Roll # 16

Day 307. Fri 3rd June. Roll #16 Whatever I shot on this day didn’t come out. Or maybe I missed a day?

Day 308. Sat 4th June. “Birthday Boy”. We had my birthday party tonight. We had invited about 15 people around to our place for drinks and snacks. It turned out to be quite a party. I got to play with the Super8 app on my i-pod and make a little movie. Also took a whole lot of photos with my other Holga (which I am holding in my hand). Someone (Hope?) took this photo of John (of Joy and John fame) early in the proceedings.

Day 309. Sun 5th June. “The big clean up”. Saturday was a late night and Sunday turned out to be a late start, with lots of glasses and plate to clean up. I photographed the kitchen bench at about 3pm in the afternoon. There was still lots to do.

Day 310. Mon 6th June. “Carousel Horse”. Monday was a public holiday in WA but I spent most of the day doing chores around the house while Janet had to go to work. In the evening I photographed one of the carousel horse photos we have hanging in our living room.

Day 311. Tues 7th June. “Michele’s birthday poem”. Back at work and only remember about a photo when I got back home. I decided to photograph Michele’s handwritten birthday poem, as it was a very special birthday gift. I’ve copied her poem below.

Looking (@ Photo365)
Looking at life's landscape
Unravel in rectangles;
Passion reduced to a series of separate phases
Barely understood, but part of an unwinding whole;
Like a kaleidoscope of colour-You are.
Blind-spots in beauty become
Overexposure to light;
Partial perspective returning new views
To the few who follow, but remain restrained;
By our vision limited-We are.
Seeing days through lenses
Framed in fun film;
Developing momentary scenes of gladness
Of a man with heart,
who captures his world
In pictures of quiet joy-
They are.

Day 312. Wed 8th June. “The Hidden Priestess”. The Davies gave me a stunning bunch of lilies for my birthday. We placed them out of harm’s way as we were cleaning up and then realized that they made a great photo with the High Priestess peaking out from behind them.

Day 313. Thur 9th June. “My Vespa”. For several months I have been trying to purchase a Vespa Scooter from my friend Bill. It actually belongs to his son, who has been forbidden to ride it, so its been standing around for some time. Long story short, it was finally delivered today, so I celebrated with this photo. Now all I have to do is get it licensed, learn to ride it and for me to get a license as well. Too easy. P.S. you can see part of the Vespa signage in the previous photo.

Day 314. Fri 10th June. “Cute Shoes”. Janet got a cute new pair of shoes. Or should I say another pair of cute shoes, as she has no shortage of shoes.

Day 315. Sat 11th June. “Michele’s Mobile”. We finally got round to finishing off Michele’s mobile, which we started at the beginning of May (see Day 274). I took this photo of Mark and Michele just before we hung it up. Somehow one of the urchins ended up in front of Mark’s nose. Together with his stripped t-shirt he looks like a clown.

Day 316. Sun 12th June. “Gloria and Stephane”. We had Gloria and Stephane around for dinner. I experimented with the off-set double exposure, where I flip the Holga over for the second shot so that one of the subjects (Stephane) is upside down. I think it came out quite well.

Day 317. Mon 13th June. “Cook Books”. Janet ordered a heap of cookery books on-line and a number of them arrived tonight. Not that she needs more cooks books. I spread them out on the kitchen bench and took this photograph. Also included is a vampire book and an architectural book.

Day 318. Tues 14th June. “Lomo corner @ Distracted”. I walked past Distracted on the way home and popped in to catch up with Natalie. I am sure that she still hasn’t checked out my blog site, but the display of Lomo cameras in her shop caught my eye, so I took this photo.

Day 319. Wed 15th June. “Spinach” We had bought some spinach for the dinner on Sunday night, but had not used it. It was standing in a jug of water and the bright green colour and texture of the spinach kept catching my eye.

Day 320. Thur 16th June. “Coffee machine and fridge”. A shot of a corner of our kitchen. The watercolours by Janet caught my eye.

Day 321. Fri 17th June. “Stephen @ Winemob Reprise” A few months ago I took a photo of Janet and Stephen wearing masks at wine club evening. They were sitting next to each other again tonight, so I took this photo, flipping the Holga upside down so that they are inverted in the sequence. I am liking this effect.

Day 322. Sat 18th June. “Janet @ The Shanghai Tea Gardens”. We mustered a group of friends to go to the Shanghai Tea Gardens restaurant on this Saturday night. I took this photo of Janet across the table. The prawn twists in the foreground.

Day 323. Sun 19th June. “Cupcakes”. There was a wedding fair at a hotel near our house. We went to have a look, not because we are thinking of getting married, but because a few of our local friends had stands. I photographed this cupcake stall.

Day 324. Mon 20th June. “Janet’s hands”. I photographed Janet’s hands as she paged through on-line shopping brochure.

Day 325. Tues 21st June. “Janet and Hughes”. We caught up with an old friend from our days in South Africa. We haven’t seen Hughes for about 14 years, so it was great catching up on all his news (which was plentiful).

Day 326. Wed 22nd June. “Wall Mural – Oxford Street”. I took this photo as I drove down Oxford Street. A building had been knocked down recently and a street artist had stuck this up on the wall. It looked familiar, but it was only after I had the film developed and looked back through my previous 365 photos that I realized I had shot this same graphic in Pier Street a few months previously (Day 257).

Day 327. Thur 23rd June. “Self portrait – Adelaide” I flew to Adelaide this evening and once again found myself in a hotel room late at night without having taken my daily photo. Instead of photographing boring things like my shoes again, I photographed my boring face.

