Victor Roll #4

59. “Mulberry Leaves”. I had to pick up a hire car after work and I thought I would find a shot as I walked across town. I saw lots of interesting subjects – a girl with heart-shaped glasses; a couple of emo-punk types with brightly dyed hair; easels in a school window; poet looking guy with pork-pie hat, checked shorts and Dunlop sneakers. But somehow no photo materialized. I drove home despondent, especially after the vintage Morris Minor I thought would be my back-up shot was not parked in its usual spot. But I arrived home and saw the new leaves on the mulberry tree glowing against the late afternoon light and my mood lifted. We ate outside for the first time this evening (28th September). That night I dreamt I was Alan Ginsberg and I went on a road trip with Ken Kesey. How does my mind work?60. “Capel Cows”. Yeah! I finally managed to photograph a cow (almost up close). I love photos of cows and I have tried in the past to get a decent shot, but always without luck. But today there were some (brown) cows right next to the side of the road as I drove into Capel. All I had to do was stop the car, get out and snap away.61. “Easels in the Window”. I dreamt I was a whale again last night. On the way to work, after dropping off the hire car, I got my shot of the easels in the window of the a classroom at Mercedes College. Had to stand in the middle of Hay Street to frame the shot.62. Friday, 1 October. “Ute under a tree”. Picked up our developed film today. The photos look like they are going to come out well. One the way home from Fitzgerald’s, I photographed this old ute parked under a tree. In the evening sun, it looked like the tree was almost growing out of the ute.63. “Ronald McDonald House”. Our friends Chris and Lisa organized to cook a meal at Ronald McDonald House. We went along to help. We made lasagna, salad and semifreddo. All of which seemed to be a hit with the families staying at the house. I took this photograph as we started serving the meal. I thought I had a good shot, but after the developing the negatives and all I can see is part of Lisa hand in the foreground. The rest of the photo is lost in the other exposures. Bummer. Will have to do another meal at McDonald House.

64. “Smiley Eggs”. So last night I dreamt I was going to make a film with Nicole Kidman but I got lost in the old part of some Chinese city I and couldn’t get back to the hotel for my meeting with her. It was a beautiful morning and I went for a ride around the river. Got back and Janet made boiled eggs and toast for breakfast. The eggs (free range) had little smiley faces printed on their shells. We wondered who got the job of stamping each egg with a face without breaking them. They looked kind of cute so I photographed the remaining eggs in their carton. Happy days!
65. “Lala Design”. “I can’t believe we are doing this,” said Janet as we caught the lift to my office around 10pm. I had planned to take a photograph at Michelle’s (Of Pink Zulu and Friday Night Bistro fame) impromptu birthday bash. But I had forgotten my camera at work. And now I was in danger of missing a day in my (so far) uninterrupted sequence of shots! I was determined not to let this happen, so we drove from Cottesloe to the city after Michelle’s party to get my Holga. On the way home, I photographed the display window of Lala Design on Oxford Street.
66. “Hugo House Plans”. We met with our architect and builder tonight to review our preliminary Margaret River house plans. Afterwards I took this photo of the plans with Janet’s hands. We are really happy with the first draft of the plans and I think Mike, the young architect has nailed the design, in terms of what we have been looking for. The title of the drawings – “Hugo House”, did make me smile. I don’t think Janet is going to let that title last long.
67. “Central Park Tree #2”. This is the second shot of this tree. I know that I am deliberately breaking one of my own rules, but I would like to photo the progression of this tree during the course of a year – from winter through all the seasons. This tree was last photographed a month ago and it is amazing how much foliage there is now on the branches.
68. “Greenhouse #2”. The last photo I took of the Greenhouse did not come out well, so had another go. I have come here for a morning coffee and muffin the last two days. It is a good opportunity to collect my thoughts and jot down some notes during the course of my normally full days. I took this photo using a longish exposure (with the bulb setting on the Holga) so hopefully the exposure is OK and there is not too much camera shake. (Post note: there was some camera shake, but the exposure was pretty good).
69. “Friday Night Bistro #3”. If its Friday, it must be bistro night at our house. I invited Kersten and Kim and Janet invited Stephan (as always), Calvin and John. Janet made Asian duck salad for starters and salmon with raisins, ginger and shortcrust pastry for mains. Stephan made pear and chocolate clafoutis for dessert. But the highlight of the night was the salad of fresh leaves from our garden! I took this photo of Kim and Kersten (which got lost in the Greenhouse shot – there is a ghost of Kersten in the lightfitting of the Greenhouse). It was a beautiful warm evening and we were able to have our dinner party outside for the first time since winter began.


