I went out looking for a new wall, longer story - I won’t go into that, and found a fixation instead. I’ve explored a lot of Melbourne’s streets and laneways over my years of photography so it’s always a surprise and delight when I come across something new. In this case something old, made new, by Hilton if I recall correctly.
urban photography
Duality
So many thoughts swirling around my head about the series I’m sharing here. I thought it was going to be a fixation to begin with but this is bigger. I’ve long pondered what draws me to the intersection of contradictions; new and old, natural and built, dark and light, straight and curved and so on and thought it was just a matter of visual interest. What I’ve come to realise through much reading, talking and searching is that it’s much deeper than that. It’s a desire to understand the contradictions, the dichotomies, the dualities within myself. There’s too much to say on this to say it all here, but I’ll leave you with this. For all the time I’ve been looking at places where the natural environment meets the built, I thought, as someone who loves and respects nature, that I was cheering for the nature, when actually my heart lies with the built, in this case the house. My metaphor was back to front.
*Side note. There are too many photos here, I know, but in my defence I spent time with this house on two seperate days and took close to 300 photos. It was hard to choose!
**Side note two, I could have done a fixations series on the lacy curtains alone.
Image Makers Association Australia's '1 Shot 24 - Seeing & Knowing'
In partnership with Stylecraft, 1 SHOT 24 opened nationally last night in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane Stylecraft showrooms. The exhibition is displayed alongside collections of both local and international brands and products, exclusive to Stylecraft.
The overarching theme of Seeing & Knowing and its disparate meaning is reflected in the images of the 42 exhibitors from Australia’s pre-eminent photographers, who each present their personal interpretation of Seeing & Knowing.
Melbourne friends and followers should get along to 145 Flinders Ln, Melbourne and take in the beautiful collection. My image ‘6:30pm from Fixations 4’, expertly printed by Peter Hatzipavlis of Final Grade and framed by Angelo & Alex Grazzini of A&L Artistic Framers, is amongst the works showing.
Fixations 6
It’s time to share another of my fixations. Adelaide is still giving here and if you’ve been playing along for a while you can probably tell me what I love about this inner city, industrial scene… feel free to say so in the comments if you’re brave… if you’re new here click the #fixations tag above and you’ll get the idea!
Fixations 2
A long-time and very dear friend paid a visit to Melbourne in recent months. In one of our many, deep and artful conversations we came to the subject of my “Fixations” posts. She (who will know who she is when she reads this) suggested that you might like to hear about what it is exactly that I am fixating on in these images, what it is that caught my attention.
So. This next fixation, I happened upon when working in Hobart earlier this year. This little scene stopped me dead and only got better the more I moved in. It’s the strong lines and repetition in the facade of the building, it’s the patterns in the paving of the road and footpath, it’s the symmetry of the shiny silver bike thingys (what do you call those?), it’s the way nature gently but firmly disrupts the man made perfection with organic, uneven and unpredictable lines. It’s colour - green on stone, the hint of red in the speed sign, the coloured paint on the pavement, the bolt of yellow from the adjacent carpark and the pastel yellow of that strange little, sticker covered, industrial box, which doesn’t belong and fits in all the same. It’s the sense of isolation, the absence of people. I could go on… it’s all of that and more.
For those that are interested it’s the former Reserve Bank building which was designed by the Commonwealth Department of Works and constructed in 1977.
Fixations…
There are few things that give me greater pleasure than being alone with my camera and away from home. This is where I feel most free to explore things that catch my attention or arouse my curiosity. When existing in this space I often find myself fixated on an idea or subject. Most of these stay hidden on my server, never to be shared or seen. With that last thought in mind I decided I’d bring one of those fixations to light…
Railway Place Pop Up Furniture
Spent a lovely afternoon in the sun with the Planning & Placemaking team at City of Boroondara, shooting their latest pop up furniture project. Here’s a few highlights from the shoot.
Marlborough Street Social Housing by Baldasso Cortese
What a pleasure it was to work with Baldasso Cortese and HousingFirst Ltd on this impressive and important social housing development in Balaclava.
Built by Buxton Construction on the site of a former council car park, the six-level development consists of 46 one, two and three-bedroom dwellings suitable for families, older residents and people living with a disability.
The building includes a rooftop terrace and community garden, end of trip facilities and a thoughtful art work in the entry featuring an “inverse-Nolli Map” of the St Kilda / Balaclava neighbourhood.
Hats off to City of Port Phillip and the Victorian Government for coming together to make this building a reality and house a vulnerable cross section of our society.
Developer: HousingFirst Ltd
Architect: Baldasso Cortese
Builder: Buxton Construction
Styling: Pip+Coop
