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)

What is a workout? Rob Rowland-Smith - Jeremey Rolleston (Feb 2011)

In his book A Life that Counts, Jeremy Rolleston introduces us to trainer Rob Rowland-Smith. A bit of searching on the Internet and you will find Rob as the SandhillWarrior on Twitter. He certainly impressed Jeremy (as well as me - see here) with his inspirational words and quotes. On pages 136 and 137 of his book, Jeremy quotes Rob's long version of What is a Workout (the short version appeared here a few days ago) as follows:

Here’s a quote by inspirational trainer Rob Rowland-Smith. He wrote it in the context of a workout, but for me, it epitomises the journey, process and outcomes of a committed and disciplined life. I placed it on the front page of my Olympic training folder so I’d read it often, and most times, I read it before I worked out so I’d be better able to discipline myself and work hard enough to achieve what I wanted to achieve during that training session:

"What is a workout?

A workout is 25% perspiration and 75% determination.

Stated another way, it is one part physical exertion and three parts self-discipline.

Doing it is easy once you get started.

A workout makes you better today than you were yesterday.

It strengthens the body, relaxes the mind and toughens the spirit.

When you workout regularly, your problems diminish and your confidence grows.

A workout is a personal triumph over laziness and procrastination.

It is the badge of a winner – the mark of an organised, goal-oriented person who has taken charge of his or her destiny.

A workout is a wise use of time and an investment in excellence.

It is a way of preparing for life's challenges and proving to yourself that you have what it takes to do what is necessary.

A workout is a key that helps unlock the door to opportunity and success.

Hidden within each of us is an extraordinary force.

Physical and mental fitness are triggers that can release it.

A workout is a form of rebirth.

When you finish a good workout, you don’t simply feel better ... you feel better about yourself."

Rob completes this with the following words:

To follow your dreams takes commitment ... and this means discipline.

Some great words here and they will certainly help me focus on what is needed when working towards a Dream.

When you workout regularly, your problems diminish and your confidence grows. - Jenny and Deb Cooper stroking with George sweeping - DBNSW 2008 Development Squad - Blackwattle Bay / Sydney (Sun 26 Oct 2008)
When you finish a good workout, you don’t simply feel better ... you feel better about yourself." - DBNSW 2008 Development Squad - Blackwattle Bay / Sydney (Sun 26 Oct 2008)

On the Journey - Seth Godin (Fri 02 May 2014)

Pacific Dragons - 2014 AusDBF Dragon Boat Nationals - Kawana (Fri 18 Apr 2014)
Seth Godin (*) writes On Giving (*):

In the infinite game (*), though, something completely different is going on. In the infinite game, the point is to keep playing, not to win (*). In the infinite game, the journey (*) is all there is. And so, players in an infinite game never stop giving so they can take. [..]

You certainly know people who play this game, you may well have been touched (*) by them, inspired (*) by them and taught (*) by them. The wrong question to ask is, "but how do they win?" The right way to understand it is, "but is it worth playing?"

via The short game, the long game and the infinite game (*) by Seth Godin (*).

I see people like this in my club (*) and as is always the case, Seth is ever so right in his observations on life. And I know, by these experiences in my club (*), exactly what he means.

The Cole Classic by Steve Christo - Sydney Life 2010

The Cole Classic by Steve Christo - Hyde Park/Sydney - 29 Sep 2010 (picasa)
Funny how photos (like music) take you back in time and in your memories. Recently saw the above photo at the 2010 Sydney Life Exhibition in Hyde Park.

Occasionally I hear or read about The Cole Classic, typically around the time of year which it is run (Jan/Feb). It was originally held at Bondi, but it moved to Manly some years ago.

Graham Cole was the founder of the The Cole Classic (see end of this post for more details). He was Sydney Solictor and a very keen swimmer. He was also the Landlord of the first house that I moved into when I had finished my University Degree in late 1982. Robyn, Mal and I moved into a 3 bedroom two storey terrace in Ebley Street, Bondi Junction in Jan 1983.

The move to Bondi Junction was a big change from the sheltered and idyllic surrounds of Wesley College where we had all spent 3-4 years living and studying. It also marked the beginning of our careers in our chosen professions. We enjoyed the change and having a place to live outside of the University. The Eastern Suburbs Railway had recently been completed and with a 5 minute walk to the Bondi Junction Railway Station, it was a quick trip to Town Hall and then a short walk to where I worked (almost 30 years later I still work in the same building but there have been plenty of moves and changes along the way).