70. “Galvin Girls”. As expected I didn’t feel great on Saturday morning after Friday Night Bistro, despite not having drunk much and gulping down gallons of water before bed. We lurked around the house until late afternoon, when we went to Matilda Bay to photograph our friends the Galvins. They wanted a family shot as a present for their parents and asked me to take some. After the portrait shots I got out my Holga and took this impromptu shot of Lucy and what I thought was Emily, but looking at the photograph, it was Lucy and George (their son). Considered changing the title, but Galvin Kids doesn’t have the same ring.71. “Lazy Sunday Afternoon”. I took this photograph of Ambrose, our white cat, because his lazy, relaxed demeanor so captured the feel of Sunday afternoon. We bought these large leather armchairs so that Janet and I could relax and read in the study. But since we got them, our cats Ambrose and Bronte have made them their own. We had to put throws on the chairs because they were getting badly scratched. (Post note: Ambrose The White came out red in this shot because I used a red filter flash).72. “Karriview Dogs”. Double exposure. I am spending a few days on a company workshop at Karriview Lodge. When we arrived we were greeted by two friendly Labradors. When I went for a walk in the evening they followed me so I took this photo when I got back. I had to take a double exposure because I couldn’t get them to stay together to shoot them in the same frame. (Post Note: Predictably only one dog came out in the shot. However I like the juxtaposition of Ambrose in the one frame and the dog in the other facing each other).73. “AEP Workshop”. The second day of our workshop. The days have been full on and it was only around dinner time that I got a chance to take a photo. This one is of two of my colleagues, Tim and Marty.74, “Hands for pizza”. Still at the workshop. I was drawn to the pizzas being served for dinner and how quickly they were being devoured, so I photographed people’s hands as they took slices from the plates.75. “AEP Mates”. This evening we had to present to a number of senior managers from our company. It had been a fairly stressful day as we worked to prepare the presentation. It all came together well in the end but we felt we had earned a drink afterwards. I took this shot while we were celebrating our success and enjoying the company of our new friends. 76. “Gracetown Wineglass”. Our wine club is having a weekend away down at Gracetown. This worked out well for me as our workshop was held just around the corner at Karriview. I formed the advance party unlocking doors and opening windows in the house where we were staying. Janet came down with Mark and Michelle (of Pink Zulu, FNBistro and various other events fame). We went for a short walk soon after they arrived and then retired to the balcony for sundowners. I took this photo of my wineglass with the sun setting through the glass. (Post note: unfortunately this and the next photo got burnt out).
77. “Sand on my feet”. In the afternoon I went for a walk along the beach in Gracetown. I looked for shells and other interesting things for making mobiles. I love finding old, broken and worn shells that are either interesting in form or colour (or both). I like the way their beauty is reborn in their seaside graveyard of shells and stones. Afterwards I took this photo of my feet which were still covered in sand. (Post note: not that you can see much in the overexposed photo – curses!).
78. “Bottlebrush Bright”. The red bottlebrush flowers have been everywhere this month! I would like to plant some on our Margaret River block. I took this photo of some flowers just outside the house we stayed at in Gracetown.
79. “Rose”. On Sunday, after a respectable sleep in and hearty breakfast, we went for a walk along (a very short section) the Cape to Cape trail. We all felt surprisingly good despite an excellent wine tasting and dinner the night before. Having worked up an appetite, we went to Lamont’s for lunch. But we popped into the Yallingup Gallery on the way. There, tucked away in a back room gallery, we found a small painting by Matt Doust. We had seen his work before, but this painting, title “Rose”, jumped out at me. So we bought it and worried about where we would hang it later. Monday was a full-on work day, so I decided to photograph Rose as my photo of the day.
80. “Vegie Patch”. Another long day in the office and not much time for anything else. Met with our architect again this afternoon. The house plans are going well and he liked some of our suggested changes. After a hectic day of rushing around we spent a few minutes in our front garden, checking the progress of our herbs and vegetables. I decided to take this photo of the marigolds and flowerpot in the centre of the garden.
81. “Last Resort Car Shot”. I wanted to get my film in for developing today, so I was desperately looking for a shot as I drove to Fitzgerald’s at lunchtime. A magpie landed on my windshield when I stopped at a traffic light. A perfect quirky shot, but the bird flew off before I could get my Holga from its camera bag. Then it started raining, so in desperation (and laziness) I photographed the steering wheel of my car just so that I could finish the film. Not my most inspired photo!

