Photo gems of beauty by Jade
JANUARY 2018 | Lorraine Clarke
ANYONE WHO has marvelled at a glorious sunset and raced inside to get the camera before it fades, then been disappointed at the nondescript results, can only be enchanted by the quality of Jade Hallam’s work. She captures the ephemeral quality and colours of the fleeting light and preserves them in compositions of haunting beauty.
Jade grew up in Reedy Marsh and attended Deloraine High School before going on to Launceston College where her love of photography began. She made pinhole cameras, learned to use SLR film cameras and developed photographs in the darkroom. Jade studied education at university in Launceston, and now lives in Deloraine. She continued taking nature photographs and Forest Festival shots as a hobby.
A couple of years ago, she began developing her hobby into a business as a nature, landscape and family documentary photographer. This enables her to encapsulate memories of her other great love, bushwalking the Meander Valley region’s pristine wild areas, and to share these beautiful images with others who may not have the same opportunity to see them first hand. Her photographs showcase features of our valley that so many never even dream exists.
Jade is available for “A Day in the Life Of” family photography, events, weddings and portraits. She took portraits at last year’s Steam Punk Ball.
She prefers to take unposed photographs of families who wish to document significant milestones in their lives. Jade assembles these impromptu images into a hard-cover book that will be a souvenir of treasured memories.
“I really like to capture candid natural moments between people, to show relationships and personality, to tell a story about the reality of everyday life. I do this at home with my own family, creating an album with pictures, and we all find that it’s a great memento to look back on,” she said.
“I guess the reason why I love to photograph nature is not only because I want to share these places with other people but also because being out in these wild places, only an hour’s walk away in some cases, is so good for my well-being. It helps to recharge my body and clear my head to appreciate the simple beauty of a fern unfurling or the mist rolling in above a cascade on the Meander River. It’s a great time to just be away from the rush and busyness that is life with two small children. If I can help others to do the same, I think that’s pretty cool.”
Recently, Jade’s images have embellished the pages of Meander Valley Gazette, accompanying Tara Ulbrich’s local walking trail articles.
Jade is the featured artist for January at Pixels, the new digital art gallery in the Deloraine Online Access Centre, where her incandescent nature photographs are displayed on large screens around the walls all day long.
Pixels is open for viewing at the Online Centre from 10.00am to 4.00pm weekdays, and also on weekends.
Visit www.jadehallam.com.
Photo | Meghann Maguire
