It's time for a photoless rant. Cos I can.
The other week I had a few coffees with a couple of local photographers, and I was struck by something kinda obvious.
Working with Andric in Nelson, and especially once we hit the road, everything was "super-" and "the best ever". It was a bit annoying at times, but he is a super-positive guy - in photography and in life.
Then I come back to Wellington and I get people complaining about pissy little jobs that really amount to nothing in the whole scheme of things. And I sit there and go "so what are doing this for?" It's an obvious question.
I admit that it took me a few years to work out what I wanted to be doing and how to go about doing that. And at the moment I am doing exactly that. I have made sacrifices, I'm always on the bones of my arse, but I have a supportive family and friends, and that helps lots.
As a self-employed person, you are (more or less) in control of your fortunes. It's easy to blame your failings on other people, but at the end of the day you are what you make yourself. If you're not happy with yourself, then rather than complain about things, you need to be questioning why and take whatever steps are necessary to resolve it.
Because I know the photographic industry that's what I talk about, and without picking on any people in particular, it seems to me that there is an overwhelming negativity here (in Wellington). And there also seems to be a lack of people trying to make things better for themselves, people just to happy to meander along, get the odd job, and complain about everything. (Some, a lot more than others it has to be said. And also, I probably get moments of venting from a number of people, so maybe my impression is blurred. Or maybe it's just that I attract depressives.)
But it was a revelation to work with someone who was so overwhelmingly positive - to the point that he told me off for being too negative about parts of this country (Ashburton?! where's the appeal?)
For myself, I'm not where I want to be, but for the time being I'm happy with where I've come from, and where I'm going. I know the big picture, and I'm working on getting there - maybe not as fast as I'd like, but I am getting there.
One of the photographers (who can be down about it, but works hard to come through it) said that happiness and money are too closely tied together in New Zealand. And that's where I'm at. I'd rather struggle with what I want to be doing and be happy, than earn more and be unhappy.
I'm happy now.
And it helps when you get to drive around this beautiful country, stay in lovely places, and eat great food - all at someone else's expense. Man I've got the best job ever.
Okay, so I know I complain a fair bit too - but I've got a fair bit to complain about. And I also know that I'm really good at handing out the advice and not following it myself. I'm a hypocrite. So what! Sue me.
Basically the moral here, and it works for everyone, is that if you're not happy, work out why, and do something positive about it. (Unless of course you're happy with being unhappy, and if that's the case you're just a dick.)
When thoughts get too heavy ...
This is from the TVC I worked on a few weeks back. It was for an American forestry company, so I doubt whether we'll see the ad in NZ.
This is what a film set in the middle of a douglas fir forest looks like - lots of people in fluoro vests and hard hats.
Not just any church mind you.
It's the church where three generations of my family are buried - well two are buried, the third was sprinkled.
I've just spent the last week, off and on, in the darkroom processing all the black and white film I shot in January. I learnt a few things. 1) processing with deep tanks sucks, 2) I do indeed have some leaky film holders, 3) fix gets exhausted faster than I thought, 4) I need to be much better organised next time I go on a similar sized shooting spree.
I took a lot more photos than I intended, but I was having fun.
I'm not sure how obvious it is from these photos, but the lose of glacier seemed to me to be quite significant - a good 10-20 metres of length lost, and a whole lot of melting at the front.
Both from January 2006.
As I was too lazy to lug my 1.5kg camera on the two hour walk, you'll just have to imagine this location with a similar green, a bluer sky, and no water. I was completely shocked. And this time I ignored as best as I could the memorial.
I didn't find the creek. But I did find this. I didn't explore though as I was heading a different way.
The second one is a damn fine phone booth - though not the particular one I was looking for (I think that one may have been a couple of beaches over, but I didn't go there).
As I was relaxing on the beach in front of my fire, listening to the gently lapping lake, enjoying my dinner, and watching the sun go down, I saw this (above) and thought "there's a photo in there". And there was.
A little later, I looked to the southwest, after the sun had set, and I noticed a really odd little smudge of a cloud running perpendicular to all the other clouds. And it was white, whereas the others had taken on the last light golden glow. Pretty soon I came to the conclusion that it was the comet everyone was talking about.
Back in January, after I ditched Nic, I did a wee tiki tour and ended up back on the shore of Lake Pukaki - where I'd spent New Years. This time, however, it was just me, my car, my tent, the lake, the trees, the rocks, the grass, and a stunning evening.
There was a lovely serenity that night. Everything was calm (even the sandflies). And was the perfect spot to play the man alone. Bloody grouse mate.
The guy in the red, using the real camera, is Andric, who I was working for the last couple of weeks. We are at Fox Glacier in the above shot. So are the people in the background. Those people are using fake cameras, so we deliberately put them out of focus so as to not embarrass or upset our piece of film.
And this is what happens when one photographer moves in relation to the other photographer and takes another photo of generally the same thing as before, but only different.
David Cook has been photographing the Rotowaro area since the mid-1980s, and this book is the end result. Anne Noble says it is "one of the richest photographic investigations of location and 'place' that has been carried out in New Zealand." I say forget the "one of". The book is part photography, part social history, part journal. It is a stunning work, beautifully shot, beautifully designed, and beautifully written. It is a book that everyone should own - if you can find it (I've only seen it the once, and then only the one copy).
