photography

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not very bloggy

I haven’t posted anything here for ages. Haven’t been reading other blogs much either. The culprit , I believe, is Twitter and it’s a problem that warrants some consideration. More raw data might be streaming past my face with Twitter, but am I actually learning as much as I used to learn from reading great slabs of text?Things are quiet here. I’m beavering away at a couple of writing projects, keeping on top of Cosmos slush, still waiting for news on the novel publication front. Applying for various grants. Getting my new Wordpress site up and running. I won’t post a link because it’s all over the shop at the moment. I’ve been scanning old photos and cleaning them up in Photoshop, finding interesting images I never knew I had. Remembering places I’d forgotten I’d been. The quiet, homey sorts of things you do in winter rather than actually leave the house.

last dance

In photography, the selection process is a big part of the art itself. Back in the day, on a roll of 36 frames I’d be lucky if 4 of them turned out to be worth printing. Thousands upon thousands of captured moments never saw the light of an enlarger. But now, in the future, with all the wonders of digital technology I’m slowly working my way through the process of getting old negatives scanned. I expect I’ll find a few gems amongst the dross. Here’s one, taken at a sci fi convention, possibly in Brisbane. I didn’t consider it printworthy at the time but now I really dig it. What do you think?

the lone satanist

In 1995 Pope John Paul II visited Australia. I was working as a political photographer at the time and I was asked to go to Sydney airport and take some photos of the pontiff getting off the plane. I had the foresight to take a milk crate with me, even though my pass gave me access to the press pool where I’d be able to get as good a view as anywhere. So I’m standing on my milk crate waiting for the action to start. The place is swamped with enthusiastic Catholics waving signs and cheering. As I stand, I hear a lone voice atop the rest of the crowd. In a sort of surreal sequence, I turn around and see this guy waving a carved wooden 666 in the air. Nobody is paying any attention to him.I think now is as good a time as any to share my…

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