Instagram story viewer> @blachford> Posts

Tom Blachford

@blachford

57.9K

followers

4085

following

Interdisciplinary artist. Professional architecture + interiors photographer From Melbourne.
Dad, Lover of puns + cheese + @kateballis

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

My solo show “Sculpted Garden” is now on @gallerysmith_ until October 3rd.

The show features cyanotypes exposed in the sun as well as large scale infrared photographs, of flowers in my garden and objects and art inspired by my garden.

@blachford and my garden is my sanctuary and fairy haven 🧚 I’ve included lots of snaps from my garden yesterday evening. Usually it’s full of anemones, ranunculus, tulips and poppies this time of year but it’s been a warm season, and we appear to have an issue with rodents eating the bulbs! The garden is still coming to life though, and within a few days more blossoms and the wisteria will be out. I’ll capture again towards the end of the week!

If you happen to be in Melbourne, we are hosting closing drinks at the gallery this Thursday night, October 1st, 5:30pm-7:30pm. I’d love to see you there! 🌸🌸🌸 taken in Gallerysmith by @blachford

414

6

13 days ago

Part II of my scans of the super rare issues of STET PENTIMENTO magazine 1992-1994. This one showcases the best (and only images I’ve ever seen) of the illegal renovation of the Farnsworth house by Mies Van Der Rohe

I was curious about the etymology of the name so looked into the meaning of both words and must say the editor Bea nailed it with the masthead. Stet is a proofreading term meaning “let is stand, cancel the deletion” and Pentimento is an architectural and painting term used to describe an underpainting or structure still visible in a final work.

A former child star Barnaby “bear” Kirklan from the show Kid Cop. It ran from 1979-1988 and was known for its cheesy action, obvious adult stunt doubles and the iconic catchphrase “Guess who’s not sorry?”. Kirklan now in his 30’s and having been in and out of rehab since a teenager was desperate to relaunch as a serious director/producer so decided to fund the production of his own film using the Farnsworth house as a backdrop. The script was rumored to be terrible and was ambitiously attempting to bridge the genres of Horror, Rom-Com and Art House.

He obtained a strict location agreement from the aristocratic owner of the house at the time stipulating absolutely no modifications be made. Drop sheets were to be used and no smoking was allowed on the property. During a weeklong bender in Miami he met rising starchitect Bjorn Vogel’s of Swedish firm Thrust Vernacular who convinced him the film needed a set fit for the 1990s, not the 1950’s. Vongels was a new generation of architect, deeply sceptical of the old guard and hell bent on forging his own path in the pantheon of Architecture.

They set out to quietly overhaul the home with what were intended to be reversible interventions adding sculptural, neon and glass elements to update the “less is more” house into the modern era of “less is a bore”.

Renovations were completed inside and out with the original facade being modified with referential elements, as well as sculptural and surface changes.

The photographs were captured by Vongel’s preferred photographer Milo Shulton known in the Chicago circles as the “Gonzo” architectural photographer, will by @blachford

2k

68

3 months ago

Finally getting around to scanning some of my rarest possessions — a near-complete run of Stet Pentimento, the early-90s journal that, as far as I can tell, was the only magazine to enthusiastically cover the brief and deeply controversial trend of postmodern renovations of the 20th century’s most famous modernist homes.

Stet Pentimento was founded in 1989 by the Belgian architect Béatrice “Béa” Vantongeren. She began as a devout modernist, but after her proudest work — a series of public housing blocks — was value-engineered into a slum and half-demolished within six months of opening, she turned on the movement entirely. Armed with a small inheritance and a very large well of resentment, she started the journal.
It ran from 1992 to 1994, printed in Milan in ultra-low numbers and distributed only to the handful of architects she felt understood erasure as a form of avant-garde expression. She was vehemently anti-archive — so when the magazine folded after its tenth issue, she ceremoniously burned her Milan office to the ground, taking every original and proof with it. The copies still circulating are the only known record that it ever existed.

Issue I covered the renovation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, bought quietly from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy for an undisclosed sum in 1990 by the Kuwaiti oil billionaire Faisal Al-Roudan — who wanted a base in America for, in his words, more “watersports.” He hired the young Miami firm Archigasm to boost the house’s “amenity,” adding waterslides and damming the river to deepen it, allowing him to float his prized Scarab speedboat (the Miami Vice one) and a fleet of pink jet skis. Images were captured by a mysterious photographer Gjon Prek who was rumoured to have been a spy for the Albanian government before becoming interested in postmodernism.

Then Desert Storm intervened. Al-Roudan’s cooperation with Iraq got him banned from the US, and he never rode a single slide or set foot in his beloved house. It fell into disrepair before being quietly bought back by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and restored in 1995. by @blachford

2k

137

3 months ago

Some outtakes from a Comission from a couple of years ago by @tombo_den @dko_architecture. Using legacy image creation models I built a strange, wonderful and sometimes menacing world of characters, moments and motifs. Only 21 images made it to the walls of the restaurant, these are some of the other moments that have stayed with me. I’m now repped by @precisionmgmt for my generative work if anyone wants to collaborate on building another weird and wonderful world. Get in touch! by @blachford

668

21

4 months ago

From midnight modern series VII captured in camera and on location in Palm Springs 2025. The home of the iconic @mattsorum with his two ford’s out front. The base exposure is 3 minutes during which time we had to quickly pump the brakes to get the brake lights on as well as get the door light on but not for so long that it might blow out! Taken around 11pm using only the light of the rising full moon just out of frame. taken in Vista Las Palmas, Palm Springs by @blachford

1k

26

4 months ago

The Ride.

