All the world's roads lead to the heart of the warrior

All the world's roads lead to the heart of the warrior; he plunges unhesitatingly into the river of passions always flowing through his life.

The warrior knows that he is free to choose his desires, and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment and - sometimes - with just a touch of madness.

He embraces his passions and enjoys them intensely. He knows that there is no need to renounce the pleasures of conquest; they are part of life and bring joy to all those who participate in them.

But he never loses sight of those things that last or of the strong bonds that are forged over time.

A warrior can distinguish between the transient and the enduring.

From the Manual of the Warrior of Light (*) by Paulo Coelho (*)

Intersection (*) - Jamaica Road / Bermondsey / London (Fri 04 Sep 2009)

The London Light - Southwark Bridge / London (Fri 04 Sep 2009)

The London Light - Southwark Bridge / London (Fri 04 Sep 2009)
I have been to London twice now - Aug 2005 and Sep 2009. Both times, I have seen an amazing quality of light that seems much softer than the harsh (maybe strong is a better word) Australian sunlight that I have grown up with and love. It's just a photo of some construction barriers (I have a whole series of these which might appear here one day) but for me this photo reminds of the light that I talk about here - LottieP writes beautifully here about a certain slant of light (maybe the expression could be used for summer light also?). The Red barriers also reminded of a recent photo of two red sofa's.

Thames Blackfriars (Water) - Blackfriars Bridge - River Thames / London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)

Thames Blackfriars (Water) - Blackfriars Bridge - River Thames / London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)

Wembley Stadium -Hanger Lane / Ealing - You must be somewhere in London (Wed 02 Sep 2009)

4 years later and a little bit closer to Wembley Stadium. We were visiting Eileen on this particular day. We were supposed to get off at Ealing Broadway, but I got confused with the directions and we ended up at Hanger Lane - there are a number of Tube Stations in Ealing (see below). Did not matter as we had the opportunity to see this nice view of the Wembley Stadium. Next time in London, will walk out to Wembley from Hanger Lane and take this historic place in. From half a world a way, I have so many memories of the place, mainly as a wide-eyed child or teenager.

Hanger Lane - Ealing - You must be somewhere in London (Wed 02 Sep 2009)
Hanger Lane - Ealing - You must be somewhere in London (Wed 02 Sep 2009)


Hanger Lane / Park Royal - GMap - You must be somewhere in London (Wed 02 Sep 2009)

Ealing is served by Ealing Broadway station on the Great Western Main Line and the London Underground in London fare zone 3. It is also served by three other tube stations at North Ealing, South Ealing and Ealing Common. The Piccadilly line operates at North Ealing, Ealing Common and South Ealing; the Central line at Ealing Broadway; and the District line at Ealing Broadway and Ealing Common.

Wembley Stadium from the London Eye

The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)

The Eye - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)

Recently wrote about our trip to London in Aug 2005 where we spent an afternoon on the South Bank. The highlight was watching the sunset over London for The Eye and capturing this photo of Jenny.

Another highlight was seeing the new Wembley Stadium under construction on the horizon. As a kid I watched the Big Match and watching the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium was always something I looked forward to in early May of each year. We would stay up late in front of the heater and the game would start about 1am on Sunday morning. Was excited to watch my team, Westham United win the FA Cup in 1975 (more on Westham United later).

Here is a visual record of that afternoon on Sun 28 Aug 2005.

The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
The Eye / London - You must be somewhere in London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)

London Bridge - You must be somewhere in London - London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)

London Bridge - "Take 2" - You must be somewhere in London - London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)
Recently wrote about the above photo here (8 Dec 2010) and here (21 Dec 2010). I have always had some regrets about the full size version of the above photo. Henri Cartier-Bresson talked about these kind of post event regrets in his book The Minds Eye, specifically here (27 Sep 2010). Decided to crop the original photo (don't tell anyone though) and the above is the result - certainly a much stronger street photo. Certainly regret not capturing this on the day. In doing this, I am reminded a recent post on Shadow Photos (02 Jul 2010), specifically the photos of the Ingeborg Tyssen.

Finally, decided to look at all the photos that I took that day and found the photo below, which I had forgotten about. Seems an obvious photo to take and the above photo clearly shows the "Bull's Eye" effect - it is almost as if the horizontal and vertical lines of the wall slabs form a "crosshair" aim right through the heart of our little dragon - and btw the photo is uncropped.

London Bridge - "Bulls Eye" - You must be somewhere in London - London (Sun 28 Aug 2005)

'England' by The National on Q TV (youtube)

'England' (High Violet) by The National on Q TV (youtube)
England

Someone send a runner
Through the weather that I'm under
For the feeling that I lost today
Someone send a runner
For the feeling that I lost today

Someone send a runner
Through the weather that I'm under
For the feeling that I lost today
Someone send a runner
For the feeling that I lost today

You must be somewhere in London
You must be loving your life in the rain
You must be somewhere in London
Walking Abbey Lane

I don't even think to make
I don't even think to make
I don't even think to make corrections

Famous angels never come through England
England gets the ones you never need
I'm in a Los Angeles cathedral
Minor singing airheads sing for me

Put an ocean and a river
Between everybody else,
Between everything, yourself, and home
Put an ocean and a river
Between everything, yourself, and home

You must be somewhere in London
You must be loving your life in the rain
You must be somewhere in London
Walking Abbey Lane

I don't even think to make
I don't even think to make
I don't even think to make corrections

Famous angels never come through England
England gets the ones you never need
I'm in a Los Angeles cathedral
Minor singing airheads sing for me

Afraid of the house, stay the night with the sinners
Afraid of the house, stay the night with the sinners
Afraid of the house, 'cause they're desperate to entertain

[ Thanks to LottieP yet again for a recent Facebook Entry and National Velvet (11 Jun 2010).