Every month I paid the rent and I would wander down to the then P&O Building to give Graham's Secretary a cheque. He would often come out of his office and we would have a chat. In these chats I did get to hear some swimming stories and that he loved surfing at Bondi. At some stage he did mention The Cole Classic (in 1983 the first Cole Classic was swum with 101 swimmers participating).

He was always a very accomodating Landlord and he allowed us to do some wallpaper removal and painting to one of the rooms (the Red and White striped wallpaper a previous tenant had put up, was a bit much for Robyn, whose room it was). Around the same time he indicated he needed to paint the railings of the balcony to the front upstairs bedroom. He said he would come round one weekend to get it done. Mal and I gave him a hand and the job was done quickly over a couple of weekends.

Ebley Street - Bondi Junction - 30 Sep 2010 (picasa)
Moving forward just over 27 years ..

Coincidently, the day after I took the above Sydney Like 2010 Photo, I had to go to Bondi Junction for an appointment. Decided after the appointment I would go around to the old place (it was not far), have a look and take a couple of photos.

Not much has changed from the outside except for a new coat of paint - it was a dark green in the early 1980's. The Balcony railing was still there, I remember that weekend we painted it way back in the late summer of 1982/1983.

The Waverley Tower still hovers over Bondi Junction and Waverley, but it now has a lot more antenna's - mobile phones were certainly not mainstream public technology in the early to mid 1980's.

Ebley Street - Bondi Junction - 30 Sep 2010 (picasa)
Sadly, I remember reading in 2000 that Graham had died of a heart attack while swimming at his beloved Bondi Beach. From the Sydney Morning Herald dated the 06 Dec 2002 in an article titled At the Cole face:

He was 72 and had been told by his doctor to take things easy after developing a heart murmur. "But the surf called," says his son. "He went out, had a good surf, was talking to his mates on the beach, had a heart attack and died on the beach. It was unexpected. The guy was fit and robust. But it was a perfect way for him to go. He orchestrated it well."

I also remember reading this article in the Sydney Morning Herald in February this year. It gives an insight into how much The Cole Classic has grown.

It is such a long time ago now, I have trouble remembering much more than heading down to Bondi Beach after work to catch some waves on a newly purchased bogey board.

However, the most obvious memory for me of the place is the phone call I received there from my Mother in Wagga Wagga on the evening of Sunday 24 Jul 1983 to tell me my father had died of heart failure that evening at our Family Doctor's surgery after playing a game of hockey that afternoon. He was just a few months past his 47th Birthday. He lived just a couple weeks longer than Jenny.

Funny the things you remember when you see a photo.

From the History page of the www.coleclassic.com ..

How it all began

Graham Cole was a keen ocean swimmer, regularly swimming and body surfing at Bondi Beach. In 1981 he travelled to Hawaii with a team from the Tattersals Club to swim in the Waikiki Roughwater. He returned with a desire to establish a similar event in Sydney, reasoning that Australian beaches and strong beach culture were deserving of such an event and that it should be open to all members of the community who had done the necessary training. In 1982 Graham wrote;

The event is not a race but a challenge to all persons to stretch themselves in body and mind to swim a reasonable distance through surf. It will, I hope, be an incentive to persons to involve themselves in the self-discipline required to get fit; obtain confidence in their ability through swimming, to achieve a pride in having performed something that is, perhaps slightly above average, and finally to receive (in the form of an appropriately prepared Certificate or medal) some recognition of their accomplishment.

In 1983 the first Cole Classic was swum with 101 swimmers participating.

On Activity - Seth Godin (Thu 30 Sep 2015)

that would be me and I was probably too young to be walking - less than one for sure - seen a colour version of this somewhere and I am dressed in a nice light yellow outfit for the portrait - definitely put a smile on my face - my Aunt Erica's hand writing. From a photo album Erica gave to her Mother on her 80th Birthday in 1993 - Goulburn (1960)

Seth Godin on being Active:

More important than the output, though, is the act itself. The act of doing it every day. When you commit to a practice, you will certainly have days when you don't feel like it, when you believe it's not your best work, when the muse deserts you. But, when you keep your commitment, the muse returns. When you keep your commitment, the work happens.

It doesn't matter if anyone reads it, buys it, sponsors it or shares it. It matters that you show up.

Show up, sit down and type. (Or paint [or photograph]).

via Susdat by Seth Godin.

Had many days like this here and in life, particularly these last few years. The mere act of showing up has got me through. Congrats Seth on your 6000th post. I was inspired to start blogging on your 3000th post back in Feb 2009.