Day 328. Fri 24th June. “Wine Centre, Adelaide”. We had a planning session at the Wine Centre in Adelaide today. I took this photo of the walkway to the Centre as we were leaving for the airport.

Day 329. Sat 25th June. “The petrol pump” My favourite disused petrol station in Mount Hawthorn. This time I photographed the petrol pump.

Day 330. Sun 26th June. “Hair Salon Mural” I kept on seeing this mural on the wall of a hair salon on Scarborough Beach Road. So today I photographed it as I went to pick up some bread from New Norcia Bakery.

Roll #15

Day 286. Wed 11th May. “Duomo in Florence”. Roll #15. Shutter setting still on Bulb, so the photo of the folk sitting in front of the Duomo are all over-exposed. Worse still, I took two rolls of film between Roll#14 and #15 and both came out horribly over-exposed with lots of shutter blur.
Anyway, I wrote the following, which made up for the photos.

A girl stood in the piazza
Santa Maria Novella behind
Her face to the sun
And her arms outstretched
She beamed with delight
As her friend took a photo.
Then an old beggar walked up
Shaking a can in her hand
And the Moment was lost.

I flew back to Perth on Wednesday night.

Day 287. Thur. 12th May. “Singapore Signage”. Took this photo of the Gate numbers as I transited through Singapore.

Day 288. Frid 13th May. “Bowl of Fruit”. Today was our wedding anniversary and we had booked a long weekend down at Margaret River. We stayed at LaForet Enchante, which is a delightful cottage on the banks of the Margaret River. I took this photo of the giant bowl of fruit on the dining room table.

Day 289. Sat 14th May. “Janet in the tub”. LaForet has recently installed an outdoor bath on the veranda of the cottage and we took full advantage of the tub. I snapped this photo of Janet as she sipped Champers in the tub.

Day 290. Sun 15th May. “Vineyards”. We had lunch at Cullen’s on the Sunday and I took this photo of the vines just before we left.

Day 291. Mon 16th May. “New Old Camera”. We found this beautiful camera in an antique shop in Margaret River. It’s a James A. Simpson plate film camera made in circa 1915-1918. It is still in working order and I plan to take some photos with the camera as soon as I can work out how to load some film into the cartridges.

Day 292. Tues 17th May. “New Stove stuff”. We are in the process of upgrading our kitchen and the new cooktop, oven and extractor hood arrived today.

Day 293. Wed 18th May. “Kitchen Bench”. A photo of our kitchen bench at home, cluttered with books, fruit bowls and general kitchen stuff.

Day 294. Thur 19th May. “Horse Sculpture @ home”. A busy week at work, so I had to resort to another photo of stuff at home. This time the red wooden horse in our sitting room.

Day 295. Friday 20th May. “Wine Club aftermath”. Wine club again. I took this photo of all the bottles at the end of the evening.

Day 296. Sat 21st May. “Steph’s housewarming” Our friend and Janet’s colleague, Steph moved into his new house in our street. He celebrated with a small house warming party. I took this photo after dinner, following the table theme of the last few nights.

Day 297. Sun 22nd May. “Ironing lady”. Janet decided to iron a whole pile of my shirts on the Sunday night. She hasn’t lifted an iron in anger for some time, so I thought it was worthy of a photo.

Day 298. Mon 23rd May. “Mannequin”. We bought a mannequin on the weekend. It’s main purpose is to hold Janet’s numerous pieces of jewelry. I took this photo of the mannequin in its new spot in our study.

Day 299. Tue 24th May. “Shoes”. Flew off to Melbourne today for our AGM. I didn’t get a chance to take a photo until I got back to the hotel room. Left with shooting my shoes. Desperate, I know.

Day 300. Wed 25th May. “Aboriginal Art”. The hotel where we stayed had an exhibition of Aboriginal art and I took this photo of a couple of pieces in the lobby.

Day 301. Thurs 26th May. “New Kitchen Top”. Our new kitchen top was installed today and to celebrate I took this photo of Janet, her thermomix and the marble bench top.

Day 302. Fri 27th May. “Janet and Artist”. We went to drinks at our friends Dorothy and Don. While there we met an interesting artist () and so I took this photo.

Day 303. Sat 28th May. “Janet again”. Somehow I have started a small series of photos of Janet. This one at home in front of the “Great To Do List of Life”.

Day 304. Sun 29th May. “Janet again, again”. A continuation of the mini series. She was kindly baking me a couple of cakes for my birthday.

Day 305. Mon 30th May. “My Birthday”. It was my birthday today. Janet took this photo of me with a glass of Champers and a sign saying “Rue Victor Hugo”. I’m kind of doing the Kilroy was here thing.

Day 306. Tues 31st May. “Photo on our Wall”. I took this photo of a photo I had taken of a mural on a wall in Venice Beach, CA. Art of Art of Art.

Day 307. Wed 1st June. “Evening meal”. Another home photo.

Day 308. Thur 2nd June. “Blam”. Another home photo. How many days to go? This one of a comic strip painting on one of our walls.

Roll #14

Day 266. Thurs 21st April. Roll #14. “Easter Eggs”. The day before Easter Friday and Janet had just come home with a heap of easter eggs, so I took this shot.

Day 267. Frid 22nd April. “Hot-cross buns”. Easter Friday and Janet made home-made hot-cross buns.

Day 268. Sat 23rd April. “Pascal and Sophie”. We went round to our friends, Pascal and Nicole for dinner. We made pizza’s at their house using our pizza stone. I took this photo of Pascal and Sophie just before she went off to bed.