Nice to find some new music. After listening and watching some Youtube videos, bought National Violet and Boxer and now have them on my iPhone. Brilliant Band.

I will try to write what this song means to me at some stage. Particularly the line You must be somewhere in London. In some ways I have already started.]

Photographer: Murray Fredericks

Murray Fredericks is an Australian Photographer. I was aware of him and his works from my foray into large format photography. I had bought a 4x5 inch large format camera in Shanghai in November 2004 (that's another story) and I needed to learn how to use it. Murray was offering a weekend workshop at a rural location in western NSW, near Oberon, and I had considered attending. With assistance of my friend Leigh Perry, I was able to work it all out and did not need to take Murray's workshop in the end. Some scans of my initial transparencies, by an Epson 4990 scanner, are here

I follow news regarding photography and photography exhibitions in Sydney - typically article written by Robert McFarlane who writes occasionally for the Sydney Morning Herald (just found he has a blog at ozphotoreview.blogspot.com). I have known of Murray since the time his work was exhibited at the Point Light Gallery in 2003. His initial SALT work was also reviewed by Robert McFarlane

When flying to Prague, on the flight to Prague from Helsinki on FinnAir, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to read an English Newspaper (The Financial Times) that had a review of Murray's exhibition in London at the Hamiltons Gallery in Mayfair. I pulled out the page inflight and put it away with a mental note to make sure I would find the Gallery and view the Salt Exhibition when in London a few weeks later. Was very impressed to read that his photos were being compared to Turner paintings and that the largest and most expensive photo was being sold for 30,000 Pounds - pretty impressive for a humble landscape photographer who started his career as an Economist from Sydney University.

Blue Sky Thinking - Murray Fredericks - SALT II - A Newspaper Article found inflight between Helsinki and Prague - Sat 22 Aug 2009 - (picasa)
The day before the Great River Race, I had organised our seats on boats and I had time to do some sight seeing in London. I found the Gallery using Google Maps and made my way there on the Tube. I found the Gallery easily and chatted with the Gallery guy, who gave my a DVD of the SALT Documentary of his trip to Lake Eyre. Managed to sneak in a few photos before I left for the Photographers Gallery (yet another story), which was walking distance away (well maybe at least a couple hours rambling through the back streets of London).

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

SALT37 by Murray Fredericks - Sep 2009 (www.gosee.de)

Self Portrait in Lake Eyre - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)
The ABC are showing his SALT Documentary tonight. There was a review in yesterdays Sydney Morning Herald titled - Searching for infinite space in extreme locations. An extract follows:

Murray Fredericks - Sydney Morning Herald 22 Mar 2010 - Searching for infinite space in extreme locations - Tue 23 Mar 2010 (picasa)
Having been "the guy with a camera" at high school who took pictures of sports teams, Fredericks was a serious photographer with commercial and artistic ambitions in his mid-twenties. He shot what he calls traditional coffee table-style photos until he realised he wanted more from his work.

"I reached the point where I went through everything and went 'there's nothing new here'. All I'm doing is finding new angles and new locations but the message itself - and the way the message is delivered - isn't changing'," he says.

"So I went through everything again and I thought 'which images affect me differently?' and they were the images that conveyed a sense of space."

That discovery has taken Fredericks 14 times to Lake Eyre in outback South Australia in the past six years. His aim was to photograph the flat salt plain with its low horizon and lack of distinctive features.

Hauling his gear to the location by bicycle, he spent up to five weeks by himself trying to capture the nothingness. And when things changed, he wanted to capture that too.

"Everything happens on the cusp, on the change,'' he says. ''It's the transition periods that are interesting because that's when the stuff you can't imagine or you can't expect happens."

Fredericks's shots of land and sky have proven so popular there are three galleries - in Sydney, Melbourne and London - waiting for his new work.

SALT 8 by Murray Fredericks

Found a nice review by Rebecca Wolkenstein who writes:

.. it wasn’t until I viewed his film SALT, that I decided my roster couldn’t live without him. The film and the work had a spiritual element I had never really understood before then. It sounds rather dramatic to be speaking this way, doesn’t it? When the film comes out [..], I highly recommend that you immerse yourself in the landscape. It’s full of surprises.

SALT 5 by Murray Fredericks

My friend Leigh Perry shoots very similar photos, but typically from the shore of Sydney's coastline - see his portfolios: Invariance and Peripheral Vision. Beautiful photos ..

Invariance #116011 - Reef by Leigh Perry

Invariance #332 - Lake. by Leigh Perry