The Street Warrior moves forward thru time - StreetShooter (Thu 08 Aug 2013)

Intersection [1] - Barcelona (Tue 06 Aug 2013)
StreetShooter (*) writes Street Photography (*):

The Street Warrior moves forward thru time but sees the world as a passing journey.

The street warrior is in tune with himself and seeks the next image not because it’s the elusive butterfly but because he counts back in time.

Knowing that each and every image recorded may be the last or even close to the last, he is prepared to make the next image the one that marks his place in time.

via The Ricoh GR … Defining Your Vision Part 2 (*) .

Brilliantly said StreetShooter (*).

[1] The narrow laneways in old Barcelona align themselves with the sun at their specified time of the day which is different for every day of the year.

Sydney Life 2012 (21 Sep - 21 Oct 2012)

Cover - Sydney Life - Art and About 2012
Page 12 - Sydney Life - Art and About 2012
Page 13 - Sydney Life - Art and About 2012
21 SEPTEMBER - 21 OCTOBER 2012
CENTRAL WALKWAY
HYDE PARK NORTH

With a unique lens on who we are and the city we live in, the finalists in this year’s much-loved Sydney Life exhibition capture our city in fresh and surprising ways.From a close-up on the personal to a wide-angle view on our collective joys and sorrows, the stunning large-scale photographs of this year’s 22 finalists are as diverse, interesting and exciting as Sydney itself. Wander beneath the canopy of leaves and see images that reveal a city which never ceases to fascinate.

Sydney Life Tours

Join Sydney Life judge Sandy Edwards for a free tour of this year’s exhibition.

Meet at Archibald Fountain.

Friday 21 September, 7-8pm
Saturday 13 October, 2-3pm

Hyde Park North
Free

Sydney Life judging panel

Liane Rossler

Known as a passionate ambassador for issues relating to design and the environment, Liane presented Happy Talk with Heidi Dokulil at last year’s Art & About Sydney. Other recent work includes Supercyclers, a design project focused on clever and beautiful re-use of waste shown at Milan Design Week. Liane was also a co-founder and former designer and director of Dinosaur Designs.

Moshe Rosenzveig

Moshe Rosenzveig is the founder and director of Head On Photo Festival, the world’s second-largest event of its kind which runs in Sydney annually in May.

His career spans over 30 years as a photojournalist, commercial photographer, educator and an award winning television producer/director whose work has been screened, published and exhibited in Australia and overseas.

Sandy Edwards

Sandyis the founder of ARTHERE – an organisation that provides services to photographers for exhibitions and projects in Sydney and Australia. She is also a curator at Stills Gallery,Sydney’s most established photography gallery
Page 14 - Sydney Life - Art and About 2012
Page 15 - Sydney Life - Art and About 2012
The Sydney Life Prize

Congratulations to Sally McInerney, the 2012 winner of the Sydney Life Prize. The judges determined that Sally’s image ‘Shark in pool, Dover Heights’ was the most outstanding work in the selection of 22 finalists, and have awarded her the prize of $10,000.
The 2012 Sydney Life Prize - Sally McInerney - Shark in pool

The Finalists

1. 01 Adrian Cook (*) / blog (*): Dog Day Afternoon. Winner of the Wenty Park Mongrel Cup 2011.


2. Marco Bok (*) / SMH:Tue 10 Jan 2006 (*): Lifesavers Bondi Beach. Candid photo of a lifesaving exercise. From a large unpublished series on Bondi Beach made whilst living there.


3. Garry Trinh (*) / Google (*): Super Size Hamburger. A re-examining of everyday life in Sydney.


4. Graham Monro (*) / blog (*): Modern Family. A typical Sydney family in 2012, everyone is connected, but no one is talking.


5. Jennifer Blau (*) / blog (*): It’s time to wake up and become sustainable. Walking in the bush opposite her home on Sydney’s North Shore, Robyn calls for a more sustainable life.


6. Maylei Hunt (*) / Google (*): Let Them Eat Wedding Cake. Sydney residents have been taking the streets to protest for the Equal Rights for Gay Marriage in Australia. It’s time.


