Thomson Street Foodstore Mural

Community, connections, conversation.

Wominjeka. I stopped for a coffee at Thomson Street Foodstore while I was out walking for my daily exercise and had a chat with Simon who was adding to the Mural on the side of the building. Simon is Indigenous but his family is part of the stolen generation and he was brought up just about as white bread as I was. His has been a journey of learning about his history and making connections to culture. Mine has been a process of unlearning the racist, sexist, homophobic culture I was raised in in a Queensland country town.

Simon works at the cafe as well as being an artist involved with Cork and Chroma in Collingwood (when there’s isn’t a Pandemic mucking things up). The mural was originally inspired by Ailsa who lives close by and who is also responsible for a lot of the native gardens surrounding the cafe as well as the bushfood that grows in the courtyard (again, when there isn’t a pandemic in the way). I didn’t meet Ailsa but will keep an eye out for her on future walks.

More familiar with a canvas, this is Simon’s first in situ art work. His contribution on this day is a version of the Three Wise Monkey’s - Hear, See, Speak. We need to hear what our First Nations People have to say. We need to see them, their history, their culture. We need to talk with them, to understand. The overall message of the mural seems to tie in nicely with the recent Black Lives Matter protests. I’m sure Simon could give a more detailed explanation and if he stops by the blog he might leave some info in the comments? Or better still, if you’re in the area, stop and day g’day, he’s more than happy to have a chat and explain the many facets of the work and the symbolism . One word that stands out is VOICE and the power of art in communicating is evident in this work.

The colour palette was chosen in part to depict the many colours of skin and to not judge a person or their history, heritage or culture, based on the colour of their skin. As a white skinned indigenous person, Simon’s experience of his Aboriginality is an ongoing journey to connect to his history and culture.

The youth in the area have been invited to be part of the mural by adding their hand prints and this was an important part of building community and education.

The mural is on the corner of Thomson and William St in Northcote (it’s actually in between Fairfield and Dennis stations but technically it’s Northcote). If you’re out exercising in these Covid times, put this on your route and call in for a coffee and check out the artwork.

PS. The coffee’s good too.

(Note: If I’ve said anything inappropriate I’m happy to be corrected so I can learn and make changes. Please let me know in the comments or send me a message via the website. Thanks)

Gardens and Their People - Heide Museum of Modern Art

I was just starting to venture out and explore places again and then we were locked down in Melbourne for the second time. Oh the freedoms we take for granted!

I recently headed off on the deadly treddley to meet an Instagram friend. It felt a bit like a blind date or an internet date. We’d only chatted over Instagram, we liked similar things, lived on the same side of town and decided to meet, with cameras, at Heide. It was so nice to sit and have a coffee, with the now social distancing and sanitising lotion for the hands a familiar ritual. In Day 3 now of the second Covid-19 Stage 3 lockdown, sitting at a coffee shop is one of the simple pleasures I’m missing greatly.

The 16 acre Heide grounds In Bulleen, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, contain an art museum, a cafe, heritage-listed gardens and a sculpture park. It includes the original home of John and Sunday Reed and a rich history of Australian Art and Culture. On this day I visited the cafe and strolled through the Kitchen Garden and the Wild Garden around the original homestead. There’s much more to see and it’s well worth a visit when Melbourne opens up to outings again. https://www.heide.com.au/

The walled garden which is delightful in other seasons, didn’t have a lot happening in winter, so we headed up to the house and the kitchen garden. It was a hum of activity with staff and volunteers catching up on a back log of weeding and mulching after being isolated and the kitchen closed. Part of the garden is undergoing a reconstruction so it will be interesting to see the changes we can get back out again.

We chatted to Alice, pictured below, who works in the Kitchen Garden and had lots of interesting bits of information to share. I mentioned that my brother was into Veggie Gardening in Toowoomba, Qld, and has his own YouTube channel and my Mum was an avid ornamental gardener and as I currently don’t have access to a garden I live vicariously by photographing other peoples gardens.