We all need people to talk us up when we feel like all is lost, pointless or without purpose - sometimes it just has to be ourselves to do the talking. Seth and a few other bloggers have helped me here online, but there are a few in my life that have done the same thing. Thanks ..

Sydney Life 2010 - In the Park

Enjoying Sydney Life 2010. I snapped each of the canvas' framed by the surrounding trees and gardens using my Canon G10. Processed the CR2 Raw files using Google's Desktop Application named Picasa. Uploaded the resulting photos to my Picasa Account in a Folder named Sydney Life 2010. Used Picasa to create a few collages.

As indicated last week, I seem to be quite drawn to Tamara Dean's photo titled This too Shall Pass. From my brief viewing of Sydney Life 2010, Tamara's photo has certainly drawn some attention by the viewers. Even had one person ask me, whether I thought the Dogs were of "xyz" type (sorry I can't remember, and I don't know :-)

As I see the photos more, I start to see little details, and I try to photograph these details as the weeks go by.

As I used to say to Jenny, "just mucking around" and having some fun.

This too Shall Pass (by Tamara Dean) - Sydney Life 2010 - Wed 29 Sep 2010 (picasa)
Detail - This too Shall Pass (by Tamara Dean) - Sydney Life 2010 - Wed 29 Sep 2010 (picasa)
Collage - Sydney Life 2010 - Wed 29 Sep 2010 (picasa)
Collage/Detail - Sydney Life 2010 - Wed 29 Sep 2010 (picasa)

Macau 2010: Intention and Reflection

Intention & Reflection by Drew Ginn (7 May 2007)

What does it mean to have conscious intent?

To be fully engaged and intentionally focused is a critical ingredient for improving performance.

Maintaining a clear focus when everything becomes hazy with fatigue and stress is certainly some thing I practice.

It is something that I work on while engaged in any activity, in fact that is the greatest part you can practice it any time.

Being clear about what, how and why creates a purposeful performance and intention is that capacity to transfer thought in to action.

It is easy to switch off and go through the motions, but to stay present and aware is a challenge, at least initially.

That's why I love training by myself sometimes, it enables me to practice finding that clarity and to apply thought or mental image to action.

Reflection is important to ensure that what you intent is realised and it is upon reflection that insights are gained about how to improve each session, each stroke, each race and each season.

Clear intention is like a laser. It penetrates through the power of unity. A diffused athlete is more likely to under perform than an athlete who is clear, driven and focused.

Another blog post that I keep coming back to read.

Now that we are back from Macau, it is a good time to reflect on what was achieved and how it was done ..

CCWC Mixed 500m Final (Video Screen) - Pacific Dragons/Lane 2 - Macau/China- Sat 31 Jul 2010
Premier Mixed 500m Final - Macau/China - Sat 31 Jul 2010
CCWC Mixed 500m Final - Pacific Dragons - Macau/China- Sat 31 Jul 2010
Premier Mixed 500m Medal Presentation - Pacific Dragons/World Champions - Sun 01 Aug 2010
Pacific Dragons Premier Mixed 500m Team - Back (l-r) Geoff Eldridge, Norman Joe, Rachel Mosen, Kerry Davenport, Darren Ma, Todd Skeels, Craig Stewart, Justin Spake, Michal Hrcka, Suzy Kong, Annett Happich, Mark Hall, Lisa Green, Stuart Young, Toby Wilson, Graeme Bacon Front (l-r) Michelle Ng, Helen Papin, Christian Happich, Matt Spies, Michelle Hone, Nicola Frowen, Di Morgan, Paul Smith, Christophe Pistoni, Julia Ryall, Kathaleen Burrows - Macau/China - Sun 01 Aug 2010

OC - Oh See! - Cnr Nathan Road and Public Square St / Hong Kong (Tue 03 Jul 2012)

OC - Oh See! - Cnr Nathan Road and Public Square St / Hong Kong (Tue 03 Jul 2012)
Bright shafts of light randomly flooded the canyon like streets of Hong Kong.

I almost instinctively responded to this by trying to capture the passing traffic (cars, trucks, bikes and people) as they emerged out of the shadows.

An Alex Webb (*) book - The Suffering of Light (*) - I recently bought from Amazon at Eric Kim's (*) suggestion (*) certainly helped me to see this way for the first time.