7. Ingvar Keene (*): Cormac Malabar Pool. Last light and last swim after a long hot summer day.


8. Louise Whelan (*) / Google (*): By the Pool. Kira Hula Hoops beside the pool for the 75th Anniversary of North Sydney Pool.


9. Lyndal Irons (*) / blog (*): Wash n’ Wax Ronaldinho. Youths spend Saturday night playing football at a late night carwash in Concord. From the series Parramatta Road.


10. Jenny Evans (*) / Google (*): Above Sydney. Dudley Page Reserve in Dover Heights provides a stunning view of Sydney Harbour.


11. Hugh Peterswald (*) / Google (*): Celebrity Wave Sydneysiders crowd to see US television celebrity Oprah as she leaves from her lunch in Bondi.


12. Matt Kaarma (*) / Google (*): Contact. Whilst Sydney parties, dines and dances, soldiers stationed on the outskirts of the city train hard for war.


13. Tamara Dean (*): Chelsea & Caroline Hibernian House. From my new series depicting images of young contemporary Australian women within their environments.


14. Daniel Gibbs (*) / blog (*): Secret Women’s Business. Girls on a school excursion in Botany Bay National Park huddle around an Aboriginal Elder to learn some secrets; I was excluded!


15. Roman Balla (*): Winter Sunseekers. My mother is 86 this year. On sunny winters days she tries to warm herself and her guinea pig "Squeek".


16. Richard Payne (*): Women Shopping in Auburn. Sydney is a diverse city and I wanted to show the diversity of life through an image of an every day activity.


17. Sally McInerney (*) / Google (*): Shark in pool, Dover Heights. Someone had added a shark to an estate agent’s auction sign overlooking the ocean.


18. Alex Davies (*) / Google (*): Hubub. Justin Shoulder drifts through Hyde Park as Hubub during APEC protests Sydney.


19. Ann-Maree Moodie (*) / Google (*): Bunnies on the Line. Sometimes there is such a thing as too much lovin’ and intervention is required – warm, soapy water and a day in the sun hanging from the quintessential icon of the Australian backyard.


20. Bryce Watanasoponwong (*): We look great. Three Sikh followers view their self-posed image, taken on a mobile phone, during the Vaisakhi festival at Martin Place.


21. Cassandra French (*): Historic Chinese Market Gardens. I would love to see these heritage gardens protected and preserved. They are under serious threat from the neighbouring cemetery which is looking for more land for burial plot


22. Deb Kent (*): Cake on a Hot Summer’s Day. On a sweltering hot summers day the rosy cheeked party girls stand watching their cakes melt away.

Favourite Photos: Perisher Valley 2002 - Freezing

Freezing - Perisher Valley - 25 Jun 2002 (picasa)

As well as traveling to the Snowy Mountains during summer, Jenny, Jo and I decided to spend some time in the Mountains during Winter. We did this in Jun 2000, 2001 and 2002. After that the Dragon Boating took over our winters.

It was always nice to go to Perisher during the first week of the ski season (mid-late June) where the Boonoona Ski Lodge was not really that busy - mainly accountants getting a small holiday in before the end of financial year rush.

Jenny and Jo were good skiers and they were able to get out onto the ski fields, while I did some reading and wondering around the local snow covered bush land. Would always have my camera at hand and found many nice photos from these little (actually some were quite long) walks.

This particular photo was taken on the side of the Perisher Valley Water Supply Dam. It was near sunset and there was a nice golden glow on the water. The original photo is shown below.

When I got back to Sydney, I uploaded the a cropped version to my photo.net portfolio (see here). In the discussion I provided the original uncropped photo, which is shown below, and I wondered which was better (cropped or uncropped?).

'Freezing' (Orignal) - Perisher Valley - 25 Jun 2002 (picasa)
I was pleased to receive this well thought out response from Marc G:

Very clearly, for me, the cropped version is better. Just sharing with you, here, a very simple method I use for years to know in similar cases whether it should be cropped or not.

I just ask myself "what I have I lost if I crop ? What have I gained ?

