Traveling again

I'm in New Zealand for about a month so will be posting on occasion. Here is an image from a series I might call "A poorly remembered childhood". Then again it might remain one of those ideas that sounds better than the realisation can ever be.....

Show

Well, tonight was opening night for the latest exhibition. After lots of photographs, numerous trips to the lab for test prints and colour matching, hours, days and weeks of thinking and editing it all came down to the final hang. BIG thanks to Andy for his help in putting it all together and for making sure it all hung straight.

At the end of the night a couple of sales and some more likely which makes it all worthwhile.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the hang, and, if you look quickly, a portrait of me in passing oh gentle reader.




So, if you are in Wellington go look in at Photospace

Custom

Maybe this will become part of something, or maybe not.



This is from an "Ancestral Hall" at a Taoist Temple complex.

Minimal

No, I have not gone and bought an xpan ......

Old stories

Well, my next Wellington show is coming up. Opening is Wednesday December 6th at Photospace (see link in sidebar). It continues my exploration of my traditional New Zealand spiritual upbringing. The images, (two of which follow), take their inspiration from bible class stories taught to us each Sunday, and how I (miss)remember them.

Enjoy the preview

The Flood

Divided Cross

more random stuff

Nature at its best

So, I have a thing going for panoramas at the moment. I will soon get over it, don't worry. A great rural New Zealand image.

Random acts of art

More travels into the Promised Land

Hong Kong becomes more and more an imaginary place in some ways. The divide between what is real and what is imagined can be dramatic, even for those of us that live here. And the portrayal of it within itself continues to inspire.



These are from a row of old Wan Chai shop houses that are being "saved".

Back with the Buddha's

Needing some peace and quite recently I took a trip out to Sha Tin and made the walk up the hill to the 10,000 Buddha Temple. I love this temple. It is not a tourist centre like the (over rated) “Big Buddha” on Lantau and as such when I visit there are often only two or three other visitors.

So, anyway, to assist you in your meditation during a busy and stressful day this is my gift to you. If your day is not busy and stressful what the hell are you doing slacking about?

More from the markets

Starting to scan some of the negs, will put more up soon. Great place, a community.

Imagined clouds

From the ongoing "The Promised Land" series. I like to think that this works on a couple of levels. Firstly, as part of the comment/documentation on/of advertising and consumerism and its development of imagined ideal lives.

Secondly, here in Hong Kong we suffer a bit from, according to politicians, a "perception problem" about air quality. Apparently if you can see and smell the air you breathe you presume that it is bad for you. This apparently makes you think you are sick when you aren’t. Wow, so that explains it.

The Andy

S0me time ago I was driving along and didn't see the circus setting up. I had to stop, park my car and go for a walk before I stumbled across it. Anyway, Andy this is for you.

Market report

In the spirit of making Hong Kong a "World City" (read faceless and generic) the city is being striped of its character. One of the latest to go is the 1930's Wan Chai Food Market. The building is a wonderful example of streamline modern but will, within the next few years, be another boring tower block designed to look like a toilet.

Anyway, I hope to put up more photo's of this market, it has become a project for me.

Corners

Nothing much to say, just a nice colour exercise I think.

Flag

The apartment upstairs is getting renovated. There has been lots of drilling, bashing and crashing. On the plus side they have been using some nice plastic sheeting around the place.

the beauty of speed

Another of my attempts to find beauty in the mundane....

wall

Every now and then you see something that says please, photograph me

Black, white and grey

OK, about time to put more images up. Sorry that some of these may be a bit "soft". My scanner does not allow me to scan negs larger than 35mm. So I am scanning from proof sheets for many of these. I am going to buy a new scanner soon, but first need to sell some gear. Anyone want a Canon A1 or Leica 90mm lens?

Anyway, a selection of black and white images for your review

From a distance

Well, I have been back near a week now and it has given me time to develop both film and distance. Going to Iceland was something I had wanted to do for some time. I remember as a kid reading about the "cod wars" with the British and that the mid Atlantic Ridge ran through it. So I go there and photograph. Looking back over what I did I find it interesting what attracted me.

I continued on some themes that I have been exploring around spirituality like this one.