Day 269. Sun 24th April. “Amalia Again”. It was our friend Lisa’s birthday on Anzac Day (25th) but she organized a birthday luncheon on the Sunday. I took this photo of Amalia, her daughter just after we had eaten.

Day 270. Mon 25th April (Anzac Day). “Mark & Michele x2”. Because Anzac and Easter Monday co-incided this year, we had an extra day of public holiday, which made it a extra long weekend. The now famous, Mark and Michele invited us over to Rottnest for one last time before the summer weather was truly gone. I took this double exposure on their boat as they played around with Janet and my hat.

Day 271. Tues 26th April. “Old Yacht”. We came back from Rotto early in the day, as the weather looked like it was going to change for the worse. I took a shot of an older sailing boat moored in a nearby pen in Freo boat club. Somewhere in all of this there is also a shot of Hope writing in her diary the night before. I can just make out her hand.

Day 272. Wed 27th April. “Roses”. Back at work and no time to photograph anything during the day, so I took this shot of some roses on the kitchen bench when I got home.

Day 273. Thur 28th April. Whatever I photographed on this day didn’t come out.

Day 274. Fri. 29th April. “The To-Do List of Life”. We had made a list on our blackboard of things we needed to do over the long weekend. They were divided into Hers and His sections. Then we progressively crossed off tasks as they were completed. I thought it might make an interesting photo. Note that most of my tasks were crossed off by the Thursday.


Day 275. Sat 30th April. “3D Glasses”. Janet and I went to see “Thor” in 3D. We kept our 3D glasses and when we got home, I took this photo of the two of us. I think it came out really well, especially as Janet’s face seems to be floating just behind mine and you can see the painting of New York in the background.

Day 276. Sun 1st May. “Michele’s Mobile”. We went round to M&M to help Michele build a mobile from sea urchin shells. I took this photo of her hands and some of the shells as we were crafting away.

Day 277. Mon 2nd May. “Singapore Airport”. I flew out to London today on a business trip. I took a photo of the large sculpture of a family, in Singapore Airport, but it didn’t come out at all.

Day 278. Tues 3rd May. “I Love London”. I spent most of the day preparing for meetings and talking to various people on the phone. In the afternoon I went for a walk around Convent Gardens and took this shot of a girl looking at a rack of “I love London” t-shirts.

Day 279. Wed 4th May. “The best thing about the future”. A full day of meetings and travel. I flew from London to Dusseldorf and only got into my hotel room after 8.30pm. The hotel is a funky new one near the airport and had these words printed on one of the walls in my room.

Day 280. Thur 5th May. “Hotel Cow”. Full day of work and meetings. After we got back to the hotel, I took this photo of the brightly coloured cow sculpture in the hotel lobby.

Day 281. Fri 6th May. “Hotel Roses”. Another full day, which involved meetings, driving from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt and then flying to Florence. Got into Florence and was collected by my good friend and colleague, Robert. We went straight from the airport to the home of Loriano, a customer and friend we were meeting with while in Italy. I remembered I hadn’t taken a photo when I got to the hotel room. So I took this photo of a painting of roses in my room. Ugh.

Day 282. Sat 7th May. “Dinner Blur”. Somewhere along the line, the little button on my Holga which changes the shutter speed from “Normal” (ie. 1/125 sec) to “Bulb” (keeps the shutter open for as long as you depress it) got moved today. So the next four days or so, all the photos came out overexposed with extreme shutter blur. The photo this night was of us having dinner at a traditional osteria.

Day 283. Sun 8th May. “Empoli passeggiata”. We went into Empoli for dinner on Sunday night and I took a photo of some young Italians enjoying the passenggiata. But it’s all a blur.

Day 284. Mon 9th May. “Italian Blur”. Somewhere in here there is a photo of something taken at sometime during the day. I think there was a bicycle involved.

Day 285. Tues 10th May. We went down to visit the port of Livorno, where as it happened, the Giro’s 4th stage was finishing that day. We managed to get prime seats, thanks to Loriano and his connections at the port. Unfortunately the riders did not race that day as they were commemorating the tragic death of Wouter Weylandt, who died in an accident the day before. I took a photo of the Giro signage as we wandered around the finish area. End of Roll #14.

Roll #13

Roll #13. This roll of film has turned out to be a disaster. I have finished the roll and not written up a single day! Now I’m struggling to remember some of the photos I took. One good thing about this project is that it forms a record of something that happened every day of the year. I just have to remember what it recorded.

Day 244. “Entertainment Centre Sign”. This day we walked past the old Entertainment Centre, which has been standing vacant for several years now. I took a photo of the old advertising sign, now cracked and faded.

Day 245. “Janet’s necklace – post comedy club night”. We went to the Comedy Club at the Charles Hotel because we thought my new friend, Brent was doing a gig there. Turns out he wasn’t. But there were a few good acts. Afterwards, as Janet and I sat finishing our glasses of wine, we were mistaken for “swingers” by some guy who called himself “Xavier”. A bit awkward, but funny afterwards, I guess. I had planned to take a photo of Brent, but as he was a no show, I took a photo of Janet’s necklace instead.

Day 246. Friday, April 1st. “Dean and Darryl after the York Ride”. I was invited to participate in a corporate bike ride from Perth to York. 136km in a group of 24 riders. How hard can that be? In a strong easterly wind on an unusually hot day, pretty hard, it turns out. I got cramp early and kept getting dropped by the lead group of cyclists, so ended up riding solo for long periods. Anyway we all made it to York in the end and celebrated with a dinner afterwards. Janet and various other cyclists partners drove up for the evening and we stayed in York overnight. I took a photo of Dean and Darryl, two of the cyclists I know, late in the evening.