Here, the crop makes you lose the extension of this line - but it isn't a curved extension, so not very elegant, and not actually a loss. Then, no other important elements at the bottom. Now what have you gained ? You have gained simplicity and peace. Peace because you gained simplicity, and peace because that's in general what comes with squares - by the books.

Now in what sense have you gained simplicity ?

That's the most important question. The curved line being shorter, it is seen faster. Since we start from top left and go down, and since what was in the lower part was nothing great, we can say that here we keep only the nectar.

In the original, the nectar came with not much at the end. Then, here, since the eye is quickly finished with the main curve, it then moves to the right, and that's where it can find extra beauty in the dented ice and in the light at the top.

Basically, you kept the best only. Honestly, I would never have thought of hanging the original on my walls, but this one, I would - without a single hesitation. If you are interested, by the way, I'd buy a print of this - provided you give me a good price. It is no, to me, the best ice shot I've seen on this site, without a doubt for me, and I'd regard this as POW material - if I were an elfe, that is...:-))

Meanwhile, if you are keen, I'm serious, let me know the price for a 50 cm square print... Regards. Marc G. August 05, 2002; 02:00 P.M.

All of his critique made sense to me and I was very happy that a professional photographer would like one of my photos so much - was quite flattered. Unfortunately, the photo was taken on a small digital camera (1600 by 1200 pixels) and there was no way the image could be printed to a 50cm square. I would send the full-size original to Marc with my thanks for such a helpful critique and my best wishes that he might find something useful from the original file.

Over the years I have played around with the cropping of this image and I am quite satisfied with the version below.

'Freezing' (Alternate Crop) - Perisher Valley - 25 Jun 2002 (picasa)

On Photography - the relationship between objects and people - Daido Moriyama (Summer 2005)

Traffic Barrier - Shinjuku / Tokyo (Sat 22 Sep 2012)
Daido Moriyama (*) gives an insight into his photography when asked What do you want viewers to take away from looking at your photos?:

Most of my photographs are taken on the street, of objects on the street.

I want to capture the relationship between objects and people.

I don’t ever think about what people are going to think looking at my photographs.

There are many things I can’t control.

That viewers see the photographs in a different way is really important, but it doesn’t influence the work.

My message enters the image, but I think it’s good if many messages enter the image, not just mine.

via Daido Moriyama Photographs His Beloved Shinjuku (*).

Blurry Red - The Met / 5th Ave / New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)

Blurry - The Met / 5th Ave / New York (Mon 15 Aug 2011)
The following quote by Eric Kim (*) made me think of quite a few photos I took while I was away (*). They are all flawed in some way, but they have kept my attention. The above photo - taken just outside The Met (*) is just one example. Here's the quote ..

when it comes to street photograph, image quality isn’t important. If anything, having a raw and grittier image is more favorable. [Eric Kim (*)]

Might put a few more here at some stage.

My Genisis Photo - Bloody Gum - Royal National Park (Sun 28 Jan 2001)

Bloody Gum - Royal National Park (Sun 28 Jan 2001)
Chris Rainier (*) writes (*):

In every [photographer's] genesis (*) there is a point - an image - that we can look back on with the realisation that the photograph taken was a defining moment of internal creative clarity. My first image ...

... was the one above which I wrote about (*) just over three years ago (time does fly). It came from nowhere and was totally unexpected when I looked at it later on my monitor. It was at this point that I realised that photography was not only about capturing memories (*), which I have focused on a bit here lately. I learnt it could be about creating art, or at least creating something to look at and admire from out the ordinary and mundane. I love it and what photography can do a persons self worth and purpose. It has got me though some great times and more importantly some really hard times.

Sydney Looking Forward 2002 (16-29 Sep 2002)

Cover - Sydney Looking Forward 2002 - Art and About 2002
Page 6 - Sydney Looking Forward 2002 - Art and About 2002
This large format photographic exhibition displayed along the grand central walkway of Hyde Park North turns Hyde Park into an open air gallery. These stunning images and the park's natural beauty complement each other to create and impressive visual treat. Stroll through the park on your way to work, amble home as the ligth fades or return at the weekend with all the family.

Artists were invited to portray a single image, a representation of Sydney. Their brief was to create an image which would make a unique and contemporary statement about the city and its inhabitants - its mood, vitality, celebrations, natural or man-made environment - in essence to evoke and uplifting sense of the present and towards the future.

