drug house?

Isn't that what shoes over the wire is supposed to mean? I quite often see shoes flung over the wires on our street. Either this means that we live in a particularly active narcotics area (quite possible), or we have a lot of bored neighbours with too many shoes.

Either way, I have no complaints. Because the result gives me a regularly shoe-filled view when I crane my neck skywards, which never fails to charm me.

I didn't have high (zing!) hopes for this shot but it actually turned out nicely. I particularly like: the amount of blue sky; the fact that the shoes are so well centred within that blue space; the classic detail on the house directly below; and, most of all, the placement and pattern of the wires across the sky. Why are there so many wires in a quiet residential street?! Wait - I'm asking too many questions again. It doesn't matter whether this quaint house hosts a veritable drug lab or not. It doesn't matter why there are eight wires in such a small space. What matters is that it all came together on a wonderfully clear, sunny day to give me what you see here.

la paloma

Reason #1 this photo is flawed: there is light leaking in from the right hand side.

I know what you're thinking - Just photoshop it out! But let it be known that all the photos on this blog are unadultered, except to reduce the excess brightness that my cheap scanner introduces. The light isn't that bad. Just distracting.

Reason #2 this photo is flawed: the subject lacks definition.

Perhaps it would be nice if we could see his face a little better.

Reason #1 this photo is beautiful: the fabulous typography. Backwards.

Isn't that typography just a dream? Classic and superb. Its inversion makes it that much more interesting to look at.

Reason #2 this photo is beautiful: the wonderfully decrepit paint on the outer wall.

Every aspect of the cafe's exterior design recalls images of traditional (European?) towns and buildings. The great thing about the wall is that it is actually just old and peeling, rather than made to look old and peeling. It feels very authentic.

Reason #3 this photo is beautiful: taka. Looking unsettlingly calm.

Why is he just standing there? Even though I know the answer to this (which is: I asked him to), looking at him in here makes me question it every time. I don't know how he manages to look so completely disinterested in the act of being photographed, but he does it brilliantly. This makes him the perfect subject because he is wholly unfazed by the prospect of being observed - by me/the camera or by any passers-by.

Reason #1 La Paloma is worthy of documentation: its charming, understated aesthetic.

See above.

Reason #2 La Paloma is worthy of documentation: it's on my street.

And my street's great.

Reason #3 La Paloma is worthy of documentation: CHURROS.

Hands down, the absolute best churros I have ever tasted. None of this chocolate dip business, either - the long piped donuts are fried to perfection and smeared with a generous helping of rich, super-sweet condensed-milk-style caramel. Then covered in sugar. You'll never set foot in those blasphemous San Churro brothels again.

painting the town holga

Before venturing out on a Friday or Saturday night I am invariably faced with the question to take or not to take?. Last night was no different, except that upon deciding on the to take option I moved on to the question of which to take - the beautifully bulky Holga or the decidedly shinier (and usefully, purse-size) digital snapper. I weighed up the options and considered the evening's events (and outfit), ultimately opting to head out with the dime-a-dozen silver Kodak. Thank god, because I left it in a bloody taxi.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not thankful that I lost my handy little box of whirrs and beeps. Quite the contrary: I'm thoroughly annoyed that I no longer have the option of a digital pointer-and-shooter; I'm slightly disappointed that I have forever lost the few images I had taken up to that point in the night (11:30pm, approximately); and I'm absolutely mortified that somewhere in the city, a stranger has access to 250+ images of the last six months or so of my life. Rather, I'm deeply grateful that when the camera gods decided they had to take something from me, they didn't set their sights on my Holga.

There are a few reasons for this:

1. My Holga was a gift from several close friends for my birthday last year, so it has sentimental value. (In contrast, the Kodak was a gift from my ex-boyfriend.)
2. According to several sources, every Holga is unique in its light-leaking and image-capturing properties, implying that each camera has a distinct character. I quite like my Holga, and I'm not really open to the idea of getting used to a new one.
   
3. Even though the Kodak cost more money than the Holga, the idea of losing the $15 film in addition to the plastic camera kind of stings.