Day 247. “petrol station in York”. We drove back to Perth on the Saturday after breakfast. I had briefly thought about riding back, but my legs disagreed. I photographed a vintage petrol sign in York before we left for Perth.
Day 248. “Melissa, Robert and Bill @ home”. Our good friend, Robert, was in town for a few days on business and we invited him around for dinner on the Sunday. We also invited Bill and Melissa who have traveled with us to Europe at various times and all know each other. As per usual, Janet cooked a delicious meal of peppers, pizza and Anna Gare tarts. All vegetarian as Mel doesn’t eat meat.

Day 249. “kettle at home”. Monday photos always seem boring and down after the weekend. I took this photo of our kettle, in the hope that the blinged up would be reflected in the frame. It wasn’t.

Day 250. “Old Sea Cannon – Geraldton Airport”. Day trip to Geraldton, which always presents a photographic challenge. Up early, drive to the airport, fly to Geraldton, go to processing plant. Work. Drive to airport and fly home in the evening. Not much scope for interesting photos. Ended up snapping the old cannon from a shipwreck, which is now displayed at Geraldton airport.

Day 251. “Grosvenor Hotel Sign”. Full day at work. I had to pick up a hire car in the evening and took this photo of the Grosvenor Hotel Gates, which is opposite the hire car depot.

Day 252. “Basket of Brushes @ home”. Down to Capel and back in a day. A full day, it turned out. Drove past the dead trees along the highway between Perth and Pinjarra and remembered that one day I will stop to photograph them. But today I only took my photo when I got home – a jar full of brushes in our house.

Day 253. “Sarah @ Kitsch”. Friday after a long, busy week. Where else to go but Kitsch for a quick meal and some good wine? It’s getting popular and busy – to the point where reservations are recommended. But Sarah always manages to find us a table. And Anita always cooks us great meals. I took this photo of Sarah after dessert.

Day 254. “Grant and Zoe @ dinner”. We caught up with the now famous M&M and their clan for dinner on Saturday night. Mark took us to his “club”. Grant and Zoe were fooling around after dinner when I took this photo.

Day 255. “Indian Goddess in Garage”. I am planning to buy a new car and so I need to tidy up our garage/shed to clear enough space to park the car there. A the moment the garage/shed is serving as a storage space for the doors and floor boards for our MR house. It’s very cluttered and I struggle to even park my bicycles in the shed. So I spend the day tidying up and moving things around to create enough parking space. At the end of the day I photographed the Indian Goddess sculptures adorning a “gateway’ we bought for the MR House.

Day 256. “Lemons in a bowl”. Must be Monday. I took this photo a painting Janet recently bought. Art imitating art?

Day 257. “MCG from Hotel Room”. I flew to Melbourne today for a couple of business meetings. Got in late and then got stuck in traffic into the city. Then I drove to one of the suburbs to pick a bike I had bought on e-bay. By the time I checked into my hotel in was past 9 pm. My hotel was opposite the MCG and I could see the stadium from my room. It was all lit up and so I took this photo. I wrote the following while I was in Melbourne.

The Darkest Hour

Paul Kelly sang
“the darkest hour is before the dawn”
Or words to that effect

So you sit in this long darkness
And draw yourself to yourself
Hugging your legs, chin on your knees
Cloaked in the warmth of a new insight
Gently rocking alone but not lonely

And you look away from the dark past
of this seemingly endless winter
To the still opaque horizon of your future
Unafraid
Knowing that this despairing mist will rise
And the sun will warm you
And you will bathe in joy

A small bird begins its morning song
And you know



Day 258. “Sculpture @ Melbourne Airport”. Full day of meetings in Melbourne. Got stuck in traffic back to the airport and it started raining as I arrived there. I realized that I hadn’t taken a photo when I was walking to the terminal, so I photographed the sculptures of the “race goers”.

Day 259. “Graffiti in Pier Street Laneway”. Back in Perth and caught up with Janet and her colleague Dorothy after work at a bar in Pier Street. On the way, I passed a laneway which had some interesting graffiti, which I duly snapped.

Day 260. “John and Jenny @ Wineclub”. Wineclub again. I can’t believe it has come around so quickly. Our club has been going for 9 years now and tonight we tasted our 1000th wine! The tasting was held at Jenny and John’s place and we tasted a number of the “outstanding wines” from our previous nine years of tastings. The reds remained outstanding, but some of the whites were disappointing. And the Gosset Champagne was corked! The first time I have tasted a corked champers and hopefully the last time. However, all in all it was an excellent tasting and afterwards I photographed J&J in their kitchen.

Day 261. “Our New Car”. I picked up our new car today and after buzzing around Freo and Cottlesloe for a few hours with the top down, I managed to park it in our garage/shed without scratching it. I took this photo of the bonnet of the car as a memento.

Day 262. “Freo Blues and Roots Festival”. Big concert day for us! Bob Dylan was the main billing, but unfortunately he was rubbish. Michael Franti was the revelation of the day for me. I love his zest for life and the way he engaged the audience. Unfortunately I had already taken my photo of the day before he came on stage. I had photographed the crowd with Elvis Costello in the background. Actually it turns out I photographed my foot, with some people in the background.

“Day 263. “Moroccan style hot chicken salad”. Mondays continue to be bad days for photographs. I guess Mondays tend to be fill in days after busy weekends. I took this photo of a great meal Janet cooked for dinner – Moroccan style hot chicken salad with beetroot. She is planning on doing a food blog and I need to lift my game on the food photograph. Current exhibit being a case in point.

