The Typologist

Soon after starting this series I showed them to a gallerist.

Partly in hope that he would be interested enough in the project that he would be open to the potential of showing them.

Needless to say, that didn't happen.

But what he did say was that there was something in the typology of the objects.

Needless to say, that had little relation to my concept, but it did make me consider that particular aspect in later shoots.

Okay, so maybe I didn't consider it that much.

Though once I even went all rock'n'roll on yo arse.

And decided it was rubbish so went back for a reshoot.

And sanity prevailed (though not to the Becher extreme).

As did more or less level horizons.

The Trier

Last Friday, seeing as the dentist cancelled our appointment, I went out shooting.

I have decided I’m going to continue with a series started sometime ago.

So I wandered off, camera in hand, to see what I could find.

I went exploring my backyard.

Not my literal backyard, but the bit of the town belt not far from home.

It was fun. I went places I hadn't been before.

I went bush bashing too. And got some scratches on my legs that bled.

I'm so manly and rugged.

I'm not convinced I got any useable shots. As nice as these are, they don't really evoke the sense that I want.

So I'm going to try that again. Soon.

The Psychological

I've often said that I'm not an emotional photographer.

In that, I don't use photography as an extension of my emotional self.

For me it's more an extension of my cerebral self.

Earlier this year I took the photo above.

While I think it's fair to say it in no way reflected my mood at the time, there is something mildly disturbing about it.

Mainly just cos it's dark and blurry though.

The Highconceptcommercialphotographer

Once upon a time I once had a thought about truly tackling the world of commercial photography.

So much so that, once upon a time, I spent a week in the studio working on a portfolio of images.

The initial shots were, well, mucky. But during that time I conceived something else.

Something original even (possibly, arguably).

Little did I know that my simple idea was going to be a hell of a difficult thing to actually capture in camera.

A hell of a difficult!! Because I had decided, even in those somewhat digital days, that I wanted to make as much of the image in-camera, with little post-production.

Each set up took two days to not get a fully realised version.

And I always thought there should be 3 photos in the series, but I couldn't come up with a decent third idea.

Needless to say, these amounted to nothing. The photos needed grading etc. From someone other than me.

I moved on to other things. So the many, many sheets of film I shot that week have languished unseen in storage for the past four years.

Until now.

The Worldfamouswildlifephotographer

Having recently failed to be named New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year this year, on my recent roadtrip I decided I was going to reassess my approach to nature photography in order to become the Worldfamouswildlifephotographer lurking in side of me.

Here are my first attempts at producing work that will be completely ignored by anyone with taste and classical/modernist ideas about what nature photography should be.

It might even upset a few people.

Cool.



And the coup de grâce ...

The Stroke

"On June 11 this year musician, artist, father, writer, film critic & jandal wearer Chris Knox suffered a life-altering stroke at his home in Grey Lynn."

"The double CD ‘STROKE – Songs For Chris Knox’ is being released in New Zealand on Monday November 16."

Though if, like me, you pass by Slowboat Records you can pick up your copy today.

It's 35 tracks - 32 cover versions by local and overseas musicians, some well known/famous, some unknown (to me) and 3 previously unreleased tracks.

I'm just listening to it for the first time. Like any similar kind of compilation there are good tracks and not so good tracks:

some folk have really taken liberty (for good or bad)
sadly some haven't (usually for bad)
as much as I like The Chills I don't think I've ever heard them do a decent cover
Boh Runga's Not Given Lightly wasn't as bad as feared but I'm over that song, regardless of who's singing
Red & Zeke (who don't exist according to Google) do great bluegrass
The Checks need to stop imitating so much
It's nice to hear solo Bathgate doing solo Knox
Don McGlashan does cheese?!
when John Darnielle is good, he's excellent
the Finns do Knox, not something I would have expected but they do all love The Beatles

Regardless, as it says on the cover "The artists & musicians involved have donated their time & talent so that all proceeds can go towards assisting Chris with his recovery" so you know it's a good cause.

"The stunning cover was designed by Chris’ fellow Tall Dwarf, Alec Bathgate and uses Chris’ favourite colour combination of yellow & black." But if, like me, you pass by Slowboat Records you too can allow them to add their own bits of yellow and black to the design. Sweet.

The Valid

I've already Facebooked this (come on be my [Facebook] friend) but it's so exciting that I have to leak it all over the net (get it?!).

I have been publicly validated. I will even forgive them the copyright infringement.

I was privately validated on the weekend. When complete strangers (okay I knew who they are) clearly engage with and then compliment you on your work it is validating.

For a while this year I had the feeling that no one was engaging with my work. I know there were times when I was struggling with the engagement myself. Clearly though, the message is there; it just requires some thought to extract it.

For the record my installation includes seven works and is on show at Massey School of Fine Art until Sunday (I think).

The Beach

After here we went here.

One of my all time favourite photos is a Joel Meyerowitz shot of washing on a line.

Consequently I rip it off on an irregular basis.

That's the beach.

That's the steps.

That's the crooked horizon they have in those parts.

The Vague

Told ya I was headed here.

Not that you can really tell from the photos.

So you'll just have to take my word for it.