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.