Too many photographers get too worked up over the brand on their cameras and lenses. I've honed my composition skill over the years by looking with photographer's eyes at the hundreds of images we get bombarded with each day and by shooting lots of my own photographs.

What's next?
"Australia Just Add Water" a solo exhibition examining Australias tenuous relationship with its water supply. This exhibition is part of VIVID, the 1st Australian Festival of Photography organising committee and planning an exhibition in the festival

This web site
This web site was written and created in 2003 and updated until 2005. In 2005 I pulled the site off air. I've undertaken numerous time-iintensive projects since 2005 and only just come back "on air" recently. The site is due for a major overhaul, probably in the latter part of the year.

Highlights
Total Exhibitions : about 30
Curator of twelve solo or group exhibitions since 1999.
President Canberra Photographic Society 1999-2003
Photography tutor at PhotoAccess Photgraphic Art Centre 1996 ­ present
Canberra Photographic Society monchrome print of the year award 1996, 1997, 1999.
Australian Photographic Society Herbert Medal (Highest scoring monochrome print in a National Competition) 2000.
Work selected for Photoaccess calendar a several times between 1996-present.
Work published in
- National Library Art Supplement 1996,
- CRC for Greenhouse accounting annual report 2001,
- ANU, Research School of Earth Sciences promotional brochure, 2003.
Commissioned by Australian Geographic, 14 page feature, July 2004. published Issue 78 Apr-June 2005.
Co-curated CPS 60th anniversary exhibition 2003-2006. Canberra Museum and Gallery.