Ray .....

Welcome,

This is Ray.

He recently turned 90 and is one of those who saw action in World War 2.

I met him recently by chance and asked if he would let me do a portrait. I have a notion of photographing all the remaining veterans of that horror who live in the Northern Rivers area.

He agreed and I spent some time yesterday with Ray and his wife Betty.  He told me his story. A story which included growing up just north of Adelaide, losing a father shortly after the first world war, and then eventually concealing his true age and signing up with the Royal Australian Navy.

He served on H.M.A.S. Barcoo mainly on convoy escort duty around New Guinea.  

Following the war, he married Betty and spent 38 years as a professional fireman in and around the greater Sydney area.

He and Betty have been married for 68 years.  The last thing Betty said when I was leaving was " I adore him".  It seemed to me that he obviously adored her too.

It occurred to me that here was two elderly people, the sort you may see down any street, in any cafe, going about their daily business. How many of us, however, would consider that they have a story to tell. 

A life lived. A history written, if not on paper, then surely on the hearts of their loved ones.

Perhaps we ought not to just pass them by.  Perhaps we ought, rather, to say hello and maybe just listen for a while.  That generation is fast dwindling.  I think that maybe it still has much to offer.

Ray

Stay safe

Byron Bay faces .....

Welcome,

It never ceases to amaze me that someone will allow a total stranger to make a photograph of them.

Sharing a few minutes of time with them often is all that is needed for them to allow the camera to be used.

Here are a couple of interesting characters I met recently while walking around Byron Bay. 

Lester is a well known member of the local indigenous community.  He is the brother of the late Micky Kay, one of the most respected of the local indigenous elders who used to perform welcome to the country ceremonies at local events.

Lester

Dan was singing and dancing in the main street with a couple of friends. It was noticeable that a lot of passers-by would rather not interact with them.  Their loss.  We ended up having a great laugh.  I say suspend judgement, you may have fun.

Dan

If you are out walking around your home town try to make conversation with a stranger.  You never know what might happen.  If you carry your camera - all the better.

Stay safe

Peter.....

Welcome,

I recently met Peter, a respected member of the Bunjalung people of Northern New South Wales.

He lives in Byron Bay or as the region is known to the first inhabitants, Arakwal.

After chatting for ten or fifteen minutes he allowed me to make a portrait of him.

In his eyes is his story.  In his eyes can be found history.

Thank you Peter.

Stay safe.

Faces on Fernleigh

Welcome,
Continuing with the 'fifty strangers' idea....

This morning the weather was glorious in this part of the Northern Rivers region, so a fast drive along a winding country road seemed to be the best way to spend part of the day.

As such I found myself in the locale of Fernleigh. As usual there was a camera and a couple of lenses with me.

The music was loud and I was enjoying the drive.  Actually I was contemplating stopping and photographing the road with its overhanging trees. At places it was like driving through a tunnel.

That idea was put on hold when I saw a vehicle and trailer parked adjacent to a field.  The thing that caught my eye was the the word "Farrier" painted across the back. Two men and a horse were at the fence.

I stopped and introduced myself.  One was a retired farrier who had likewise stopped to have a chat. He soon left on his motorbike. The other gent was Tim who was just about to finish his work and head off to another job.

Graciously he gave me a couple of minutes so that I could make a quick portrait.

I acknowleded his kindness in sparing a few minutes then continued down the road.

Not far along I saw a man mowing a field on his tractor.

I stopped again and he drove close to the fence, stopped and came over to say hi.

Neil was mowing the field for his eighty four year old mother.  She and his father used to grow macadamia nuts, but since the old man died, she doesn't grow crops anymore - just stays in the old place they shared for decades.

Neil himself lives in Mackay over a thousand kilometres to the north. He reckoned it was cold here today - I guess it's all relative.

Anyway, he comes down regularly and helps care for the place, although he says his mother still drives the old tractor.



I'm glad I met both these gents and heard a little of their stories. It makes this kind of work all the more interesting.  The image of the road with the overhanging trees will have to wait until another time. Then again, if there are more interesting people doing what they do......

Stay safe

Fifty Strangers

Welcome,

 It's been quite a while since I posted anything here. The past two years have seen a fair upheaval in my life. I said farewell to Melbourne after over three decades and now reside in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales - a thousand miles to the north. Now it's time to get off the rear end and concentrate once more on photography.

Zack Arias used a term for this. He called it a GOYA project.

What that meant was "Get Off Your A.."
You get the idea. Get up and do what you have to do. Stop making excuses, stop wasting time, stop procrastinating.

So I've set myself a project to get the juices flowing again. The idea is to shoot fifty strangers. That is, approach fifty total strangers and get their permission to make a portrait of them, there and then, where and when I find them. Ideally the image should reveal a piece of who they are.