My partner Steve mentioned trying to get a community led conservation type program happening in our neighbourhood but the local council doesn’t provide any support to set it up or coordinate it, so Alice mentioned guerrilla gardening, where locals band together and just do what needs to be done. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes!

The Kitchen Garden supplies fresh produce to the Cafe so eventually we wandered back down and enjoyed a delicious Calamari lunch with a glass of wine. Everything is closed again now for at least 6 weeks of Covid-19 Stage 3 Lockdown. But oh, how nice will it be when we can get out and about again!

Gardens and their people - David and Hannah

I’ve been on a mission to find all the little street libraries in my neighbourhood and so it was that I discovered David and Hannah on one of those glorious sunny, blue sky Melbourne winter days. There were no clouds in the sky today but the silver lining of lockdown #2 is that one of the essential reasons we can leave the house is to exercise. I just happen to take my camera with me for my daily walks. David just happened to be in his shed making a second little street library box when we stopped to check the selection at 21 Tower Ave, Alphington.

Each little library has its own style, personality and genre. David’s has very high brow and meaty content but also a sense of humour with the roll of ‘Emergency’ loo paper, which in these times is good to know. I didn’t see any romance or light and fluffy here. I’ll give you a link to other libraries with other genre’s soon, although maybe the the library being built will offer a different selection.

David said the Street Library has been up for about 6 months and he runs it with Hannah. We roused Hannah from a snooze in the sun to come and say hello. She’s a 14 year old German Shepherd. David and Hannah’s Street Library is registered and if you want to find out if there’s one near you, you can search on the site. https://streetlibrary.org.au/ . There are other, unregistered libraries that choose not to register and I’ll be sharing some of those soon.

David and his Street Library

Steve checking out the Obama book.

Hannah coming out to say hello.

https://sharewaste.com/

Hannah and her Street Library

You can find the Library and Sharewaste at 21 Tower Ave, Alphington.

As well as the library, David also hosts a Share Waste site. What is Share Waste, I hear you ask? Good question. I’d never heard of it and you can find out more here. https://sharewaste.com/ . This is what they say, “We connect people who wish to recycle their kitchen scraps with their neighbours who are already composting, worm-farming or keep chickens. Now you can divert waste from landfill while getting to know the people around you!”
As we were talking we were interrupted by Troy and Clio from the next street over who had come to deposit their scraps in the Compost Bin along the side fence. They stopped for a chat and said they’d been adding their waste to the compost for about a year.

Steve and David discussing the local flora and fauna.

Troy and Clio sharing their scraps for the greater good of the planet.

It’s a great way to help the planet and meet the neighbours at the same times. Clio depositing scraps while Troy is hiding.

Hannah is 14 years old with a bit of arthritis but is a lovely friendly soul. Stop in and say g’day.

While I was walking...

Late one afternoon on a cold and gloomy day, I was at home feeling tired and snappy. I donned a coat and grabbed the camera and walked around the block. I moved to Fairfield earlier in the year and walk these streets often, but always on my way to a destination. This time, I had no goal other than to clear my thoughts. The first thing I noticed was the house number on the dilapidated fence a couple of doors down. 41. I don’t know if I’d call it a lucky number but it’s a significant number for me, and whilst I’d always been aware of the fence (in an otherwise orderly street its precarious state and the ramshackle yard it fronts is intriguing), I’d never noticed the number before. It was somehow reassuring.
I kept walking and looking around. Front yards, letter boxes, rusty gates, fences, trees, flowers, leaves, bark, porticos, arbours and architectural features.

The light was fading. I made it home just before the rain came down.
I can’t do mindfulness, but I can do this. I think it works just as good.

Have you been for a walk around your neighbourhood with a camera lately?

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While I was out walking... Darebin Parklands

I've been staying in Carlton North for over 7 years now and last week I discovered a new parklands just a hop, skip and a jump away from me. Darebin Parklands is a hidden gem. Melbourne never ceases to amaze me with its abundance of parks and nature reserves. You can easily forget you are living in a major capital city and imagine you're out in the bush in the middle of nowhere.  