Page 7 - Sydney Looking Forward 2002 - Art and About 2002
"I am delighted to have this opportunity to curate this exhibition that so beautifully profiles the work of both emerging and better known Australian photographers. To curate this exhibition I specified themes of light and life. I was seeking images that use light in an unusual way to make a striking and unique statement about Sydney life and culture."

Curator, Sandy Edwards

The Photographers

Michael Amendolia
Narelle Autio
Paul Blackmore
Patricia Casey
Peter Collie
Christine Gleisner
Matt Glenn
Emil Goh
Tim Hixson
Lisa Hogben
Sophie Howarth
Meagan Leece
Junko Miyama
Trent Parke
Anita Mathews Pollard
Emma Reilly
Peter Solness
Anke Stacker
John Williams
Anne Zahalka

Meet the artists on location in Hyde Park from
2pm-4pm, Saturdays 21 and 28 September.

Sydney Life 2012 Collages - The Finalists plus a few Pretenders - Art and About 2012 / Sydney (24 Aug 2012)

Sydney Life 2012 Collage - Red Pretender - The Finalists plus a few Pretenders - Art and About 2012 / Sydney (24 Aug 2012)
Sydney Life 2012 Collage - Black Pretender - The Finalists plus a few Pretenders - Art and About 2012 / Sydney (24 Aug 2012)
Above - a few variations of a Picasa Contact Sheet Collage of this year's upcoming Sydney Life (*) Finalists, plus my own two unsuccessful entries (Red and Black) at the end. Just dreaming - think I have too much time on my hands..

Now the real selection, with my initial favourite as the background:

Sydney Life 2012 Collage - Rabbits - The Finalists - Art and About / Sydney (24 Aug 2012)
Photographer and photo details:

1. Adrian Cook (*) / blog (*): Dog Day Afternoon. Winner of the Wenty Park Mongrel Cup 2011.


2. Marco Bok (*) / SMH:Tue 10 Jan 2006 (*): Lifesavers Bondi Beach. Candid photo of a lifesaving exercise. From a large unpublished series on Bondi Beach made whilst living there.


3. Garry Trinh (*) / Google (*): Super Size Hamburger. A re-examining of everyday life in Sydney.


4. Graham Monro (*) / blog (*): Modern Family. A typical Sydney family in 2012, everyone is connected, but no one is talking.


5. Jennifer Blau (*) / blog (*): It’s time to wake up and become sustainable. Walking in the bush opposite her home on Sydney’s North Shore, Robyn calls for a more sustainable life.


6. Maylei Hunt (*) / Google (*): Let Them Eat Wedding Cake. Sydney residents have been taking the streets to protest for the Equal Rights for Gay Marriage in Australia. It’s time.


7. Ingvar Keene (*): Cormac Malabar Pool. Last light and last swim after a long hot summer day.


8. Louise Whelan (*) / Google (*): By the Pool. Kira Hula Hoops beside the pool for the 75th Anniversary of North Sydney Pool.


9. Lyndal Irons (*) / blog (*): Wash n’ Wax Ronaldinho. Youths spend Saturday night playing football at a late night carwash in Concord. From the series Parramatta Road.


10. Jenny Evans (*) / Google (*): Above Sydney. Dudley Page Reserve in Dover Heights provides a stunning view of Sydney Harbour.


11. Hugh Peterswald (*) / Google (*): Celebrity Wave Sydneysiders crowd to see US television celebrity Oprah as she leaves from her lunch in Bondi.


12. Matt Kaarma (*) / Google (*): Contact. Whilst Sydney parties, dines and dances, soldiers stationed on the outskirts of the city train hard for war.


13. Tamara Dean (*): Chelsea & Caroline Hibernian House. From my new series depicting images of young contemporary Australian women within their environments.


14. Daniel Gibbs (*) / blog (*): Secret Women’s Business. Girls on a school excursion in Botany Bay National Park huddle around an Aboriginal Elder to learn some secrets; I was excluded!