Day 264. ‘Chair with magazines in hotel”. Overnight in Bunbury. Flat out all day and then dinner with a friend and consultant that evening. Only got to my hotel room after 10pm. Too late for going out and photographing stuff in Bunbury, so I ended up photographing a chair in my room, onto which I tossed a few magazines. Desperate.

Day 265. Wednesday 20th April. End of Roll #13 and only 100 days to go after this! “Backgammon Set”. I finally got the dice I had ordered for my backgammon set. I paid 99c for the dice on e-bay and it cost me about $30 in postage to get them from Canada. Go figure. Anyway to celebrate their arrival and because I didn’t know what else to photograph, I took a snap of my backgammon set and the dice. Lame I know. Now to beat Hope at her own game.

Film #12

Day 222. “Koi and black girl with baby”. We had been invited to our friend, Darren’s house so that Janet could look at some new clothes (her winter collection). Darren has a fish pond filled with koi, which I thought would make a good photo opp. But he also had a beautiful statue, so I took a double exposure of both the koi and the statue. Unfortunately only the latter seems to have been exposed.

Day 223. “Lights in Shop Window - Capel Street, Melbourne”. Janet and I went to Melbourne for a long weekend – mainly for the Food and Wine Festival, but also to catch up with friends and enjoy Melbourne. We were staying at the Olsen Art Hotel and had dinner at Caffe e’ Cucina on Capel Street. We would be regulars at this place if we lived in Melbourne. Afterwards we strolled along Capel Street. I saw the lights in this funky shop and I took (another) double exposure with two different light settings.

Day 224. “Janet and I at the Olsen. We slept in late. Then caught the train to the city and wandered around the Art Gallery at Federation Square until it was time to go to lunch at Movida. Afterwards, I took lots of photos of the graffiti in the laneways behind Movida. When we got back to the hotel, I took a photo of Janet and I in the mirror in our room. Unfortunately it didn’t come out. Ah well.

Day 225. Saturday 12^th March (Ruth’s Birthday) “Street Sign”. First day of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. We saw Anna Gare and Nigella Lawson in the afternoon, but I didn’t get a chance to photograph either! We went to Charcoal Lane for dinner and only afterwards did I take this photo of a street sign outside the restaurant.

Day 226. “Zak Pelaccio – Fatty Crab”. The second day of the Food and Wine Festival. First up was Zak from the Fatty Crab in NYC. I thought I would get in early and photograph him after my previous day of missed opportunities. Later we saw Roy Choi and heard about his street food revolution in LA. I wish I had waited for Roy, or at least taken a double exposure of Zak and Roy.

Day 227. “Gabi, Ed and the Girls”. We caught up with our good friends, Gabi and Ed in their brand new house in Kew. They (and their daughters, plus the dog) were an obvious choice for my photo of the day.

Day 228. “Horsham Murals”. Day one of my Victorian Road Trip and I am spending the night in Horsham. Last time I was in Horsham was Day 4 of my project. I wasn’t sure what I would photograph this time, but as I walked along the main street I found a few possible subjects:

• a surf shop (in the middle of country Victoria!)
• a dress shop with an old gramophone and records in the window display
• a vintage children horse ride
• the Royal Hotel
• Old post boxes (that aren’t used as post boxes anymore)

Finally I took a photo of a mural down a side alley off the main street.

Day 229. “Television in Motel Room – Balranald”. A full day of travel from Horsham to Balranald via one of our mine sites near Ouyen. I got in late and went straight to dinner with some of my team at the motel we were staying in. Only afterwards did I realize I had not taken a photo for the day. What the hell do you photograph in Balranald at 9pm at night? Come to think of it, what do you photograph in Balranald during the day? So I photographed the old TV set in my motel room. Looking at the photographs now, it didn’t come out too well.

Day 230. Thursday 17^th March – St Patrick’s Day “Mildura Signs and Shops”. Got into Mildura after the sun had gone down after a full day out in the field and driving from Balranald to Mildura. After dinner I went for a walk around down town Mildura. Didn’t take long. But it was St Paddy’s day so there were a few people out and about. I photographed an interesting looking sign and then saw a bicycle in a shop window which had been partly covered in crochet. So I took a double exposure.

Day 231. “Blind Tasting”. Another month has gone by and so its wine club night again. Our host this month, Greg, made us taste a few wines blind-folded. Best chance for a photo, I thought, so I shot Janet and our friend Stephen wearing their masks.

Day 232. “Briar and Joey”. Our friend, Joey, got married to Briar last year in the UK and until recently they had lived in Antwerp. But late last year they moved to Perth and this was the first time we had to catch up with them.

Day 233. “Verge Collection”. Its verge collection time in our neighbourhood and the junk has been steadily piling up (and disappearing). I put out a fridge, an old laundry basin, some broken kitchen appliances and a case of beer that I forgotten in my shed for over two years. All disappeared within 48 hours and well before the council folk came round. I saw an interesting looking toy discarded on a heap of old furniture near our house and took this shot. Note: I love the way Joey from the previous shot and the toy have the same goofy grin.

Day 234. “Cooking Class at Kitsch”. More cooking classes. This time at Kitsch down the road from our house. It was great because we could actually participate in the class and afterwards they cooked us a delicious meal! I photographed Annita as she prepared her coconut mussel pancakes. Yum! Unfortunately she got lost in the next photo and you can just see her hands.

Day 235. “Michael Parkes Book”. Ah, work-day doldrums. I didn’t think about taking a photo until late in the evening. In the end I photographed a picture of some artwork by Michael Parkes, an America Artist. We have one of his stone lithographs at home.

