Bicycles - 5 sleeps to go ...

A bicycle racked, with its partner, beside the Museum of Contemporary Art, at Circular Quay, yesterday afternoon.

Sipping riesling as the ship pulls away from the shore

If you recall back to Friday, I was taking you on an introductory tour of the new wing of the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Mordant Wing, donated by Simon, a businessman and philantropist. I pointed out the fourth floor sculpture garden where I could see people with something cold in their hand. I promised to take you up to see what THEY could see.


They saw variations upon this. I left about 730pm and the scene was becoming more beautiful as the twilight deepened. The cruise ship was the 'Regetta' which was playing '40s swing as the passengers sipped bubbly on the deck. Then the public address indicated that they were steaming over to Papeete, and out the harbour it went.

Wonderful sight. Just glorious. And my riesling went down well, too.

Seniors Snap & Click

Ferdie was acclaimed for the best portrait. I have this theory, that the longer a couple stays together the more they come to resemble each other. I see a resemblance in character between Ferdie and his subject. His subject was sitting down at Circular Quay last Tuesday week.


Although I forget her name, I will not forget her joy and her enthusiasm on having her photograph acclaimed for composition. She was so chuffed at getting off 'P'.

And below is the Tuesday group of Seniors with yours truly. Now, I seem to have the task of contacting all by email and sharing the shots of the ceremony. If only one or two of us keep getting together for shooting expeditions it will have been well worth it.

Look at me ... look at me

In front of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), I was lining up the park benches and the gnarled trunks of the peppercorn trees, when this chicky-babe strode across my stage. She knew I was setting it up; she knew she would be in the frame. So, I adjusted my expectations ... with this result.


As I wandered between the benches, shooting along and across, alternating directions up then down, she acknowledged me and hoped she had not gotten in my way.

Wasted on the young

Love is lovelier The second time around Just as wonderful With both feet on the ground It's that second time you hear Your love song sung Makes you think perhaps that love Like youth, is wasted on the young Love's more comfortable The second time you fall Like a friendly home The second time you call Who can say What brought us to this miracle we've found There are those who'd bet Love comes but once and yet I'm oh so glad we met The second time around. Sammy Kahn & Jimmy Van Heusen (1960)

Seniors' Week - Keeping the grey cells ticking over

Getting old is a lot of fun. A lot of fun if you are physically active. A lot of fun if you are mentally active. These two attributes work in tandem to keep one young. Yossarian would be proud of that!

This week is NSW Seniors' Week and I have been celebrating/participating for two weeks already. Where are the rest of you?


The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) down at Circular Quay, and the Australian Centre for Photography (ACP) up here in Paddington, have been running three parallel photography workshops for seniors over three weeks, four hours each workshop. This week is the final workshop, where they walk us through Photoshop. Friday coming is our exhibition at the MCA. We are encouraged to submit 5 shots. I have shown you some of mine over the last few days.

The top shot today is panning with a slow shutter speed, and narrow aperture. My stats were: F18, 1/15, ISO100, 55mm. The jogging figure should have been frozen ... but hey ...

Tom is our tutor from the ACP, and Jill is one of the other participants. Each workshop has 10 seniors, so 30 of us all told.

Taboo

In her exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Annie Liebovitz contronts the taboo of death head on, and with a clear eye. She stares death in the face twice: once with Susan Sontag; and, again training her lens on her dying and dead father. I was accepted into a three week (three day) photography course for seniors at the MCA, and our first session was a tour of the AL exhibition with two experienced guides. The most emotion and discussion arose whilst viewing this category of image.


Some of my classmates were confronted, some were disgusted, some were outraged, and yet others wounded personally. Some could not look and walked off to look at the shots of Kidman or Jagger, instead.


My father is not dead, but he is into that final straight. In three months he will be 90 - if he makes it. Today he mostly slept through my visit. He took a few mouthfuls of a ripe plum. Ate one piece of Cadbury's Dairy Milk. Took the tiniest sip of lemon Solo through a straw. But mostly he slept as I stroked his forehead, or rubbed his hand. His eyes fluttered to see who it was. Let's hope he is stronger on Monday when I next visit. This is selfish of me, for I know he does not want to be stronger.