 Sounds easy - or does it? Walk up to fifty people you've never met, introduce oneself, engage in conversation and get permission to make the image. Actually it's not quite as easy as it sounds, even for someone of a gregarious nature.

This is a different approach form the way street photographers operate. Street photography is generally of a more candid nature, looking for the unscripted, 'decisive moment'.

So last week I found myself in Byron Bay with one camera, two prime lenses (35mm and 85mm) looking for the first of the fifty strangers that I hope to photograph. I would have been happy to shoot just two, but ended up with four people who agreed to be photographed. Bless 'em. I'm not sure how long it will take me to complete this self assignment nor even what the outcome will be. I guess the answer to that will become evident along the way.

P R

That's what he said his name was. P R as in Pirate Rick. Or as he said it - P RRRRRRR

He was playing the ukulele and singing. He had an infectious laugh and a great outlook. He said "Don't send a copy, I don't use email.  Give someone a hug instead!"

You can't argue with that sort of sentiment.

Vincent.

Vincent was sitting in a doorway making ashtrays from discarded drink cans.  They actually looked OK. People would come along and give a donation for them.  He was from France. He didn't say so, but I got the feeling that this was helping to pay for his visit.





Cameron.

As I was walking down the street I noticed the casual way in which he was sitting at an outdoor cafe.  I'm not sure I've seen anyone sitting in such an easy way at an eatery.  When I asked him if I could make the image he said "I'm here, man. Go for it."  Big smile, good nature.  There should be more like him.

Stacy.

Stacy was sitting near Cameron and observed what we were doing.  When asked, she also readily agreed.

Here Stacy is feeding Tyler, her son.  She told a remarkable story. Tyler is her first child.  Now in her mid-forties, Stacy has been trying for a child since her late twenties and after years of IVF is the proud and very loving mother of a beautiful boy.

May she have many years of great blessings.

So there it is.  Four requests made.  Four requests granted.

I dare say there will be a few refusals coming my way, but I've made a start and I quite enjoyed the experience.  I'm looking forward to the rest of this particular journey.

My thanks to PR, Vincent, Cameron and Stacy.

Stay safe

Return to beauty (redux) - Trang

Welcome.

Since my February post on beauty (and addiction thereto), I have had the pleasure of photographing Trang, an acquaintance of whom I have the highest esteem.

We met nearly three years ago and clicked almost immediately. In that time I have watched as she has gone through various situations including personal tragedy, career changes and recently, marriage to a wonderful young man, Han.

No matter what the situation there remains a certain constancy about her. She is kind, gentle of nature, funny, caring, generous of spirit, strong and loving.

She is the epitome of beauty in more ways than one.

A couple of months ago she asked me to photograph her wedding. In the ensuing discussion it became apparent that Trang had a distaste for the current in-vogue style of wedding photography practiced by most wedding photographers these days.

Instead, she preferred the images to capture what happens on the day. This fitted in with my own strongly held beliefs on wedding photography.

My personal philosophy is that once the photographer takes charge or 'directs' the scene, it is no longer the couple's day, but the vision of the photographer. My own preference is that the photography should record the authentic happenings of a sacred event on a special day.

Of course that does not preclude making a few formal or semi formal portrait images on the day. After all, weddings are a great opportunity to get images of family and friends who may not have come together for some time.

So a handful of so-called 'setups' may be ok. What I seriously object to is the overwhelmingly staged, contrived, controlled images which are a product of the photographer's idea of how the wedding should be, rather than a genuine, respectful observation of the day.

Now, that is not to decry the very talented practitioners of the other style. Far from it. I am in awe of the talent that some of those photographers possess. It is the style that I detest, not the talent or the photographer.

An analogy could be that while I acknowledge the great talents of musicians, there are obviously, like everyone else, some genres that I cannot stand. Likewise with photography - I can respect the artist, if not the style of the art.

So I was somewhat pleased when Trang voiced the same preferences.

Prior to the wedding day the three of us spent an afternoon in Melbourne as a kind of pre-wedding shoot. Ironically, this involved more 'direction' than the wedding shoot itself. Most shooters have it the other way around - a semi-relaxed pre -wedding shoot and a highly directed wedding! You just got to love irony.

Anyway, to cut the story short - the wedding was a delight. I spent the day with Trang and her lady companions (there's that addiction to beauty again) photographing whatever happened pre-ceremony, the actual ceremony and the reception. It was a joy to witness the event and I am grateful for the experience. It was one of the best weddings that I have ever attended.

As a bonus, they loved the images. Now that is always a relief!

Thank you both.

A little footnote for the photographers. The light at the reception was so low that the ISO was often around 4000 or so, lens at f2, shutter at 1/25th! Low is not the word!

This is where the recent tools such as the D700 come into their own.

The image below was 6400ISO, 1/200th at f2.8 on the 24-70 nikkor (set at 35mm), auto -white balance. Pretty capable little camera!

To Trang, Han and all lovers of beauty -
Stay safe