Victor's Roll #3

38 “Jay Jays with passing head”. Walking back to the office from the dentist, I noticed an interesting window display in a shop called Jay Jays. As I took the photo a person walked directly in front of my camera. So I am not sure what I photographed, head or shop window. (footnote: as it turned out, I got both)

39 “In Search of Spring”. I wandered around the city at lunchtime looking for a springtime shot to satisfy my Spring obsession. But the clouds has rolled in and the weather felt very winterish. Central Park (Perth not NYC) was practically deserted and it started to rain, so I gave in to the last winter moment and photographed the bare poplar tree – shooting upwards against the dull grey sky.

40 “Kings Street Building and legs?”. I am enjoying my lunch time strolls of late. If nothing else, it gets me out of the office and clears my mind of work clutter. Today I walked along Kings Street and notice the painted sign on a building. I took the shot from a low angle, looking up and waited until I had some people in the frame. Unfortunately I may just have photographed someone’s legs. Turned out I got his whole body, but it almost looks like he is part of the previous shot. Love the way that works.

41 “Bagpipe Friday”. Walked out of the office at lunchtime to the sound of bagpipes and discovered that a police band was playing in Central Park. How could I resist taking a photo? Afterwards, walking long Murray Street Mall, I heard bagpipes again! But this time from a solo busker. So it was Bagpipe Friday.

42 “Greenhouse Glass”. A full Saturday – cycling, haircut, some shopping with Janet and then lunch at the Greenhouse before going to Fremantle to a Perth Fashion Week function and then dinner at an old friend’s house in Port Kennedy. I took this photo as we were leaving the Greenhouse because I was captivated by the bottles hanging above the bar. (Footnote: unfortunately the exposure was too dark, so I will have to try again).

43 “Amalia”. We went to a BBQ lunch, which was on again, off again arrangement right until the last minute because of the unpredictable weather. As it turned out it was a beautiful afternoon and we sat in the warm sunlight and stuffed our faces with the delicious dishes prepared by our host Ran. I took this photo of our friend’s daughter, Amalia as she relaxed in a colourful hammock in the back garden.

44 “Flowerbox”. Today I finally found a springtime flower shot in the city – flowerbeds, backed by a phone booth on Hay Street Mall. Hopefully this has provided Spring closure for me and I can move on to other subjects.

45 “Outside Lunch”. The serving girls at Nagoya Japanese Café shout out the order numbers in high-pitched voices. Their shrill yelling wakes the lunch time customers from their distant thoughts and people squeeze forward in obedience through the throng around the counter to collect their orders. Outside the tables of the various lunch bar eateries are full of office workers enjoying lunch in the spring sunshine. I like the way the light plays across the long line of tables in the midday sunlight.

46 “Norbert”. Our friend Norbert from Germany (of Friday Night Bistro fame) wanted to take us out to dinner. We went to King Street Café as he had walked past this restaurant many times but not had the chance to try it out. Janet and I had not been there for some time after an argument with the manager about their appalling service. As it turned out, both the service and the food was really good. The wine was also excellent – we had a Hungerford Hill Pinot Noir. I took this photo of Norbert after dinner.

47 “Ross and Pascal”. I went for a ride around Kings Park in the morning and then went to Tiger Tiger for a coffee before work. I bumped into my friends Ross and Pascal, who had also been riding. We chatted for a while and I told Ross about my project before taking this picture. (Footnote: I love the way that it looks like Norbert is in the same photo as Ross. This is what I am hoping to achieve with the overlapping nature of the photos).

48 “WineMob”. It was wine club tonight and I took this photo of John and Rob, two of the founding members of WineMob. Our club has been going for nine years now and membership of around 24 hasn’t changed much in that time. I liked the framing of this shot with the Pericles painting in the background. We had the tasting at Mark and Michelle’s (of Pink Zulu and Friday Night Bistro fame). They invited the Gianfranco and Francesca the owners of Carpe Diem, a small winery in Margaret River to give a tasting of their wines. They are Italians (no guessing from their names) who moved to Margaret River about eight years ago and are making Italian style wines in the heart of Australian wine country. The 2008 Merlot was stunning!