I took bad tourist photos, (I will leave those out) and occasionally I just became entranced with the beauty of the country, its colours, shapes and tones.



And on occasion the modernist in me came out.

Midnight sun

Welcome to Iceland, or at least, over the next week or so a selection of images from my travels. I go to the other side of the world and what do I find, crosses.

OK, pictures ...

... on the way to Iceland I spent a night in London. I bought film and visited galleries. I also took some tourist photos ...


There is something about the light in London ....



that is different to both New Zealand and Hong Kong.

That and some of the buildings look strange



Then I got on a plane and flew to Iceland

late night and daylight

I have come to the conclusion that Iceland is, in a way, a lonely yet very sociable place. There are only 300,000 or so people here, and most (about 80%) in one place, Reykjavik. I have been, for the last few weeks, traveling the country and often there is no one to be seen. And I thought New Zealand was sparsely populated. Going back to Hong Kong will be different.

I have shot a lot of film in the last six or so weeks, I hope some of it is good and that I can get it up on the site when I get it processed and scanned.

Till then, I am of to bed, early start in the morning.

More from Iceland

Stark then lush. That’s the words for today. It describes the landscape I have been looking at the last week. There are real contrasts here, rolling green fields and desolate, blasted vistas. It’s a beautiful country in many ways. The pictures you see in tourist brochures and magazines are real.

Anyway, what have I been doing? Well, getting used to an Icelandic keyboard for a start. Some great symbols and letters on it. I will try and keep the miss types to a minimum. We have been travelling over a small stretch of coast and interior photographing for “The Books”. I have been trying to do some of my own work (I’m not a rocks and trees sort of guy) and have found a few things that have made me do some work. Most of my time is spent helping Paula Chamlee either make photos or work on her film. The latter has been interesting.

Interesting things that have happened to me. Waking up to sheep surrounding my tent. Seeing Puffins, they are much smaller than I thought. Sleeping next to a glacier and hearing ‘bergs calve off during the night. Learning that the German translation for seal is sea dog. Not having a heart attack each time I pay for something (this is an expensive place).

Need to rush off and find the local laundry. Last chance for about 10 days. Have fun ya all.

travel with a bag full of cameras

Well I am in Iceland, and yes it is cold. Well, any where is probably cold after Hong Kong. London was good, warm (they thought they were having a heat wave), I found it almost pleasant. Had a nice time going from gallery to gallery. The new hang at the Tate Modern is good, few things that really worked and the Rothko room is still wonderful. The Tate was nice, spent a long time in the Turner wing.

What can I say about Iceland. Well for a start I have only been here for two days but yes, at this time of the year it does stay light for close to 24 hours. There is a brief, (2-3 hours), period when it turns to dusk. It is kind of wierd, light at midnight.

We spent yesterday geting organised. Got the vehicles out of the contianer and sorted out a few problems. Spent most of today out photographing. Think I found some good stuff, certainly different to what I have been doing lately, more modernist, traditional work. Will have to see what comes of it.

Anyway, will post more as time allows. Take care all.

... see you soon ...

This may well be my last post for a while, in a couple of days I am off to Iceland. I will be there for about seven weeks and will be traveling with two American photographers, Paula Chamlee and Michael Smith who are photographing for a book/s and for prints to sell.

I have traveled with them before, in Europe, where they where photographing in, predominately, Tuscany. They also run a small publishing company that produces some of the highest quaility photographic reproductions you are likely to see.

So I leave you with this picture. I like it for its humor, especially as it is outside a contemporary art gallery here in Hong Kong.

A random image

a little humour

I don't make a habit of posting links that often (except when they say nice things about me) but this is just wonderful

fruit and animals

Should you ever visit Sha Tin in the New Territories you must make the climb to the temple of the 10,000 Buddha's. I have posted other images from this temple before. Each time I go there I always end up looking at this statue, generally because I am drinking a lot of water.

This, and the next picture are from the old fruit market in Mong Kok (I think, that or Ya Ma Tei). It probably wont be here for much longer, places like this are high priority for the bulldozer and tower block thinkers.



Well, I'm off into the heat to photograph at a place called Tai O, (where the red wall in the previous post is) a fishing village on Lantau that I love. Have a good one.