15. Roman Balla (*): Winter Sunseekers. My mother is 86 this year. On sunny winters days she tries to warm herself and her guinea pig "Squeek".


16. Richard Payne (*): Women Shopping in Auburn. Sydney is a diverse city and I wanted to show the diversity of life through an image of an every day activity.


17. Sally McInerney (*) / Google (*): Shark in pool, Dover Heights. Someone had added a shark to an estate agent’s auction sign overlooking the ocean.


18. Alex Davies (*) / Google (*): Hubub. Justin Shoulder drifts through Hyde Park as Hubub during APEC protests Sydney.


19. Ann-Maree Moodie (*) / Google (*): Bunnies on the Line. Sometimes there is such a thing as too much lovin’ and intervention is required – warm, soapy water and a day in the sun hanging from the quintessential icon of the Australian backyard.


20. Bryce Watanasoponwong (*): We look great. Three Sikh followers view their self-posed image, taken on a mobile phone, during the Vaisakhi festival at Martin Place.


21. Cassandra French (*): Historic Chinese Market Gardens. I would love to see these heritage gardens protected and preserved. They are under serious threat from the neighbouring cemetery which is looking for more land for burial plot


22. Deb Kent (*): Cake on a Hot Summer’s Day. On a sweltering hot summers day the rosy cheeked party girls stand watching their cakes melt away.

Looking forward to it as usual. It is just across the road from where I work. It is fun to see the photos in situ amongst the trees and how they play with the early morning and mid afternoon light and shadows. More when the exhibition begins.

On Spontaneity and Luck - Philip-Lorca DiCorcia (Feb 2014)

Street Portrait (Hands) - Atochia / Madrid (Fri 09 Aug 2013)
Philip-Lorca DiCorcia (*) on Spontaneity, Luck (*) in Photography (*:

I am very conscious of taking an image and that does take some of the spontaneity out of it. Where the spontaneity comes back in is that I always leave room for luck (*) - the random occurrence that you can’t make happen. There is always an element of chance.

via Arts Preview: Philip-Lorca Di Corcia, The Hepworth Wakefield to June 1 (*) at the yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk (*).

On Portrait Photography - Richard Johnstone (Fri 29 May 2015)

Photos - Alexandria (Sun 07 Jun 2015)

Richard Johnstone on Portrait Photography:

One of the great mysteries of portrait photography hinges on whether we can successfully read character and biography into a single image.

via Face time - Photography | Richard Johnstone reviews the finalists in this year’s Head On Portrait Prize by Richard Johnstone.

I think the portrait of Jenny captures her character perfectly. I had an A4 print made of it shortly after I took it on Christmas Day in 2006. Joanne bought a nice frame for it and we placed on her Coffin at her Funeral. What better photo to celebrate and reflect on her life.

On Photography - Not Telling All - Alex Coghe (Sun 03 Mar 2013)

Tattoo - Corner Park and George St / Sydney (Tue 05 Mar 2013)
Alex Coghe (*) writes On Photography (*):

In Photography we must not always tell all. The ambiguity (*), the unsaid, the mysterious gives the image interest and arouses the imagination of the observer.

via Learn from Daido Moriyama (*) by Alex Coghe (*).

On Photography and Discovery - Mike Peters / Bryan Formhals (Sat 03 Sep2011)

path - Mount Kosciuszko (Thu 08 Jan 2004)

Mike Peters on Photography and Discovery:

For me, photography is a path of discovery that reveals itself as I move along , one foot in front of the other, one image at a time.

via Mike Peters – The Dream by Bryan Formhals.

On Photography and Memories - Streetshooter (Wed 21 Oct 2015)

Jenny and Geoff - I remember it being very hot - Prague (Wed 30 Aug 2005)

Streetshooter on Photography and Memories:

Photography is one of the seductive means of making memories. So I wonder why many aren’t aware that they are making memories. [..]

What’s really going on is that you are making memories and maybe just maybe those photos will have importance to someone. [..]

[during the Vietnam War] I became acutely aware that photography is about memories. It’s about other shit too, but memories are the main source of image information transference.[..]