Day 237. “David Whyte Poetry Books”. I ordered some David Whyte and John O’Donogue poetry books, which arrived today. I laid them out on the kitchen bench and took this photograph. To quote David Whyte’s “The Journey”.

Sometimes everything

has to be

enscribed across

the heavens

so you can find

the one line

already written

inside you

Day 238. “Artrage – The Other Wall” Get up, cycle, go to work. Work, work, work. Cycle home. At least on the way home I passed Artrage and photographed the “other wall” covered in graffiti art. Since Melbourne, I have been looking for graffiti everywhere.

Day 239. 25^th March – i-pod2 launch in Australia. “apple shop”. The i-Pod2 was launched in Australia today and the queue went around the block by midday, with some people getting there 12 hours before the release time of 5pm. I took this photo of the Apple Shop on Hay Street about two minutes after 5pm as the press waited outside the store to interview the first purchasers.

Day 240. “Self portrait with camera t-shirt”. I bought a t-shirt with about 50 old cameras printed on the front. I took this self portrait shooting into the mirror in the hope that I would get my Holga and the t-shirt in the frame, but I got my face and the t-shirt instead. I look old and sad.

Day 241. “Jessica @ Work”. We went to Midland today to see the workshop and jewellery store of our friend Jessica Jubb. We have been meaning to get out to JJHQ since it opened last year, but, well you know how it goes. Best intentions and all…Anyway, she has the greatest workshop and store, filled with beautiful old things and her stunning jewellery. I took this photo of her next to one of her old mannequins. Only afterwards did I realize that not only is her jewellery a work of art, but her entire workshop is too

Day 242. “Graffiti Angel”. Photographed this Angel on the wall next to the skateboard park at the bottom of Oxford Street. I’m on a serious graffiti art roll now.

Day 243. “Venn Studio Window”. I rode past the new Venn Shop/Gallery/Studio/Café today. It looks really interesting. I wanted to finish my roll so that I could get it developed, so I took a photograph of the Venn display window. You can just see a red rocking horse in the photo.

Roll #11

Day 201. “Plane window over Ceduna”. I took this photo out the plane window as we flew out of Ceduna o the way back to Adelaide. I think this is the third in my “out of the aeroplane window” series. Not bad considering the amount of flying I do.

Day 202. “Argon Petrol”. I dropped off my previous roll of film at Fitzgeralds and drove home. On the way there, I passed the old gas station that still has the sign “Argon Petrol” in the front. It is faded and cracked but looks great against the evening sky.

Day 203. “Bruce and Friends at Kitsch”. Capel and back in a day, but photo opportunities on the way. Fortunately our friends Bruce and Gail had invited us to Kitsch for dinner, so I photographed them after our meal. Bruce brought another South African couple – Frank and Jenny along. Frank is an ex-antique dealer and Jenny is an academic. We ended up at our house for a night cap and affogatos, so it turned into a big night out

Day 204. “Wine Dog”. A slow day after our big night out. To add pressure to my delicate constitution, we had wine tasting on this Saturday night. I managed to reduce my thumping headache to dull thudding just in time to sip a glass of sparkling wine before tucking into 13 others. The host’s sister was in town and she had a beautiful dog, which became the subject of my photo. I took a double exposure because she moved just as I took my first shot and I wasn’t sure if I got her.

Day 205. “Northbridge”. Spend most of Sunday cleaning the house and doing chores (hanging pictures). Also scanned in the photos from the previous 365 roll. In the evening we went to see the “King’s Speech” and then had dinner at Maya Masala in Northbridge. On the way home I photographed the gates in front of a nightclub.

Day 206. “ Hay Street Sculpture”. As I was waiting for Janet after work, I took this photo of a sculpture on Hay Street (opposite Central Park) and one of the girls standing behind the sculpture. “Will you take my photograph?”, asked one of the girls standing around, seeing the Holga. “I just did”, I replied. But the photo didn’t come out very well as it was underexposed.

Day 207. “Cookery Books at home”. A full day at work and then a team dinner straight afterwards. So not much opportunity for photographing anything. Got home and saw the book case containing all of Janet’s cookery books and thought that this was my be option for a photo for the day.

Day 208. “Angel Photo”. Our friend Pascal came round to visit after work. By the time he left and had done a few things around the house, it was late. I thought I would photograph a photo of the angel on our staircase, which is a photo of sculpture in Paris. Art duplicating art, duplicating art. Unfortunately again, the photo is underexposured and gets lost amongst the noise of the adjacent photos.

Day 209. “New Dyson Vacuum Cleaner”. We are getting a new cleaner tomorrow, so Janet decided that we should buy a new vacuum cleaner (not that she is the one who ever uses the vacuum). Only a Dyson would do, so that is what we got. In honour of our new Dyson, I took this photo. It looks pretty space aged anyway.

Day 210. “Easter Eggs @ Rotto”. Mark and Michele invited us to Rotto for the weekend. Their son, Grant was swimming across from Cottlesloe the following day in the Rottnest Channel Swim. We caught the ferry over in the afternoon and then spent a very relaxing evening on their boat. I took this photo almost as a reflex as we passed some Easter Eggs around dinner. It’s not even March and there are Easter Eggs around!

Day 211. “Ritual Stone @ Rotto”. Rottnest Channel Swim day. But instead of photographing the swim finish (which was chaotic and crowded), I decided to photo Michele sitting on the airhead lilo floating behind “White Mischief”. Janet and Michele had just blessed the greenstone pounamu which Janet had given to Michele as a present. Michele was wearing the pounamu for the first time and sitting, mermaid-like on the floating platform.

