There are tracks like this, leading to the beach, back home in any New Zealand summer.
That place where the delicate scent of the yellow lupin merges with the smell of the sea is fairly close to heaven ... or that's my idea of it all.
Favourite Flowers, New Zealand
Of all the flowers in the world, so far, these are the flowers I would fill my garden with ...
The humble yellow Lupin. Colour-specific because no other lupin smells like the yellow lupin, otherwise known as L. luteus.
In Dunedin, they mostly grow in that place between the land and the sea, in the interstitial zone.
Following the sandy tracks that led to favourite beaches around Dunedin, the yellow lupins filled my soul with something that felt like joy.
Long Ago, I Lived Here ...
I lived on the edge of Otago Harbour, out on the peninsula, and scenes like this were everyday kind of scenes. And I often slipped out of the house, usually with my dog, and wandered out into those early mornings ... any season. It was always stunning.
I never took them forgranted, I loved every day that I spent out there. It was only that I needed to see the world. It was good to go home and visit it all again.
L'Arte Cafe, Gallery, and Garden, Taupo
I loved everything about this ceramic artist's place, with the incredible cafe called L'Arte, located in beautiful Taupo, down in New Zealand.
Every detail ...
Ren Powell - poet, playwright, translator & teaching artist
The book released here in Norway in December is An Elastic State of Mind, which is an imaginative autobiography in formal and free verse. Three years of intense work with form, two years of historical research, and another two years with the translator: this baby was a long time in coming. The review that came out last week was positive, with the caveat that it was demanding of the reader.
The book I am editing now, which will be finished in March, is Ewe in the Rain. It's more of a seduction than a demand.
Ren Powell, an extract from her post over on Mad Orphan Lit.
Fascinating reading! Take a peek.
The photograph ... Boccadasse, Italy.
Photography with Giles Duley and W. Eugene Smith
I didn’t write the rules — why should I follow them? Since I put a great deal of time and research to know what I am about? I ask and arrange if I feel it is legitimate. The honesty lies in my — the photographer’s — ability to understand.
I found this quote and loved it. I loved the photographer's defiance, or the disbelief. I'm not sure but it made me think that it is a question we should all ask sometimes.
And this:
Q. Why do you print your own pictures?
A. The same reason a great writer doesn’t turn his draft over to a secretary… I will retouch.
Or:
Q. Avedon said that there are three steps in making a photograph: first the taking of the pictures, then the darkroom work, then the retouching. He showed me one unretouched picture in which the girl’s skirt fell straight; in the final version it was flying out.
A. I would have gotten her skirt up somehow.
And so it is today. You make the photograph, you process it, and then you apply your feeling. That 'application' varies. I like to keep mine minimal but the image is mine to do as I please.
I love the way he owns, unapologetically, all that he does as a photographer.
Found after watching the following inspirational TEDx Talk, by photographer, Giles Duley.
Graffiti, Naples
More often than not I love graffiti. As a photographer, it gives you so much to play with ...
I was on the train in Naples and noticed the windows had had some attention. So wicked but oh so very beautiful.
Inside Herculaneum, Naples
Herculaneum, an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 A.D.
It's a powerfully stunning place to visit. I would like to return there one day when the light isn't so bright and spend an entire day, or 3, wandering.
Room with a View, Cairo
I remembered the incredible feeling of visiting Cairo as photographer while working on the Berlin project.
This was the view from my room, down in the heart of everyday Cairo ...
Parastou Forouhar, Artist
I loved this temporary art installation, photographed in Berlin.
It was the work of Iranian artist, Parastou Forouhar.
Ali Kaaf, Artist
I remember photographing the remarkable artist, Ali Kaaf.
It was 2009 and he was exhibiting in Taswir – Islamische Bildwelten und Moderne, Martin-Gropius-Bau, in Berlin, Germany.
Taysir Batniji, "Voyage impossible", Berlin
I was fortunate enough to photograph Taysir Batniji, in his"Voyage impossible" performance, in Berlin back in 2009.
Today he wrote, asking if he might use some of those images for an exhibition in France, in April this year. And it was so good to know that those photographs from that magical TASWIR Exhibition are still going out into the world.
Taswir - Univers iconographiques de l’Islam et modernité*, Martin-Gropius-Bau - Berlin, Germany
People Become Stories and Stories Become Understanding
I've spent the last few days researching, photographing, and writing up Monday's blogpost for Fans of Flanders.
I'm working on a series of interviews that are absolutely related to this blog's reason for being ... the whole people become stories and stories become understanding thing.
