http://dimackey.com/ en mackey.di@gmail.com Copyright 2010 2010-09-06T08:08:25+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/frances-mayes-on-collete/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/frances-mayes-on-collete/#When:08:08:25Z One of this life’s greatest pleasures: a writer’s books can intersect with your life and lead you to the next largest space you can occupy. Frances Mayes, writing of Collete in Ä Year in the World. People, Quotes 2010-09-06T08:08:25+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/a-bit-of-a-panic-over-the-earthquake-in-new-zealand/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/a-bit-of-a-panic-over-the-earthquake-in-new-zealand/#When:21:35:06Z But so far, immediate extended family is fine.  My much-loved Auntie Coral was my shaky moment but my sister in New Zealand, and my cousin - Auntie Coral’s daughter - assured me that she had phoned home and Coral and everyone else in that clan is fine. It was a panic though, and I had a reception and fireworks display to attend.  It was good to make those email and phone contacts between New Zealand, the UAE and here and realise that I could stand-down on the panic, although news from New Zealand isn’t good ... I feel like it’s not as bad as a 7.4 earthquake could have been. Actually, one of the most difficult things about living in Istanbul was knowing that a huge earthquake was due ... any decade, any day ... and that, unlike New Zealand, that city of at least 14 million (and growing daily) doesn’t have the infrastructure to cope with a huge earthquake.  My best idea was always that, if unbroken, I would walk to Greece.  I’m glad that was never tested. Meanwhile, waiting to hear that Liz and Mike are okay. If curious for inside sources ... you have the New Zealand Herald here. TV New Zealand is here and Stuff New Zealand is over here. New Zealand 2010-09-03T21:35:06+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/figure-of-christ-detail-from-deesis-mosaic-haghia-sophia-istanbul/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/figure-of-christ-detail-from-deesis-mosaic-haghia-sophia-istanbul/#When:09:38:08Z Haghia Sophia is on my top 10 list of favourite places to wander through when in Istanbul ... There is an amazing peace once inside.  Someone once told me that while the cathedrals were built to create a feeling of awe and smallness amongst congregations, the mosque is more about inviting, tranquil spaces.  Having visited more than a few mosques and cathedrals, it feels true. Haghia Sophia is otherwise known as the ‘Church of Holy Wisdom’, and is one of the world’s greatest architectural achievements.  More than 1,400 years old, it invites one to consider the sophistication of 6th century Istanbul.  It didn’t become a mosque in the 15th century, when the Ottomans added the minarets, tombs and fountains. This photograph of the figure of Christ appears on the Deesis mosaic and I found it extraordinarily beautiful. Istanbul, Photography 2010-09-02T09:38:08+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/jeremy-rifkin-on-the-empathic-civilization-via-ted-talks/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/jeremy-rifkin-on-the-empathic-civilization-via-ted-talks/#When:07:37:38Z I do believe this lecture might be one of the most important ideas I’ve ever heard.  I recommend you stopping with a few minutes, to watch it and just see what you think.  The Empathic Civilization is emerging. A younger generation is fast extending its empathic embrace beyond religious affiliations and national identification to include the whole of humanity and the vast project of life that envelops the Earth. Jeremy Rifkin Jeremy’s website is over here. People say all kinds of things about him but the subject of this lecture left me hopeful ... People 2010-09-02T07:37:38+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/where-the-wild-things-are-...-or-something-like-that/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/where-the-wild-things-are-...-or-something-like-that/#When:20:55:17Z Sometimes I am startled by the life that passes by me ... heart-stoppingly startled.  Truly Fortunately, my tendency is to grab my camera and ask the wild thing to stop and pose for a moment.  And it did.  I still can’t look at this one without laughing. Photography 2010-08-30T20:55:17+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/win-a-free-photography-session-with-me-/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/win-a-free-photography-session-with-me-/#When:15:33:05Z It is time for me to begin coordinating my children and family photography sessions for Autumn. Please email me at mackey(dot)di(at)gmail(dot)com if you are interested in commissioning a session, keeping in mind that I’m celebrating the launch of this new website by offering you the opportunity to win a free family photo session. Anyone booking a photo-session to take place before 20 October, 2010, goes into the draw to win a family portrait-session, with the best images from the day included on cd. The winner will be announced on 21 October, 2010. Photography 2010-08-29T15:33:05+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/i-love-family-photography-/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/i-love-family-photography-/#When:09:55:31Z Yesterday we carried one of our couches out into the backyard, between showers, and I worked at photographing my favourite family here in the flatlands of Belgium. It occured to me later that, had we filmed yesterday then played back a sped-up version of the photo-session ... couch carried out, couch carried in before the rain returned, moving rooms for different background colours and effects, life unfolding and me attempting to photograph the children as they continued with living life beautifully, in-between finishing up lunch preparation and brushing aside all offers of help (well, except for the parsley chopping, a job that I fail in every time) ... had we played a recorded version at speed, we might have laughed, quite some. Anyway, a glimpse of my yesterday People, Photography 2010-08-29T09:55:31+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/family-photography-session-today-/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/family-photography-session-today-/#When:22:04:42Z I was working through the images tonight and I’m pleased with the morning’s work ... It wasn’t just about the photography.  Gert and I had cooked up a small storm in the morning and so it was that 10 of us sat down to persian chicken and basmati rice, followed by pavlova, and one of Gert’s declious nectarine clafoutis. I fell during the photography session and even I had to laugh.  I fell heavily, camera in hand, in the kind of pain that makes you sweat and feel nauseous in the same moment but before anything else, I had to take some more photographs, just to be sure my camera hadn’t been damaged as I fell. Later, I found the bruises and aches that told me thatReally Di, you’re grown up.  Don’t do that falling thing. An excellent day though, in the company of excellent people. People, Photography 2010-08-28T22:04:42+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/at-the-zoo-when-a-giraffe-strode-by-/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/at-the-zoo-when-a-giraffe-strode-by-/#When:15:43:48Z I love going to the zoo with little Miss 6.  This is some of what we saw on that day when there wasn’t rain beating down ... on the skylight above me as I write this.  And the sun was shining and we were happier. I believe I loved the colour of the wall almost as much as I enjoyed the colour of the giraffe but most particularly, I love the folds in the giraffe’s skin.  Antwerp, Photography 2010-08-26T15:43:48+00:00 http://dimackey.com/blog/single/for-the-young-who-want-to-by-marge-piercy/ http://dimackey.com/blog/single/for-the-young-who-want-to-by-marge-piercy/#When:15:14:53Z Talent is what they say you have after the novel is published and favorably reviewed. Beforehand what you have is a tedious delusion, a hobby like knitting. Work is what you have done after the play is produced and the audience claps. Before that friends keep asking when you are planning to go out and get a job. Genius is what they know you had after the third volume of remarkable poems. Earlier they accuse you of withdrawing, ask why you don’t have a baby, call you a bum. The reason people want M.F.A.‘s, take workshops with fancy names when all you can really learn is a few techniques, typing instructions and some- body else’s mannerisms is that every artist lacks a license to hang on the wall like your optician, your vet proving you may be a clumsy sadist whose fillings fall into the stew but you’re certified a dentist. The real writer is one who really writes. Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire. Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved. I loved this.  Thank you to Patti Digh, over at 37 Days. People, Poetry 2010-08-26T15:14:53+00:00