Unfortunately Michele’s head and the pounamu are hidden behind the easter eggs of the day before.

Day 212. “Backgammon Champ”. Hope taught me how to play backgammon while we sloshed around on “White Mischief”. I won a few games, but most of the time I let her win because she took so much pleasure in her victories (that’s my story anyway”. I photographed Hope reclining after one of her (many) victories, but like Michele, her head is hidden by the previous photo. Stupid idea of mine to overlap the shots.

Day 213. “Shells”. We got back from Rotto last night but I am missing the place already. I collected some shells (with the help of Michele) and I photographed a few in my hand in memory of a great weekend. The ground still keeps swaying. I found a tiny conical shell that was perfectly worn so that only its spine was left. How does that happen?

Day 214. “Kings Park Avenue”. I was invited to a talk about Opportunity International - a micro financing fundraising company, held in an apartment next to Kings Park. I was struck by the beautiful evening light shining on the gum trees.

Day 215. “Peter Alexander Shop Front”. The “New York” cut-out in the window display of the Peter Alexander shop on Hay Street caught my eye as I walked down the Mall. I liked the understated funkiness of the display. It also brought back memories of my many visits to New York. So this is really a nostalgic shot.

Day 216. “Morris Minor on Salisbury”. Another day trip to Capel. Tormented by the dead trees in the fields adjacent to the new freeway. They stand like skeletons in the fields. Bleached and stripped of all life, but not fallen – they remain defiant. One day I must take the time to photograph the trees properly. But not today. Today I drove past in a rush. I photographed an old morris minor which is sometimes parked on our street.

Day 217. “Artrage Wall”. I was going to meet with Yolanda at lunch time to discuss how to go about staging an exhibition of Photo 365. I thought she would make a good subject. But she had to cancel at the last minute, so I was photo-less by the time I rode home. On the way I passed Artrage and took a photo of the west facing wall.

Day 218. “Kim @ Distracted”. Went to Distracted for the first time in ages on Saturday morning. And saw Natalie for the first time in even more ages! Kim (aka Batgirl) was working as well. She has a partly shaven head with bat tattoos. I have been dying to photograph her, so this turned out to be my opportunity.

Day 219. “Flowers @ Home (again)”. We were going to go to Sculptures by the Sea but we woke up late and spent the day tidying up the house. Then I finally got round to replacing the rusting laundry basin and cabinet (only because its junk collection day soon). After THREE trips to Bunnings and much anguish, we decided to postpone the sculpture viewing to Monday (being a public holiday). So at 7pm that night I had to think of a photo. Fortunately Janet had bought a beautiful bunch of flowers the day before

Day 220. “My Fair Lady”. We went to Sculptures by the Sea this afternoon – well almost. On the way there we stopped off at Mark and Michele’s for a coffee and cake. Well we did have cakes, but it was drunk with a variety of wines, not coffee. Needless to say, we never got to Cott Beach. Hope was reading “Pygmalion” when we got there and after a brief interlude she returned to her book, but dozed off. She looked so peaceful and seeing I wasn’t going to photograph any sculptures that day, I chose her. As it turned out, the old obscured head thing happened again. Why did I decide to take overlapping photos for this project?

Day 221. “Sculptures by the Sea”. Finally we got to Sculptures by the Sea! Actually it worked out well because the previous day had apparently been very crowded at Cott. Tuesday was less busy and we got a chance to actually see the sculptures. I ran around with my Holga and the Hipstamatic and Janet was armed with the Nikon. I photographed the “Big Red Chinese Boy” as my shot of the day. As I was near the end of my film I just kept on taking photos to finish it off.

FIlm Roll #10

Day 177. “Greens in Leederville”. I had to go to Leederville after work to pick up some provisions and decided that there must be of something of interest to photograph there. I was attracted to the light fittings in Greens & Co. and so I took this shot.

Day 178. “Pipster walkabout”. I finally got round to doing a Pipster walkabout after about a year of being a member of their Flickr Group. They were meeting at Cottlesloe Beach after work, which suited me as I had been invited to dinner at Mark and Michele’s (not need for intro by now). I got to the meeting point late and it took me a while to find the Pipsters. Along the way I say a black swan swimming near the pylon at Cott Beach. I had never seen a swan in the ocean before and I tried to get a decent photo of it with the pylon in the background, but the angle was all wrong. I took this photo of one of the Pipsters as we walked along the beach. Somehow it got totally overexposed (may have to do with the multiple exposures I took of the Australia Day fireworks the next day).

Day 179. 26^th January. “Australia Day Fireworks” Mark and Michele (yes, them) invited me to watch the fireworks at their friend’s apartment on the South Perth foreshore. It turned out to be front row seats. I took multiple exposures of the fireworks and then superimposed that on a photo of Michele. In the process I think I totally overexposed the previous day’s photograph. You can just see the back of Michele’s head with some specs that should be fireworks…curses!

Day 180. “Busso Jetty”. We had a planning day down at Capel and stayed overnight in Busselton. I walked down to the beach and jetty just before dinner and took this photo of the famous sheds at the beginning of the Jetty. I also took a few photos with my i-pod using the Hipstamatic App. It was such a beautiful evening with a stunning sunset. Wish I could have taken more photos with my Holga.

Day 181. “Busso Gravestone Angel”. In the morning I noticed that there was a pioneer graveyard opposite the hotel where I was staying. I wandered through the graveyard reading the epitaphs on the various gravestones. I found this angel on a grave from the 19^th century and used her as my photo of the day. Later, I wrote the following:

Angel with a broken wing

I met an angel

With a broken wing

Dusty, bare feet and

Cobwebs in the folds of her dress

A finger missing

From each outstretched hand

Her stony eyes, fixed

Gazing at nothing

Death all around her

How can you help me?