See, they are not just my memories. [..] All will be forgotten of the pain that still hurts 45 years later.

the photos, well… they are just memories…………..

via Streets of Philadelphia … A Visual Diary … Page 25 … Street … Memories of Future Past … Fuji X100s by Streetshooter.

The very reason I bought a small digital camera in Dec 2000. And just as important as recording memories, you need to make the memories happen. You have to live while you can. And we did just that. Thanks Jenny and Jo.

On Reflection - Joel Meyerowitz (Fri 16 Oct 2015)

Reflection - Mitchell Road / Alexandria (Thu 03 Sep 2015)

Joel Meyerowitz on Reflection:

Reflection; the act of, not the image of, is a way of reconsidering where we are in relation to reality. Reflecting pools have for a long time been places where one could contemplate the difference between the illusion and the real.

via On Reflection by Joel Meyerowitz.

Favourite Photos - Sydney Town Hall 2003 - Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2003

Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2003 - Town Hall / Sydney 2003 - Sun 16 Mar 2003 (picasa and photo.net)
This is a photo from the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Sydney in 2003. The parade was held on the Sunday 16 Mar 2003 (7 years ago today - time does fly!!), being a few days before the actual day. I had gone into work for the day as Jenny and Joanne were in New Zealand on a Dragons Abreast Dragon Boat Tour which took place on consecutive weekends for Regattas in Auckland and then Wellington. I remember the time well as they were away when George Bush declared War on Iraq and was concerned that they were away from Australia.

I had just came across the early stages of the Saint Patrick's Day parade in Sydney. I like this photo for the following reasons:

1. I like how I captured how the scene unfolded (see below).


2. How I was able to photograph the photographer. I wonder how his photo turned out and whether they ever look at it. I just assumed, from the medal around the neck of one of the men, that they were official visitors from Ireland - who knows ?


3. I particularly liked the lady in the Green Dress and Hat. It was a little bit amusing that she is looking at my camera and not the one for which she is supposed to be posing for :-)

For the photo below I wrote the following on photo.net:

Moments before - Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2003 - Town Hall / Sydney 2003 - Sun 16 Mar 2003 (picasa and photo.net)
I just took a quick look at this photo again and then decided to look at the originals from that day. Interestingly enough a crop (see image with this comment) of my first photo from the five I took in the minute or so I waited for the lights to change, gives an insight as to how the scene unfolded. Has made me realise how difficult street photography is, or maybe there is a bit of luck involved?

For the next photo I wrote the following on photo.net:

Smiling Faces of Ireland - Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2003 - Town Hall / Sydney 2003 - Sun 16 Mar 2003 (picasa and photo.net)
As the two men swapped places, I was foiled by a passing pedestrain in getting a clear shot. Anyway, I think their smiling faces say it all ..

This photo was taken 7 years ago today. Time flys.

Favourite Photos: Wilson Street Newtown 2003 - Milk Crate Swingers

Wilson Street Swingers (Cropped) - Wilson Street/Newtown - Sat 01 Feb 2003 (picasa)
I had noticed this piece of graffiti for a while and quite liked it - always amazed how a few brushes and rolls of paint can be produce something so evocative (am I allowed to us this word for graffiti). Had my camera one Saturday morning (was well before my paddling days) and took a few photos of this wall and the surrounding area.

A few months later the wall was painted clean and I was reminded of the photo I had taken there. Prompted me to take another look at the photo (titled it 'Gone') which I straightened a little and cropped (see below - I felt the crop removed the distraction of the Garbage Bins, though when I look at it now I think I prefer the raw uncropped version - this often happens with photos with time) and put it up on my fledgling photo.net portfolio here.

Occasionally, I would receive a comment on my uploaded photos and it would take a few months to receive a comment for this particular photo. I was pleased to receive the following comment from Jonathan Walker:

'Oh, I do like this, largely because of the addition of the milk crates, which provide a quirky splash of colour and sense of depth to what would otherwise be a straight record shot. And in Newtown too (home of the quirky)!' jonathan w., December 08, 2003; 02:49 A.M.