OK, so my point here is that in contemplating the relative pluses and minuses of losing my digital camera, I began thinking about all the great nights out I've had with the Holga, which led to the inference that this would NEVER happen with my Holga (I'm reaching for the nearest wood right now), which in turn reinforced my belief that, at least for me, automatic digital cameras are more trouble than the mediocre images they produce are worth. (A sidenote: please don't be offended if you are an automatic digital camera user. You probably take awesome photos. I'm just bummed out that I lost my camera.)

In an attempt to focus on the positives (and not the fact that some perv might be looking at images of me and my loved ones even as I type), I am taking some time to reflect on all of the glorious late nights and early mornings the Holga has spent dangling (un)graciously around my neck, and the subsequent images that make the nights' events more lucid while somehow managing to look damn fine, too.

laird @ ac/dc lane

When Laird ducked out of Cherry in the wee hours for a sneaky smoke, I took the opportunity to position him in front of some sweet graffiti so I could snap this (see above). It was to be the first of many graffiti portraits, but for whatever reason I haven't taken another since.

jayney, laird & ella @ 446a


These images are about all I have to inform me of a fateful Brunswick night involving sequins, vodka and a boy named Ming. Jayney is pulling some typically amazing dancefloor moves (admirably managing to contain the contents of her drink), while Laird and Ella share a fabulously animated moment between housemates. 446a, we need another party!

grizzly jim @ the derby


I don't remember why Jim began impersonating Jack Nicholson. All I know is I reached for the camera between my own hearty chuckles in order to commit the moment to film. I am very glad that I did.

een & pete @ the birmy


Proof that good shots at the Birmy are not limited to those focused on the stage, Een responds to my suggestion that I take a photo by pulling this face. If the photo also captured me, I imagine my expression would resemble Pete's.

Holga, I know I haven't always been kind to you. I've knocked you around, I've abandoned your lens cap, I've used you in shameless attempts to talk to really really good-looking people, I've subjected you to the odd spilt beer and there's a rattle in you that I can't explain. But just look at all the great times we've shared! Please, don't follow in the footsteps of that silver floozy. It's you that I love.

something old, something new

This is definitely something old. In fact, it's almost a whole year old. But I still love it for several reasons:

1. It's from my first ever Holga roll, and kind of signals my return to interesting (and film) photos. I actually thought it was a colour film so I went around Sydney taking all these photos with this fabulous colour in mind. When I got the film back and realised it was black and white I was terribly disappointed, but after spending a bit of time with the prints I realised they were kind of beautiful anyway.

2. I hate tourist shots. We're all guilty of them, probably because we want to capture the emotion we feel when we see famous landmarks while also proving to people that we are well-travelled, but that doesn't change the fact that most of them look exactly like the publicity shots we've all seen a million times (only ours look decidedly worse). I was thrilled that I managed to get two of the most photographed icons of Sydney/Australia to look different.

3. There's a lot of atmosphere in there, at once old-fashioned and also kind of haunted. There are lots of potential stories that come to mind when I look at it.

4. It was my first (and probably still one of my most successful) double exposures.

5. I love Sydney. This was from my first trip there and I was captivated. So, you know, it's sentimental.


My beautiful old friend Pete has many endearing qualities, most of which are captured in this photo. We were between drinking holes one night, temporarily stopped off at someone's house, when Pete spotted this guitar in an unknown bedroom and picked it up to kill time. It was all very spur-of-the-moment and laid back, just like him.

This was the first time I realised that straight colour film could produce some beautiful photos (after a series of very underwhelming trials). Thank you, yellow flash.


This is something new, in that it's from my most recent film. Also new is the realisation that different brands of slide film accentuate different colours; this one really brings out the reds (unlike the blue-heavy slide film I have used in the past). I do love this building, situated in the street and suburb in which I now reside. There isn't really much more to say on this one - except that my very law-abiding housemate broke-and-entered with me to witness the taking of the shot, and was subsequently disappointed with the finished result. Oh well.

So I guess I should also say hello!, this is my first blog post on my first blog. I don't really know what I'm doing but I'll keep doing it for at least a little while longer (until my enthusiasm wanes). At this point, though, I am very much looking forward to regularly sharing my images, some old and some new, with a potentially unknown cyber audience. Hooray!