Alex on opportunity in photography:

“Luck – or perhaps serendipity – plays a big role… But you never know what is going to happen. And what is most exciting is when the utterly unexpected happens, and you manage to be there at the right place at the right time – and push the shutter at the right moment. Most of the time it doesn’t work out that way. This kind of photography is 99.9% about failure."

Detail - OC - Oh See! - Cnr Nathan Road and Public Square St / Hong Kong (Tue 03 Jul 2012)

The Importance of Elsewhere - Philip Larkin

Sunrise - somewhere between Lourdes and Col de Portet d'Aspet / France (Wed 23 Sep 2009)

The Importance of Elsewhere by Philip Larkin:

Lonely in Ireland, since it was not home,
Strangeness made sense. The salt rebuff of speech,
Insisting so on difference, made me welcome:
Once that was recognised, we were in touch.

Their draughty streets, end-on to hills, the faint
Archaic smell of dockland, like a stable,
The herring-hawker's cry, dwindling, went
To prove me separate, not unworkable.

Living in England has no such excuse:
These are my customs and establishments
It would be much more serious to refuse.
Here no elsewhere underwrites my existence.

Referenced in The Importance of Here by Kathryn Heyman - Good Weekend (Sun 15 Jul 2006) posted here on Thu 10 Sep 2015.

Not exactly sure I feel the same release from who I am when away from home. If anything I regress more into myself to the point that I make sure I am oblvious to anyone. Admire people who have the confidence to be themselves wherever they are. It's a great quality to have and it certainly would make life a bit more comfortable.

I am who I am and there is not much point trying to be something, or hoping to be something, I am not. It's too hard and I worked that one out a long time ago, though I do try every now and then to push myself a little.

Eiffel History: Eiffel Liberty Journal (eljeiffel)

Bertrand and Geoff - ETH / Zurich (Thu 25 Sep 2014)

Eiffel History: Eiffel Liberty Journal (Feb 2006) at TeamEiffel

One of Eiffel's most prolific activists from the mid-90s to 2002 was Geoff Eldridge from Australia. He spent most of his spare time hanging out in places like comp.lang.eiffel spreading information to help people to use Eiffel.

After the demise of Eiffel Outlook magazine, Geoff decided that the Eiffel community still needed a magazine, but that it should be online instead of paper-based. With that in mind, he talked a dozen or so Eiffel notables into writing articles for the first issue, and he soon published it on a website at the University of Technology, Sydney.

The magazine was named "Eiffel Liberty", inspired by the fact that Gustav Eiffel had designed the framework for both the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. The word Liberty also reflected that Geoff had visions of helping to "set Eiffel free" from the chains that were restraining it.

The first couple of issues of Eiffel Liberty were very popular, and Geoff moved them across to his newly-registered domain elj.com where he continued to publish a new issue every two months or so.

The increased webspace, and availability of scripting tools, allowed Geoff to expand the scope of the site considerably, and soon Eiffel Liberty was hosting a huge amount of content besides Eiffel Liberty Journal. Geoff's interest in Object Technology featured strongly, and as a result the site gained widespread readership beyond the Eiffel community.

As Geoff's interests broadened, he also covered scripting languages, methodology, functional programming, extreme programming, software quality and componentry. Geoff also latched on to the burgeoning interest in open source software and featured it strongly.

Despite these broadening interests, Geoff kept up the Eiffel content. He maintained GUERL, Geoff's Eiffel Resource Locator which had links to every possible resource useful to practitioners of Eiffel. In time, this overflowed into the OO Soapbox where links to other languages and technologies were featured.

As if this wasn't enough, Geoff also introduced ELJ Daily, a regular posting of the latest snippets relating to Eiffel and Object Technology. Today we'd call this a blog, but the word hadn't been invented yet. Indeed, Geoff was one of the world's first bloggers.

All this time too, Geoff was also writing open source Eiffel software and inspiring others to do the same. Talk about a powerhouse! He was also having to pay a sizeable chunk of his own cash for hosting costs and bandwidth. He never carried ads on the site.

As the site grew, Geoff and others referred to it good-naturedly by a number of alternative acronyms, including Extremely Large Jumble, which it had certainly become. It was a very useful and much-appreciated jumble nonetheless. The nickname caught on, and soon the homepage itself carried the new slogan.

But all was not well. Geoff felt that he wasn't getting much support from the Object community. He contrasted this with his other interest, photography, where he found the online communities to be highly engaging and supportive. His massive workload might have been getting him down too, and it wouldn't have helped that his girlfriend Jenny (later his wife) had cancer.

