click the image above to download ‘moon valley’ the book (.pdf format, 64mb file)
about moon valley
‘moon valley’ is Simon Fazio's first collection of photographs taken between January and June in 2020. It is a collection of elemental and constructed imagery, captured in a flurry of inspiration and excitement having just picked up the camera as a new instrument in the afterglow of the new year.
The locations explored in these photos are Travancore and surrounding areas, Kerri and Macedon Ranges, Meredith in Golden Plains shire, and Chinatown in the CBD.
Although the images were not consciously created with a narrative in mind, they are assembled as such after the discovery of the common elements illuminated when seeing the work printed for the first time.
The title ‘moon valley’ is a play on the local government area in which the monograph was constructed, and is an unintentional commentary on the process of rediscovering familiar locations with a new point of view through the process of photography, and finding unintended beauty by subtracting elements.
about simon fazio
Simon Fazio is a photographer, filmmaker and musician from Melbourne, Australia.
‘moon valley’ is his first collection of work assembled from his first photos, exploring familiar and unfamiliar locations across Victoria.
This body of work is inspired by artists Todd Hido, Paul Graham, Letizia Le Fur and Gregory Halpern, the films of David Lynch, Hirokazu Kore-Eda and Andrei Tarkovsky, and the music of Laurie Spiegel, Brian Eno and The Microphones.
He has previously been an active musician in the Melbourne music scene (including with New Band and Emily Ulman), and is currently working as a portrait photographer and video creator for artists such as Cool Sounds, Jarrow and Snowy Band.
He currently lives and works in Travancore, in the Moonee Valley area of Victoria.
more about ‘moon valley’
side a
windows (cover image) / blue august moon (inside cover) / little bird / misty morn / excerpts from ‘street spirit’ / smoke city / blue steel / under the cherry moon / ice crisis
side b
the glow pt. 2 / kerri shack / treefingers / broken fence / blue gums / apollo
side c
south pines cars / south pines glow / windmills at sunset / purple plains / fifth lantern on the left
side d
the culprit / windows / sinister cat / what year is it? / crane in the sky / the neighbourhood pt.2 / the moon revealed / accepting impermanence (inside cover) / the culprit (back cover)
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‘moon valley’ is my first collection of photographs taken between January and June in 2020.
the title is partly swiped from the ‘moonee valley’ local government area where we currently reside- working titles were ‘Impersonality Crisis’ (get it?), then ‘IMPERMANENCE’ (all caps), then ‘ACCEPT IMPERMANENCE’ (too hyper-masc), then ‘moon pie’ (because what a time it is to be alive), and finally ‘moon valley’.
also the moon is in it. a lot.
i’m looking forward greatly to assembling a collection of photos designed for the medium of the photobook in the near future when we all regain a little bit more freedom. for now, please enjoy this first attempt.
thanks to my partner noni for encouraging me to pursue this and to my wonderful friends - especially morgan, josh, emily, ali, matthew, emilia, liz and barrie who ran an eye over this before hitting ‘upload’, as well as elsie lange for buying a massive print of the cover before i knew how my printer worked.
although i can’t offer you a physical copy of this book right now, all images are available as A3+ sized prints (329 mm x 483 mm) for $65 each (plus delivery), aside from ‘windows’ (cover image) which is an A2 print for $80. prints are made personally on ilford gold fibre gloss paper and will be numbered and signed on the back. i’ll also be making some smaller prints for anyone who is keen.
feel free to browse the range on the ‘prints’ page but contact me here to order for now.
if you don’t want one but enjoy this work it would be lovely if you could share with one friend.
thanks for looking and keep your eyes on the skies x
simon