Shot in Palm Springs last march just a couple of hours before the eclipse turned the moon blood red.

Even after 13 years this series is still magic to make, standing in the dim light of the moon struggling to see and then THIS pops up on the back of the camera, full of life and colour that are just beyond what our brains can perceive. by @blachford

1k

35

7 months ago

For years i dreamed of a shot with more than 2 cars in it but i could never quite get my head around the logistics. Last year i Finally made this happen thanks to my original angel in Palm Springs @chrismenrad who has been the most amazing supporter since he welcomed me into his home as a guest in 2014. He generously left the keys out to 4 of his gorgeous cars for me to play with for the night. This was taken around 10:30pm with the moon almost fully overhead. A rare view of the snow capped mountains perfectly frames this Twin Palms scene with a small cameo from @ryanrichards92 1959 lincoln. by @blachford

1k

16

8 months ago

Los Robles Mustang, A new image from Midnight Modern Series VII captured in Palm Springs last march. I had previously shot this home in 2017 but was delighted to find the new owners had this gorgeous blue mustang. This original Charles Dubois designed home features over 40 manicured Palms on the property which have to be trimmed and maintained each year by a crew of brave and talented climbers. by @blachford

864

28

8 months ago

356 At Ceres (Arrival). The first new image from Midnight Modern VII shot last march in Palm Springs. This was captured at 10pm around 30 minutes before the lunar eclipse which covered the moon completely, leaving only a blood red glow which completely ruined my shoot for the rest of the night. All that was left to do was enjoy some champagne with the lovely owners of this house and car as well as their neighbors who ended up graciously hosting me a few nights later for the rest of my stay. Palm Springs hospitality is truly second to none. by @blachford

671

23

8 months ago

In 1985 a poor fisherman in the Alaskan town of Radford Ridge discovered a strange substance when drilling a new bore hole. Testing confirmed it was Ironium, an ultra valuable rare earth metal crucial in the production of batteries, microchips and transistors. The town voted to equally share the spoils of the bounty. As the mining royalties accrued the town became fabulously rich with all the residents able to afford mega homes and the rarest Supercars. By 1990 a race had begun to outdo each other in the creation of homes in the burgeoning new style of post-modernism, adorned with neon, historical elements and wild random geometries.

These are some of those homes. I bring you, Midnight Post-Modern

Created using Nano-Banana taken in Alaska, USA by @blachford

2k

97

a year ago

“Influorescence”: Taking its name from the portmanteau of inflorescence and fluorescent the series represents the first collaborative fine art release from creative and life partners Kate Ballis and Tom Blachford. The series captures flowers grown by the couple in their garden in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. Each bloom was grown from bulb or seed and selected amongst its peers to be the most evocative specimen.

The results and process by which the images are captured has captivated both artists and allowed them to explore their shared love of using photography to make the unseen, seen.

Each bloom, cut on just the right day is brought into their pitch black home studio and subjected to a large amount of ultraviolet light, specifically 365nm, invisible to both the human eye and the camera used to capture these images. The flowers absorb this powerful energy, in turn changing its frequency and re-emitting it within the visible spectrum as a faint ethereal glow of colour, almost imperceivable to the human eye. The camera, fixed on the flower uses long exposures to drink in this ghostly warmth.

Each image requires up to 100 of these exposures in order to capture the full depth and detail of each bloom, which are then stitched together to create the final image.

The results are reminiscent of galaxies far away, twinkling with stars of dust and exploding with pollen supernovas. The artworks are named after stars and galaxies rather than the botanical name of the flowers. taken in Naarm by @blachford

3

99

a year ago

✨INFLUORESCENCE ✨
“Taking its name from the portmanteau of inflorescence and fluorescent, this new series is a collaboration between creative and life partners Kate Ballis and Tom Blachford @blachford.

Influorescence captures flowers grown from bulb or seed in the couple’s garden and shot in a black box studio under ultra-violet light. The collaboration combines Ballis’ photographic quest to make seen the unseen and Blachford’s mastery of long exposure photography.

The resultant works explode with colour and movement, and transforms each bloom into a wondrous microcosm that is reminiscent of giant constellations and far off galaxies, twinkling with stars of dust and exploding with pollen supernovas. In a nod to the evocative and majestic nature of these images, each botanical specimen has been assigned an astronomical title.”

Each piece is 150cm x 120cm framed by @unitedmeasures in a round corner frame with museum glass.

“Andromeda” from the series is currently part of the group show “Seeing the Light” @gallerysmith_

DM or email to enquire 🤍 taken in Naarm by @blachford

1k

32

a year ago