Press Release: Commercial Photography July-August 1994. The Photo Tearaway.
Scott Universita runs his photographic business in an old shop front in the trendy Victorian suburb of South Melbourne. Although he plans to tap into the lucrative advertising and public relations market, his income at present comes from fashion and environmental portrait work. “I’ve never had a formal photographic education, I’m a fine artist at heart so I think I add something different to my images, another ‘angle’, as it were”, Universita noted. Scott doesn’t stop at producing straightforward prints. With a mix of panache and sheer cheekiness he rips into the picture, tearing strips off the print and sometimes the matte board until the desired effect is reached.
‘Found Objects’ play a large part in his eccentric compositions. Pieces of newspaper and other 3 -D objects find their way into his creations depending on the mood and timbre of the subject matter. Sometimes the image requires a splash of colour change - Scott uses sepia toner daubed onto the print, occasionally mixed with another toner or areas of hand colouring. ‘Whatever is best for the image, I never know till I’ve finished ‘. The picture frame is also an important part of the Scott Universta product. He currently uses windows gleaned from the wrecks of old Red Rattlers. “They add an atmosphere, a sense of place and time that goes well with much of my work”.
Press Release: Australian Photographer. August 1994. Ripping Yarn.
Photographer Scott Universita doesn’t hesitate to tear strips off his own work.
In fact, it’s a crucial part of the process, as you can see as you stroll by his old shop front in South Melbourne. The window is full of his one-off mixed media creations, centred on his often toned photographs but also including torn bits matting board and textured card, scraps of old newspaper, other nostalgic items of bric-a-brac, his own trademark stamp.... who knows what he’ll come up with next.
Universita, who makes most of his income from fashion and environmental portrait photography, says, “I’ve never had a photographic education, I’m an artist at heart”. He even breaks the rules with his framing: his latest creations use the woodwork out of defunct trains.
