Jane Davenport caught the photography bug at the foot of Europe’s premier fashion runways, waiting hours to capture a few frames of lightening quick, spindle legged, whip thin beauties.
She started her photography career in fashion in London and Paris. Now Jane captures the show-ponies of the garden as they pose in the latest spring fashion and parade down petal catwalks. “It’s not really so different from photographing supermodels” says Jane who has swapped the human kind of walking stick for the real thing.
Jane Davenport is a professional Artist and the Author of 5 books. Her work has been exhibited internationally and featured in media as widely varied as the Wall Street Journal to Totally Wild. She has been described as one of Australia’s most successfully licensed artists with stationery, calendars, clothing and poster ranges featuring her artwork. And somehow she fits in being the chief designer for Concept Store, ‘The Institute of Cute‘ in Byron Bay.
Jane has a passion for the little things; ladybirds, (ladybugs), butterflies, damselflies, beetles, bees, frogs and the myriad of other tiny creatures that are seldom noticed, but exist all around us. She celebrates her passion for life in photographic, illustrative, painted and written form.
” I create my work to call to the gentler aspects of my own personality, to slow my pace, to observe and conserve. Lately I have folded the wider world into my work (but I still love ladybirds best, best, best!).”
I had to invent a word to adequately describe the specific and unique character of my work. I practice Artomology and describe myself as an Artomologist. I love bugs, photograph them and write books about them, but I am not an entomologist. I highly recommend inventing your own profession as being the only one of something, you are also the best in the world at that thing!” says Jane
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As the world’s leading Artomologist (Jane made up that word, so is also the only one, hence her claim is perfectly valid!) her unique mix of art and entomological persuasions has captured an international audience.
So how did the six-legged amongst us wrest Jane away from the glamorous world of international fashion? “I spent my childhood looking for fairies in the bottom of the garden. I didn’t find any fairies but I did find ladybirds, caterpillars, butterflies and all the other little creatures that make the garden such a magical place. I went through a lot of bug-catchers.” says Jane.
‘Sects appeal bit again quite by chance when Jane was photographing flowers for a textile design. “A ladybird landed on a lily petal and I became totally mesmerised by its beauty. After that I started paying closer attention to the creatures in the garden and started my backyard safaris.” says Jane.
Jane’s backyard has now grown exponentially since then and many a butterfly in Vietnam and beetle in the Arizona desert could tell of posing for this unconventional artist.
Jane has created major international touring installations that have been enjoyed by millions as Artist in Residence at the Wollongong Botanic Gardens, The Hunter Valley Gardens and the Perth Zoo. Her work has featured in over 35 solo exhibitions. She is also author of 4 books and the founder and chief designer for the Institute of Cute.
“My first exhibition was in 2000 and called ‘Follow Your Bliss’ and I have been doing exactly that ever since.” says Jane.
Praise for Jane Davenport’s work
“A must see event” The Wall Street Journal
“…one of Australia’s most interesting shooters” Australian Photography
“The world is an amazing place and Jane expresses it fantastically.” Don Burke
More Information
Jane Davenport finds incredible, saturated beauty, both harmonious and ragged, in ignored spaces.
Her work urges us to connect with nature, but it’s not merely a document of vanishing places. “Personally, I am very concerned about the disappearance of beauty. I feel an urgent need to go and create images after discovering yet another environmental atrocity through the media. Ladybirds and butterflies are not safe from my lens when I am worrying about whaling or clear felling of ancient forests in Tasmania. I simply must go and check that life still goes on, that there is hope. I love photography, because it enables me to placing my wishes and dreams on paper.”
“I can quietly observe an insect for hours on end. I like to imagine its role, its connections. I study the intricate details and way its body fits together. I wonder how or why they evolved and come up with my own solutions.”
“I make images to express wonder, love and hope for the world. In creating my work, I can explore nature, and bring it back to a scale that is digestible to me. I find being able to watch part of the world recover, to stagger forward and find yet another niche, empowering. Beauty is regenerative and it inspires optimism.” says Jane.
Background info:
Jane Davenport started her photographic career as a runway photographer when her mother , Australian fashion icon Liz Davenport , came to visit her in London. Liz bought so many shoes she couldn’t fit her new camera in the suitcase and left it behind for Jane to return on a future visit home. “London Fashion Week was about to commence and I really wanted to see if supermodels were as beautiful in the flesh as in the glossies, so I snuck in as a photographer and discovered two things 1. They are and 2. I loved photography!” says Jane. Jane became a fashion catwalk regular and Liz never got her camera back.
Now Jane captures the show-ponies of the garden as they pose in the latest spring fashion and parade down petal catwalks. “It’s not really so different from photographing supermodels” says Jane who has swapped the human kind of social butterfly for the real thing.
She describes herself as an ‘Artomologist’ finding it the perfect way to define her unique mix of art and entomological persuasions. Jane’s work has featured in over 30 exhibitions and 5 books.
Jane became the Artist in Residence at the Wollongong Botanic Gardens in 2003 and the body of work she created, ‘The Ladybird Chronicles’ , is a 70 meter long giant storybook. It features the plants and little creatures that call our gardens home and the imagery will permanently alter your perception of insects. The installation also tells an inspirational story and explores the very human need belong and is a valuable environmental showcase, putting up a great fight for habitat conservation and the reduced use of pesticides. The national Ladybird Chronicles tour has attracted over 800,000 visitors to Australia’s leading Botanic Gardens, Zoos and Public Art Institutes.
Jane was invited to speak about the success of the Ladybird Chronicles at the Botanic Gardens World Congress in Barcelona and at the Invertebrates in Captivity congress in Arizona, and a World tour was shaped from the interest. the international tour started at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin Texas. Work then began on expanding the tour to incorporate Botanic Gardens and Zoos across the United States and Europe.
In between the national and international tours Jane completed a residency at the Hunter Valley Gardens, which resulted in the large-scale, outdoors installation and book, ‘Ladybird, ladybird’ .
Jane has collaborated with the Perth Zoo on three very successful installations, What’s the Buzz?, Frogology and Blink.
Jane Davenport is also the founder of the “Institute of Cute” Concept Store in Byron Bay, Australia. Byron Bay is one of Australia’s most desired relaxation destinations as the small town is surrounded by forest, divine beaches and a crystal sea full of dolphins and whales. The whole Byron region is regarded as a creative and health mecca and ‘The Bay’ is its epi-centre.
Jane has also been the Horticultural Media Association’s Young Achiever and the recipient of the Joy Harland Memorial Photography Award as well as being awarded a ‘Guru’ by the IAPP and scholarship at the renowned Sante Fe Workshops. Her education spans across Australia to London, Paris and New York. She is an avid believer in continuing education and has attended over 75 professional development workshops, classes and courses since leaving school.
