A Beautiful Mess – Mount Ophir Estate
by georgie JAMES - VICTORIA BASED MEDIA STRINGER
Photography challenges me and allows me to live a creative life. I am Georgie. I work as a wedding photographer. My husband and I have James & Co. Wines and have recently opened a cellar door in the main street of Rutherglen. We have two children and our life as a little family of four is full but very happy. Living life in a rural community is not everybody's cup of tea but I have love and purpose and have never been healthier or happier.
If I was to have a super power it would be the ability to travel back in time, be invisible and be able to take it all in 'fly on the wall' style - that would be amazing!
Over a two year period I documented the renovations of historic Rutherglen property, Mount Ophir Estate. Mount Ophir dates back to 1891 and was once the largest state-of-the-art wine producing complex in the Southern Hemisphere. The renovated property has been a labour of love for the Brown family of Eliza, Angela and Nicholas who wanted to transform the estate into a centre for private events and luxury accommodation. Hats off to the Brown family as it requires incredible energy, grit and humour to take on a property like this.
Old buildings and history are mesmerising to me. Living very near to Mount Ophir (I can see it from my kitchen window) I turned up with my camera and started taking photos of the shenanigans. Over two years I have taken hundreds of images at this property. I have always been intrigued by Mount Ophir. When the bush telegraph got to work and I found out I had a new neighbour at Mount Ophir clearly, the first thing I was going to do was get over there as fast as I could and check it all out! It was in a bit of a state when I got there but I was captivated by the mess - the beautiful mess.
I’m not a fan of disorder and mess in my own life but to be able to document the craziness and chaos, and seeing the building transform was a once in a lifetime chance; I knew this story really mattered. This project involved a lot of little trips over the last couple of years. Sometimes, I would want to go and could only go for a short time. Or, I would find I would have some time and get up there with my camera wanting to create and would not be sure what to do. I had to adopt a laid back approach and I had to shoot straight from a feeling or wherever it took me when I got there. I would arrive with nothing in particular in mind and walk through and just look at light and shadows and what was happening and I was just guided by the feeling.
I have been photographing for over 10 years. From time to time I struggle with comparison syndrome and with not creating images that are popular on social media and I haven't won any awards or conformed to any of the trappings the industry tells me equals success. Even once a grumpy photography teacher huffed that my images were not technically perfect, but I explained I wanted my images to elicit a feeling from the viewer. How I define success is the connection I have with my clients and subjects. My clients get me…they get that I have a generous and easy-going nature, a sense of humour, I wear my heart on my sleeve. They know that I pay attention. They know their stories matter to me. As an artist you see the world differently. I have to trust in myself and my vision and create images by shooting from the heart.
