The Good

Some days are just good days.

One recent day was one of those days.

I bought the new The National Grid, always a worthwhile way to spend $20.

In my postbox was the new Wilco. Until they start either re-hashing their old stuff or turning out utter trash, I'm always going to buy their albums/DVDs/concert tickets.

Most excitingly, also in my postbox was this.

I had ordered it in February.

It was due in June.

It arrived in September.

It's three books.

One day I shall read them all.

The Mount

The Driven

Neither

So in case you were unaware, I have a show up at the moment.

You have one more week to catch it.

It's a good show, so you should catch it.

I was there last weekend and it occurred to me that there's a distinct lack of information about it. Sure that was part of the idea, and sure, the press release kind of gives some idea of the concept, but I do wonder if people walking in actually read the lack of information as part of the work/concept or if they just ignore that part of it and look at the pretty pictures.

However, I can't be bothered asking.

But try these on for size if you want more:

• it's a celebration of modernist photography utilising postmodern tropes
• a representation of the kiwi vernacular
• we're being ironic okay?!
• it's a fuckload of photos
• it's the Seinfeld of photographic exhibitions (for some reason the gallery people had huge issues with that statement)
• if you don't get it, that means you've probably got it. If you do get it, then you probably haven't. But good on you for trying.

Hey, how abouts you just get the draft press release?

Neither One Thing Nor The Other 

The Press Release – DRAFT

Neither One Thing Nor The Other is the Seinfeld of photographic exhibitions. Curated and co-ordinated by Andy Palmer and John Williams the show purports to be about nothing at all while, paradoxically, being about many things – not least of which is paradox itself.

Taking a philosophical approach from the likes of William Eggleston and Paul Graham, Neither One Thing Nor The Other is reclaiming ‘straight’ photography, making a stand for the Art of photography without dressing it up with unnecessary baggage and pretence to give it an Art World facade.

Neither One Thing Nor The Other consists of over 500 recent photographs by a number of unattributed local photographers, recording sites from Cape Reinga to Campbell Island. The images isolate and emphasise the ordinary. Everything is real. There are no tricks. There is no hidden meaning.

Or maybe everything is a lie.

The Forest

The Electric

The Boating

The Didactic

The Posters

Self-explanatory?

Oh, okay, here you go.

The Self

Incidentally, post 800!!

Celebrate, good times, come on.

The Cafeteria

The Homage

Here's a photo I took some years ago - five years ago to be precise. I may well have blogged it previously.

It's a shot I've always really liked. Partly cos it's shot on trannie and decent trannie looks awesome, but mainly cos it's my little homage to one of my favourite Peter Black photos.

I scanned it again recently because I'm using it in a couple of upcoming things.

And when scanning it I noticed it was an unconscious self-portrait ... see there on the right.

Not as exciting as Selwyn Toogood on the screen but hey.

The Car

I would have called these moving pictures had it not been done better by someone else and already appropriated by me.

That and the fact that it would have conflicted with my longstanding naming convention.

The Tunnel

Going.

Coming.

The Trip(tych)

Three photos.

From Eastbourne.

The Joy

Last weekend I bought a book.

Well okay it was bought for me cos it only cost a dollar and my friend was buying like four dollars worth of books for herself.

I have more or less given up buying these types of books cos there's so many of them saying the same things. And I know it all.

But I just felt I had to have this. Partly because of the price. Partly because of the title.

Upon getting it home and flicking through, it was clear that I scored a bargain.

Not because of the contents of the book, but because of this.

Not a bad shot. Quite obviously a set up. But not a bad shot all the same.

It's a recent-ish print, I'd say 10-15 years old, though the photo itself is clearly older, late-1970s maybe.

And why was it alone left in the book? And who are the stars? There are no clues whatsoever.

The Mexican

The Pedestrian

The Splodgy

The New(ish)

Yeah, so after this debacle I started actively looking ...

... for a new(ish) camera.

It arrived Monday last week.

So I used it that night.

And the next day.

Ending with the obligatory self-portrait.

The River(s)

Thames.

Hutt.

The Island(s)

A couple from one evening last year.

The Student(s)

One from back in the day.

The Scenicest

The Scenicer

The Scenic