I asked, frowning

By loving what is

Broken and worn

I thought she replied

Day 182. “Ghana Gifts”. Janet got back from Ghana late last night. This morning she unpacked all these brightly coloured pieces of cloth and shirts and bags and stuff. I thought they would make a colourful contribution to current sequence of photos. I also place the new brightly coloured chandelier in the frame for good measure.

Day 183. Half Way! “Cottlesloe Surf”. Well I’ve reached the half way mark of Project Photo 365 and my diary is nearly full. I never thought I would fill it this way. We went for our now usual walk/swim at Cottlesloe this morning. There is a cyclone bearing down on Perth and it brought some larger than normal surf (ie some surf) with it. I thought it would make a good photo. I ended up taking a double exposure, which is why the frame looks so faded.

Day 184. “More than all the stars”. We walked past this shop on Saturday. “They have stolen my line”, I said, referring to the by-line on a Valentine’s day window display which read “I love you more than all the stars”. On Monday, after work and in search of a quick shot, I remembered the brightly lit display and used it for my photo.

Day 185. “Radi 8 Coffee Bar”. I finally plucked up the courage to photograph the folk at Radi 8 Coffee Bar in the Picadilly Arcade. I’ve only been going there about three months! “That’s not a real camera, is it?” asked the manager. He got obliterated by the “More than stars shot”.

Day 186. “King Street Sculptures”. I took this photo of the sculptures above the King Street Café as I walked to meet some friends at the Belgium Beer Café. There are three primitive demon looking figures on the wall above the café.

Day 187. “Accordion in the window”. I saw the display on the way home from work in the window of the old school hall at Aranmore College, just down the road from our house. The display contained a couple of musical instruments and a poster for a concert. I decided to frame in on the accordion. I was still smarting at myself for missing the photo of the gorgeous girl cycling (without helmet) past me on the corner of William Street as I left work. She so reminded me of the sculpture of the girl cycling I found in Shanghai (Day 105).

Day 188. “Fruit Bowl @ Michele’s”. “I have a photo of the day for you”, texted Michele. She caught me just as I was about to venture out at lunch time to take a photo. When we went round to their house for dinner, she showed me a huge platter of fruit and I duly snapped away.

Day 190. “Melissa at Kartique”. Busy day today. Cycling in the morning. Then off to Bunnings for some new taps. Replaced bathroom taps, swept back garden, mowed lawn (fortunately its not very big), tidied up the shed and then Janet said that I needed to go to Kartique to help deliver a new wardrobe for us. Which I did, and as it seemed that this would be my best chance of a photo, I took a shot of Melissa at Kartique.

Day 191. “Cottesloe”. The surf (or lack thereof) was so different today compared to last Sunday (when there was surf) that I had to take another photo of the sea at Cott. Beach. I choose a group of children paddling on their wave boards as my subjects

Day 192. “Graffiti on Oxford”. I had a black day and was in the darkest mood as I rode home. There is some graffiti on the corner of Oxford and Britianna Streets that reflected my mood, so I photographed the two headed valkyrie with her demon heads close up.

Day 193. “Prada Shop on Kings Street”. The changing face of Perth. The old corner shop on the corner of Kings and Hay Street has given way to Prada. I thought this photo of the Prada Window display (with unearthly beautiful model) would look interesting next to the valkyrie graffiti.

Day 194. “Yellow Rat Bastard”. Continuing on with a sort of graphic theme, I photographed this (an old worn) Yellow Rat Bastard shopping bag next to the Prada Shop Photo.

Day 195. “Hotel Room Painting – Adelaide”. Off to Adelaide early today. Full day of meetings and then a work dinner. No real chance to take a photo until I got back to my hotel after 10pm. I didn’t feel like going out, so photographed the painting in my room at the Adabco Hotel.

Day 196. “Adelaide graffiti and scooter”. Really into the graphic theme this week with this photo of the scooter against a graffitied wall just off Rundle Street. Taken as I walked back to my hotel room after work. Janet is joining me in Adelaide this weekend and is flying in this evening.

Day 197. “Teresa and Abby @ Pot”. Up reasonably early and off to the Adelaide Central Markets for breakfast and coffee. Ended up having take out coffee and a (delicious) almond croissant while wandering around the various food stalls. Wow! Wish we had one of these in Perth. In the evening we caught up with our friend Teresa and her daughter for an early dinner. I took this photo of them as they played around with a wine glass.

Day 198. “Chez, Mark, Janet and Alain’s hands”. Up reasonably early again to have brunch with our friends Mark and Chez (Chez of Amalia’s birthday fame). They took us to the General Havelock for brunch. It turned out to be more pub than breakfast café and the floors were still sticky from the Saturday night before crowd. Chianti, across the road would have been better we all agreed. I photographed Janet with Mark and Chez in front of the imprint of Alain Prost’s hands on the pub wall.

Day 199. 14^th February. “Old Red Building – Rundle Street”. I thought of going to The Garden of Unearthly Delights (part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival) and shooting a whole roll of film. But the garden was closed on Mondays. Instead I photographed an old red building on Rundle Street as I walked to my hotel from work. I tried to get a table at Chiantis as it was near my hotel, but of course, being Valentine’s Day, it was fully booked and I was turned away.

Day 200. “Cake Shop Window”. I took this photo of a cake shop window display before I flew to our mine site in South Australia for a two day visit. It was still dark out and the exposure is not that good.