A major blow came in late 2000 after some people had strongly criticized the GUERL page as being full of disorganized rubbish. Geoff took this to heart, and erased the page, announcing that "This page has been retired ... I suppose no impression is much better than a bad impression". Many pleaded with him to restore the page, but it was not to be.

In a way, that was the beginning of the end. Although Geoff plugged away for a few more years, the zest was never there quite like it had been before, and Geoff was devoting more time to the newly-emerging hobby of digital photography. On 24 September 2002 Geoff took down the whole of elj.com.

No-one in the Eiffel community seems to know what Geoff is up to now - and quite a few of us have tried to track him down. The elj.com home page is still live, though it contains nothing more than an invitation to click through to Cetus Links. (Does Geoff realise that a three-character domain name can be sold for quite a lot these days?)

Geoff, if you're out there, why not post a comment and let us know what you're up to?

THanks for Roger Browne who wrote this. It brings back a lot of memories.

On Photography - Relationships and Experiences - Howard Greenberg (Fri 08 Mar 2013)

Wagamama - TGV / Sydney (Fri 08 Mar 2013)
Howard Greenberg (*) talks On Photography (*):

First of all, I have to say my collection is really, truly personal. There are many known photographs, classic photographs, in the collection to be sure. But there are more than that many photographs which are unknown or hardly known or certainly not what you would consider important - but they are important to me for my own personal reasons. It’s my life and just like in your life you’ll see certain pictures you can relate (*) to, you want it because of your experiences (*). So it’s that way with my collection.

via Howard Greenberg Talks to Elizabeth Avedon (*) by Elizabeth Avedon (*).

More On Writing - I Wrote this for You / Iain S. Thomas (Mon 05 Aug 2013)

Live Your Life - Calle de Santa Isabel / Madrid (Sun 11 Aug 2013)

Iain S. Thomas on Writing:

Write About Something Else

Write about something that makes you feel uncomfortable.

Write about something that makes you worry what other people will think.

[..]

Write to try and capture your own unique voice and take on things.

Write About Something Else by Iain S. Thomas.

And that is pretty much what I have done here these last 6 years. It's certainly been uncomfortable. I've definitely worried about what other people will think and it's been done my way. And the best bit is that I have loved every minute of it. You've Gotta Love It as Patricia would say.

On Photography - Jorg Colberg (Tue 09 Jul 2013)

Jörg Colberg (*) writes On Photography (*):

People usually love talking about their photographs, and they love telling you what is in those pictures (even if most of that is not apparent to a stranger at all – we’re certainly all photographers in the sense of believing there are things in the pictures someone else simply can’t see, given her or his lack of background knowledge).

via Photography’s Existential Dread (*).

Dimitri the 6 year old Carpet Snake - Newtown (Sun 07 Jul 2013)>

Engineering - Alan Finkel (Wed 21 Jun 2017)

Untitled - Chippen Lane / Chippendale (Fri 02 Jun 2017)

Alan Finkel on Engineering:

engineering is the art of optimisation, it's not the pursuit of perfection, certainly not at the other extreme - the acceptance of compromise

via 'National Electricity Market reform – a blueprint for the future' National Press Club Address (Wed 21 Jun 2017) by Alan Finkel.

5th Ave: A Special Hunting Ground for Street Photographers

Part of a conversation between Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz (*, *) about the latter's memories of his own early days as a street photographer in New York in the 1960s and his association with Robert Frank (*), Garry Winogrand (*), Diane Arbus (*), Lee Friedlander (*), and others.

Colin Westerbeck: Did Fifth always seem such a special hunting ground for you street photographers?
 
Joel Meyerowitz: Oh yeah. Because Fifth Avenue was the most exciting, and it had the most light.

I think Madison was too dark, Park was too wide, Third still had the El in the early sixties, or they were beginning to tear it down anyway, Third was creepy. Sixth Avenue didn't have much on it.
 
We certainly made some circuits around there, but really Fifth Avenue had the pulse of lie, the most vigor, the most beautiful women, the heaviest business action. The mix was best on Fifth.
 
I  mean, you got it all, from high fashion to messengers.
 
It just was everything. pushcarts, pretzel vendors, and limousines.
 
It had the contradictions of life in a big city, and that kind of counterpoint was the stuff of commentary.
 
That's what you could mock, that's what you could wait for, because it was more exciting to see those combinations there.

An extract from Still Going from Bystander: A History of Street Photography (*) by Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz.
 
