Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality. Emily Dickinson. Read the rest of this entry »

As a photographer I find all things interesting. I love to capture a beautiful cloud formation or a wonderful flower but the opportunity to photograph the human face is limited. The variety and beauty can be tricky to capture when taking photos in a public setting is frowned upon.  I am reminded of a recent walk through our central shopping centre in Ballarat, we stopped to photograph an amazing sight, dozens of brightly coloured iced donuts on display in the window of a well known donut chain,we were abruptly cautioned to put our camera away as we posed a security risk. Yes the donuts looked truly evil.

Thanks to a flickr friend (Rockwilder) I was introduced to a fabulous group called 100 Strangers. The One Hundred Strangers project is a learning group for people who want to improve the social and technical skills needed for taking portraits of strangers and telling their stories.

I embarked on this project just over a week ago in Melbourne. It seemed like a more logical place than where I live, I am still working up to requesting to photograph Ballarat strangers. My first adventure to take stranger portraits was highly successful. Some people declined my request to be photographed, lot’s said ‘Yes”. I met some wonderful people along the way. I have put this post together with the vague hope some of my strangers will see it and say hello. Read the rest of this entry »

Melbourne International Arts Festival 2008 is on and one of the main attractions to the event is Patti Smith. Her live performances were sell-outs, so happy to see the documentary Dream of Life by Steven Sebring, 12 years in the making. The muse of Robert Mapplethorpe, the bridge to the beatniks and the love of Fred “Sonic” Smith’s life. Read the rest of this entry »

This “Splendid” branded Italian wood combustion stove was designed and built in the 1970’s. It spoke to me, so of course had to be acquired and retrofitted into the kitchen. What did it say?

Take time to enjoy life. Eating is a survival requirement. It does not have to be quick and convenient. Phew! Here comes lot’s of slow, sensual, nourishing and tasty creations.

Fashion or design? Let objects speak for themselves: each of them tells a story of production technologies, design anecdotes, hidden or obvious functionality, and wins over the participants with the sincere enthusiasm of those who saw these “things” being born and that are today are symbols of design. Design that is therefore far from passing fads, beautiful in its recherché aesthetics with the appropriate functionality. Read the rest of this entry »

Office etiquette and childish antics are often a confusing and wonderful mix, so what happens when things get really busy? It’s the bizzyness. Read the rest of this entry »

Signs of life emerging after a long winter hibernation. Read the rest of this entry »