Wilson Street Swingers (Full Image) - Wilson Street/Newtown - Sat 01 Feb 2003 (picasa)
The best thing about the Internet is that it connects you with people with similar interests (photography in this case) and you have the opportunity to learn new things very quickly. When I noticed Jonathan (he was a recently arrived English Academic working at the Uni of Sydney), I signed up so that I could see when he made contributions to photo.net. He had some great photos of Venice (not your usual ones, but they definitely appealed to my own way of seeing things) and other places. Most have now been deleted along with the great discussions they generated. I learnt much from his photos and words. There are some fragements of his writings remaining at photo.net.

When we decided that we would visit Venice for 4 days in September 2009 after our Prague Campaign, I decided to track down Jonathan, since he was a Historian with a great knowledge of Venice. Was pleased to find that he had his own blog - jonathanwalkersblog.com. and had republished many of his photos [I am a Pilgrim (more here), Venice, Let Us Burn The Gondalas - this work definitely helped me form my own photographic vision when in Venice in Sep 2009 - see here and here ] and thoughts on photography there. As well he had published a book - Pistols! Treason! Murder! - and is now just about to publish his first novel - Five Wounds.

In part, the purpose of this post and my photo above is to introduce Jonathan. I hope to write a little more about him, particularly when his first Novel Five Wounds is published in May 2010.

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

The Gift of Photography - Kirk Tuck (Thu 29 Jul 2010)

Intersection - Copenhagen (Fri 23 Aug 2013)
Kirk Tuck (*) writes On Photography (*):

You can't swim without a pool.You can't shoot without a camera. Don't leave it at home. The camera is like your shirt or your shoes. Take it everywhere you take your body. Then you'll be ready when the image you love arrives in front of you like a gift. Be gracious. Be ready to accept the gift.

via You have to get wet if you want to learn to swim. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).

A few ways to increase your connection to your photography - Kirk Tuck (Thu 23 Feb 2012)

A3 Prints - New York - Aug 2011
Kirk Tuck (*) writes:

To do what you like in your work, separate from the buzz. [..]

• slow down [..] If you slow down and concentrate on the kinds of images that bring you real joy you'll find a tighter bond with your own work.


• Stop looking at all the sharing sites - When you turn off the outside influences and sit quietly with your own thoughts about art and photography you begin to understand the way you like to see and share art. That's valuable. Everything else is unconscious imitation.


• Do a project - Consistency of vision and subject are worthwhile goals for all artists. Set yourself to the task of creating a body of consistent work. Choose a subject that you love and explore it in depth. Ignore everything else.


• When you choose to do a project have a a goal - Wouldn't it be great if it changed some lives? But no matter where it ends up I will have met interesting people who've taken charge of their own lives and excelled. What fun role models. And the art will be my souvenir of my time spent with them. The prints will be part of the sharing.


• Start thinking beyond the screen - [..] When you slow down and do your art try to go through the whole process of bringing an image to life before you rush out the door to fill up more memory cards and hard drives.


• Really explore the images in front of you. Edit them down. Make them perfect and then print them large [..] Print them till you love them. And learn from the process of presentation. Learn what you like to see, big. The art becomes both portable and present when you pull it off the screen and onto paper. Be sure to go through the whole process so you understand in your gut what you've really created. It will slow you down [..] and focus it on doing work that makes you smile. You are the first audience.


• Finally, forget the online critiques - Find people in your own town, city, region whose work you admire and approach them about forming a sharing circle. Just like a writer's group.

Having a project will move you to take chances. [..] You'll need to discipline yourself to do the [..] And you'll need to learn how to finish.

Having a goal for your work gives it extra meaning.

Sharing the work with live people standing in front of you builds real confidence in the work. Having real critiques is painful but helps engender real growth. Helping real, human, non-virtual friends succeed with their own art is part of a rewarding virtuous circle. Embrace it.

From A few ways to increase your connection to your photography (*) by Kirk Tuck (*) - Thu 23 Feb 2012.

On The Archive - John Gollings / Sian Johnson (Wed 09 Jul 2015)

Tree - Chippendale (Thu 09 Jun 2015)

John Gollings on the Archive:

I’ve got a pretty big archive of the last 30 or 40 years which will be historically valuable to future people. That’s something I’m proud of.

via Gollings on architecture and the image by Sian Johnson.