With that in mind, I'll be talking to more than a few Flemish people I know over the next few months, taking some photographs and writing up stories because they're interesting people and because I love hearing people tell their stories.
Here's one of the images for Monday's blogpost. I'll cross-post here once it's published. Any ideas of what it might be ...?
Fiona's Dog, New Zealand
Sarah
When I was home I photographed almost all of my beautiful nieces. Sarah, and her twin, were 4 when I first met them ... I'm still dealing with how many years might have passed since then.
New Directions ...
And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.
Rainer Maria Wilke
It's like that ... this year. It's full of the promise of things that have never been. Exciting things. And if I can just work through this winter thing, this frustration with ice and snow, the isolation of working alone and without colleagues or friends After 5 fabulous weeks back amongst my people, then all would be grand.
It's been a rough week, one where I picked up more responsibility than I like, cleaned the house more often than usual, and struggled to juggle all of the balls/projects I seem to have up in the air.
And I've been on a mission, trying to work out what is possible, which projects are feasible when it come to time and what might lead to employment ... the usual angst but with a clearer head.
I'm developing an exquisite project with a much-adored and respected friend ... to be unveiled as soon as it's ready to fly. And I'm interviewing the people in my neighbourhood here. The Flemish people I enjoy doing business with ... enjoy knowing, and I'm loving their stories. I need to pick up and start running Camera Journeys again ... but need to wait for the new direction to be confirmed, with dates and a place to book. There's a newsletter to get out soon ... there's stuff to be done and no more time can be spent on my knees, feeling sorry for myself.
It's been like that ... I needed to give myself a bit of a talking to. And it helped that I was reading Diana Baur's superb book titled 'Your Truth'. It's been the perfect companion through these challenging days. At only $5.99us, it's the best kind of read.
And the quote at the beginning ... I found that over on Cynthia Haynes website ... via the truly lovely Leonie Wise.
So, there's a vegetarian lasagne to bake now, and some bread too. I was going to make a pavlova for dessert but I think that might be raising the bar higher than I want to commit to longterm. I don't love housework. I'm more like Erica Jong in her poem Woman Enough.
I'll leave you with a favourite subject ... an image that I think best sums up the promise of things to come. Tot straks.
Winter in Antwerp ...
These mornings, returning from the 7.30am school run, I stink of the pollution that's out there in this city.
It was -10 celsius today, with frozen snow everywhere, and the 100,000+ per-day highway that cuts the city in half was roaring with traffic from all over Europe. My hair and my skin stink of the fumes. It reminds me of Istanbul on its worst polluted days, that city of 14 million+ but here there are no sea winds to blow the hugely polluted air someplace else.
They tell us that the weather will continue to hover around minus 10 overnight, rising to zero celsius, if we're lucky, with some more cold-cold coming over the weekend.
And so it is, winter in Belgium. I might just concentrate on those photographs taken back in New Zealand. This plant was spotted down in the garden of Christine's parents ...
Neil Dawson, Ferns - Wellington, New Zealand
When I started work on Ferns I saw Ian Athfield's nikau palms as major markers of the Square. What I've aimed for is a sort of delicate intricacy that can float over the top of the palms so the two elements can work with each other.
What I wanted to do with my sphere was to extend Athfield's poetry by adding variety in the form of five different ferns because, of course, the basic form of the nikau is overlapping ferns.
No visit to Wellington city is complete without viewing Ferns, an exquisite sculpture by Neil Dawson.
It hangs 14 metres above you when you're standing in Civic Square and, like so many others, I find it exquisitely beautiful.
You can view more of Neil's work over on his website.
L’Art'e Cafe and Gallery, Taupo - New Zealand
Every detail had been so lovingly added at L'Art'e Cafe and Gallery ... even the stairs.
But read what L'Art'e have to say ... Judi Brennan has been a successful clay artist for many years. She has won several pottery awards including a merit in the prestigious Fletcher Challenge Exhibitia and has her work all around the world.
The pathway leading to the studio created huge interest from people wanting to make something similar in there own garden – Judi had embedded feature pieces that she had made out of clay eg cats, dogs, fish etc into the paving to form a fun pathway. This interest led to years of producing, with a staff of 5, the Clay Art Studio mosaic feature pieces that everyone has come to know and love.
There is more, so much more, over here on the L'Art'e website.
L’Art'e Cafe and Gallery, Taupo - New Zealand
There is so much to write about L'Art'e Cafe and Gallery ... so much.
The mind-blowingly beautiful location, the friendly service, the truly sublime food, the superb coffee, the exquisite artwork ... and nowhere do I exaggerate.
It's that remarkable!
This was brunch on that first day back in New Zealand.