So this morning, before the 42degree temps hit, a mate and I grabbed our dirty great big lenses (70-200mm) and hit the track to try our hand at a bit of bird photography. Neither of us are particularly keen on bird photography, but we figured it would be good practice. And we were right. It's bloody hard! 

You need a lot of patience, some pretty good camera skills, a bloody long lens (I had a x2 converter on the 70-200), some good light and a nice background. And did I mention lots of patience? Oh, and a good bit of luck too.

My mate got some cracker shots. But she's one of those uncannily gifted people that can easily make the rest of us think we should hang up our camera's right now. 

I kept getting distracted by bugs and berries and the light on the grasses and things other than birds. It's a great place to go for a walk. Straight down Separation St and you're there. Check it out. 

Student Profile - People and Portrait Photography

Would you like to take better people and portrait photographs? RMIT have introduced a new 4 day intensive course that starts 11 Dec. Mon to Thurs, 9 - 4. 
Join me as I guide you through equipment, lighting, location selection and technical considerations for formal and environmental portraits, studio and street photography.  Clck HERE for more info. 

Peggy Chow

The following images were taken by Peggy as part of her final folio in the 8 week People and Portrait Photography Short Course. Read more about Peggy below.

What camera are you shooting with?
I am shooting with Fujifilm XT10

What's your favourite lens?

Fujifilm XF35mm f2 is my go to lens. 

Is there a lens you wish you had?
Yes, Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f2.8 R LM WR

What's the hardest part about portraiture for you?

Capturing the soul of my subject. 

What did you enjoy or learn or like the best about the People and Portrait class?
What I enjoyed best about attending People and Portrait class is that I get to push myself and test my own boundaries after every class in order to finish the task given. 

How old are you?
29.

How/why/when did you get interested in photography?
I was always into photography but I never took it seriously and didn't pay enough attention to really learn. I only really started going back to photography seriously after a bad break up, so it has been almost close to a year now. 

I like how I can convey my feelings into photographs and looking at a good photograph that I took gives me a feeling nothing else can.

Why did you choose to do the people and portrait class at rmit?

I trust RMIT to be a good place for education, big or small. 

What's your next photographic project?

I'd like to gather my grandmother, my mom and all her sisters to take a ladies family portrait.
I'd also like to work on a series that show the way our generation live our lives, mainly attached to technology. 

Would you like to go pro one day or is your photography strictly for fun?

Photography to me is mainly just a hobby or my creative outlet but if one fine day I could go pro, I'd be really glad to be able to finally make it. 

What do you like to do when you're not taking photos?

When I'm not taking photos, I like to go on Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration, read up some quotes or watch some videos and listen to music. 

Working or studying? (More info?)
I'm working as a barista so I make coffee all day everyday. 

Where did you grow up? (How long have you been in Melbourne?)
I grow up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I've been in Melbourne for 3 years. 

Will you continue with portraiture or venture into other genres?

I'd like to continue with portraiture, especially on street portraiture but I would also like to try other genre's to open myself up. 

Do you have any portrait tips to share?

A good brief with your subject before shooting and chat em up to release some tension. 
 

You used a digital camera for the course but I know you shoot film also. How did you get into shooting film?

I used to own a Diana F but never got around to using it because film to me was too much hassle. 

But when I started taking photography seriously, I wanted to improve in a different way so I decided to try film.
Fell in love ever since then.

What camera do you use for that?
I have quite a number of different analogue cameras but my favourite one is definitely Nikon F3. 

What's the biggest challenge with shooting film?

The biggest challenge with shooting film is that I need to have a lot of patience and the fact that there's no screen for me to look at. 

Is it very different from shooting digital?

Definitely! The limited frames that I get from shooting film makes me shoot a lot slower, to really stop and think before shooting. Besides, the result of the pictures won't be available until (at least) a few hours later.

Anything else film related that might be of interest to share?

Film in my opinion is making a comeback and if you're interested to giving it a try, Filmneverdie is a good place to start as they have a film walk almost every month.