49 “Distracted Reprise”. “I already have one,” said Natalie when I handed her a Photo Project 365 card. “Janet gave me one earlier in the week.” But she still hasn’t visited the site or befriended me again on Facebook. I’m definitely on the outer. Must be something to do with me constantly rearranging her display window. Notwithstanding, this sad fact, I still photographed her with cupcakes in the foreground and the Distracted sign in the background. (Footnote: as it turned out, Natalie was hidden behind a glass container in the shot, so I only got the cups in the foreground and part of the sign in the background. Freudian.)

50 “Garden Angel” Day 50 – Sunday 19^th September. I was repetitively attacked by a magpie on my morning ride – a sure sign of Spring. But is this some form of omen for Collingwood’s chances of winning next week’s AFL grand final? We spent the rest of the day a) buying herbs and vegetables and b) planting them in our front garden. I took a photo of the angel statue in our garden as I am hoping she will protect our new plantings from the slugs and snails and slatters.

51 “Wildflowers @ Boffins”. I saw this display window at Boffins Bookshop and having previously bought the book “Wildflower Country” in Margaret River, I thought it would make a good part of my collection. Ironically, the photography in “Wildflower Country” could not be more different from what I am doing in Project 365. They take multiple digital exposures of the same flowers at varying focal lengths and then meticulously merge the frames together to increase the depth of field. A painstaking laborious process. I aim and shoot. Sometimes I hardly even aim!

52 “Java Juice on Hay”. I saw this yesterday when I photographed the bookshop next door. The colourful fruit in the window caught my attention. I shot this from the hip as I walked past, hoping to get the girl in the doorway in the frame (Footnote: She turned as I took the shot and I got her back). How quickly the leaves in Central Park (Perth not NYC) are growing now. I think I need to incorporate a series of the same framed photo in my sequence of shots over the next few weeks to show how the trees are changing. This must be the most beautiful part of the year in Perth as the city shrugs off the blanket of winter and drapes herself in a silk scarf of Spring.

53 “Christine’s Farewell”. My colleague, Christine left our company after 20 years of service. The farewell dinner was at the Grand Palace Restaurant. I gave the farewell speech. Christine was one of the last survivors in an era of the company’s history. There are a number of senior management conference photographs from 2002 to 2005 where only a hand-full of managers remain. We gave her copies of the photos with all the faces of those who had left blanked out with yellow dots. I took this photograph towards the end of the evening.

54 “Roses and Olive”. Long day at work. Don’t think I got a chance to get out all day, except to quickly grab a sandwich for lunch. So I had to rely on “home photography” for the shot of the day. Janet had bought some roses on the weekend and they still looked beautiful on our sideboard. There is a glimpse of “Olive”, our print, in the background.

55 “Friday Night Bistro Reprise”. I went to Geraldton for the day, but Janet still organized Friday Night Bistro. She cooked roast goat and vegetables for main course and served cerviehe with herbs, peppers and chilies for starters. We had a couple of bottles of champagne, a Pinot Gris, a bottle of Charles Melton Shiraz and a Hesperos 1998 Shiraz with the food. I took this photo of Zoe, Mark’s daughter just before dinner. Mark is lurking in the background. She has a purple Holga and is teaching herself how to use it. Very adventurous for a 14 year old in the digital age.

55 “I did not go out today”. Well despite watching my wine intake and drinking bottles of water before going to bed last night, I crashed and burned again on Saturday. The only time I went out the whole day was around 5pm, when I drank black tea in the afternoon sun in our back garden. I took this photo of our garden table to celebrate me being outside at all. Restraint, Restraint, Restraint! I hate these days when I can’t even get out of bed. It is like life being lost for a day.

60 “John’s 60^th Birthday”. Our friend John (of WineMob fame) had his 60^th Birthday party today. I was an afternoon garden party affair. We caught up with some old friends and generally had a great time. I took this photo of John during the obligatory speeches.

61“Queen’s Birthday (in WA)”. Cycled around the river in the morning. Came home and had a big breakfast. Then off to Bunnings to buy some more herbs and stuff for the garden. Spent the rest of the day in the garden, so I thought a garden shot would be appropriate. This is a mobile we have in the front yard. The garden is looking good and hopefully we will get to eat the lettuce et al and they won’t end up being slug food. Ugg boots packed away today and flip-flops the new footwear of choice around the house.

Janet's latest Photos (Roll #3)