I really like the Lunch Series (*) by Gus Powell (*) and In Color (*) by Richard Bram (*).

I can definitely relate to what is said here. Would have influenced me a lot if I had read this before I went to New York recently. Meyerowitz's photos all just have that something extra when you look at them closely. Inspiring work for sure,

Red and Yellow (1 of 2) - 5th Avenue - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)
Red and Yellow (2 of 2) - 5th Avenue - New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)
My Mom Totally Rocks - Green - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)
Intersection - 5th Ave - New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)

Anders Gustafsson AG79 - Celebrating a Great Season

Anders Gustafsson AG79: The Sequel
If you liked It's whoever has worked the hardest and smartest who will win, then you will love this one (the end of season sequel).

Found this from Anders (analog79) twitter update today:

"No, my ego hasn't totally grown out of proportion. I'm just trying to share some paddling inspiration. http://fb.me/CCyX90ba (Youtube)"

Certainly is inspirational stuff and I think he is allowed to celebrate his great season. All Warriors of Light know this (see here). Specifically:

".. the warrior knows why he is celebrating. He is savouring the best gift that victory can bring: confidence.

He celebrates yesterday's victory in order to gain more strength for tomorrow's battle."

[ Note: Music ("Mind Heist") by Zack Hemsey from the soundtrack of Inception. ]

On Photography - Blake Andrews (Thu 14 Aug 2014)

Jenny and Joanne - Glen Coe / Scotland (Sun 04 Sep 2005)
Blake Andrews (*) writes On Photography (*):

The ones [photos] which seem to change over time, that in fact remind me that I'm changing —I suspect those are the keepers.

via The Same River Twice (*) by Blake Andrews (*).

This photo already has it's own story (*), which still continues to be written (*). It is certainly a keeper and one that I continue to see more as my life changes from unknown to unknown.

More than a Portrait Photo - Jinni Art Supply Shop / Shanghai (Thu 18 Nov 2004)

Portrait - Jinni Art Supply Shop / Shanghai (Thu 18 Nov 2004)
Selina Ou (*) on photography ..

Photography was something I just always wanted to do. The camera enables me to express how I see the world because sometimes words, for me, don't explain enough.

So here is an attempt to describe what this photo means to me in words. Here goes ..

I was sitting outside this shop, while Jenny and Joanne were inside deciding what to buy. We would return numerous times afterwards to buy a few more things - rice paper, paints, horse hair brushes of various widths, and much much more. I was sitting there with half a dozen Chinese men, waiting patiently like all good husbands do, and I was fiddling with my new camera. He came up to me to look at the camera.

As he seemed interested I worked up the courage to gesture to him to take his photo. I made the photo above and then showed him the results. He was very excited to see himself In the review screen of my Canon 300D and he was all smiles, which he certainly was not for his photo.

I then gave him the camera and showed him how to take a photo. I reciprocated his gesture to allow me to photograph him and he then photographed me - I will put it here soon.

Even though we did not talk the same langusge, there was lots of hand gesturing and smiles. I should do this more often when travelling, or just photographing for that matter. I must admit that I had been inspired to engage with people more while i travelled, by a young up and coming photographer by the name of Selina Ou (*) - more on her and this later.

This was the day of my 44th Birthday.

Sadness - Maggie Barrett (Mon 02 May 2016)

Untitled - North Haven / Adelaide (Wed 06 Apr 2016)

Maggie Barrett on Sadness:

be aware of the seduction of sadness. [..] There is much to feel sad about during the course of life, and certainly one shouldn’t mask it, but neither should one wear sadness too long lest it become its own mask.

via FOR Z, WITH LOVE by Maggie Barrett.

On Photography, Memory and Feelings - jtinseoul (Sat 20 Jun 2015)

Jenny - Mutton Bird Island / Coffs Harbour (Sun 02 Jan 2004)

jtinseoul on Photography and Memory:

Photography is about Memory. Not the making of memories, but about the capturing of them.

Addding that photos can be a reminder of:

how it felt to be here when I wasn’t.

via Cameras do matter (sort of) by jtinseoul.

So succintly and nicely put - these words touch my heart.

Just found these photos on an old disk. Certainly do bring back some memories and how I felt just over 10 years ago. So much has happened and it feels like another life, the life of someone else told to me so intimately with an open heart and no secrets because I seem to know it so well, I can feel it - but can it be me, really!!

Funny how and what a photo makes you think and feel.

Geoff - Mutton Bird Island / Coffs Harbour (Sun 02 Jan 2004)