It’s like the story about the blind men describing an elephant and they each think it’s like the bit they’ve got a hold of. You know how it goes, the one with the ear said it was like a big leaf, the one holding a leg thought it was like a tree trunk, etc.
When I was in New York twenty years ago, it was an elephant and the bit I had hold of had the wrong shoes, wet feet, and shivered. You also had to keep your eye on it but I went in with mine closed and got grifted within five minutes of walking out the airport door.
A bus driver took my ten dollars and nodded for me to load my bags in the hold. Moments later when I went to get in the door he asked me for my ticket, apparently he couldn’t remember me. A classic heads up.
street photography, new york,
(Tuesday, 27 July 2010)
On December 2nd 1989 Queensland held an election and the incumbent Government was defeated for the first time since 1957.
I was photographing a lot with infra red film and had bodgied up a flash by taping a wratten 87 filter over it so it would only emit invisible infra red light (thank you Weegee), and went out at night shooting. I liked its softness because it gave the people in the photos a little anonymity, and rendered a generic impression, rather than any gotcha stuff.
Being an historic moment I wondered what I might find. I made my way to the mall from South Brisbane and walked around while I wasn’t standing still, went to a club and then to a party. There were people drinking and dancing and laying down, some kissing and a little aggro. Nothing unusual to report, situation ... normal.
human condition photography
(Monday, 19 July 2010)