IV

Association Meme: Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your blog and elaborate on the subjects given.

1. Human rights/politics
2. Films
3. Australia



This is a post obviously better illustrated than written (i.e. it's gonna be an uber-post!), so I'm going to share some of my favourite photos - both mine and flickr's - of the subjects I love, and also some photos I hold in high esteem, and that I hope I'd be able to take in time. I've a deep-seated ambition, however unlikely, to be a photographer - perhaps not the natural kind, amazing and beautiful they may be, but the journalistic kind. Maybe even the war correspondent kind. The kind that reveals something about human nature and changes lives. Or the kind that gets published in Life.

I love the effect of macro, though I've only recently figured out how to do this on my (fairly simplistic and only 4mp camera).

This photo was taken two years ago of my late dog (a kelpie cross), Ned, whilst I was trying to photograph my cat (Varcoe.) Ned is far more photogenic - and a much more agreeable model - as he is more inclined to lay still.

Macro just brings those little things into focus:

I wish I was able to take underwater photos like this:

Black and white photos are, somehow, more poignant and remarkable, whatever the subject matter:

From happier days, one of my favourite photos is this one, because of sheer emotion (and utter joy) it captures:

As Edith Shain [the nurse seen here] observes, "it says so many things — hope, love, peace and tomorrow. The end of the war was a wonderful experience, and that photo represents all those feelings."

Then I found this much more recent equivalent, taken on election day last year, and I love that it represents the same things with such eloquence:

I want to be able to catch the sun's glorious rays:

I am what some might call obsessed with water, and in particular, rain, reflections and rainbows.

Like this one (not mine):

My attempts:

Taken in Hawaii

Taken after the rain at home

Taken at home





















































Taken on the way home.


Sunsets and silhouettes are possibly two of my very favourite mediums, so combining them is always fun and usually spectacular.

This was taken from the third floor balcony of my grandmother's apartment in Manly



The saves part of the "Jesus saves" message didn't really turn out for the skywriter, but the word Jesus hanging over the sunset creates a pretty strong image for New Year's Eve at the Manly Quay.

Taken of my friend who came to stay with me last year

I love playing with exposure and light, but this is kind of difficult on a camera in which all the settings are pre-determined, meaning I can't take photos like this:

This photo, incidentally, is taken of Venice Beach in Santa Monica, LA: the pier that marks the end of Route 66.

I think that cropping and editing/enhancing of photos is cheating, and I avoid it at all costs.

But all this photography - especially the journalistic kind - begs the question: is it capitalising on another's gain? Where do you draw the line of photography for profit vs opening the eyes of the world? Should photography require consent from the subject?

x

JAG