Stranger photos have happened

So its no secret I love (really love) taking photos.... Other things that fall under the category of things that I love are bikes,making new friends and human decency, and low and behold this pretty picture above has rolled all those wonderful things into one!

How you ask? Well I'll tell you (and I'm pretty excited about it) Its all due to the genius of a man called Jay. He tied a disposable camera to a park bench in Atlanta with a sign that read...

"Good afternoon I attached this camera to the bench so you could take pictures. Seriously. So have fun. Ill be back later this evening to pick it up. Love, Jay"

The human decency part kicks in when he went back earlier that evening to not only find the camera still there, intact, but full of photos by random strangers! How freak'n awesome is that! Click here to check out the Atlanta, Georgia edition of "Stranger Photos have happened" and stay tuned for a camera near you, and when I say "near  you" I mean if you live in Cronulla, Sydney Australia keep your eyes peeled!

Woo!

The latest from Jen Gotch

God Damn that girl can take a photo! 

Check out her "My Polaroid Blog" by clicking here

Lego camera

Ok... so on the freak'n awesome scale whats the one thing  that could possibly be more awesome than the Lego Issue Polaroid?  A camera BUILT from Lego of course! Needless to say I want one purely because it will look pretty on my shelf at home....

Click here to find out more.

"Stranger Photos have happend" - Cronulla

A oldie post but a goodie! more soon from hey you say cheese!

Don't you love it when your faith in humanity is restored when you very least expect it? All it takes is for a random stranger to smile or say a kind word... not that my faith in humanity was shot to sh*t or anything dramatic like that - all though I do think the world would be a better place if we smiled at strangers more, got together for milk and cookies in the afternoon before laying down for a little nap, kindergarten style.... but that's another story.

Yesterday I posted about the Aussie version of Stranger Photos Have Happened and while I was excited people were taking a keen interest in the project... In the 30 minutes I observed from afar I noted how self conscious some people were. Seems that was some what of a rash generalisation and I some what misjudged you human race... and for that, I apologise.

I went for a run yesterday evening planning upon my return at about 8pm to swing buy and check the camera, thinking after what I observed earlier that day I may need to leave it out for another 24 hours... As I was checking the camera a man in his mid 40's was running by and said

"your out of luck love, its out of photos - I tried to take one before. Great idea though isn't it"

I just smiled and we quickly went our separate ways, but I beg to differ with you kind stranger... I appear to be quite in luck, not out of it as all 27 shots on the camera were taken.

I pick up the film today so stay tuned people x

Olive Cotton

How awesome is Olive Cotton! Pretty snazzy if you ask me... a short but scandalous marriage to non other than Max Dupain had her running his studio during World War 2, Her understanding and proficiency with both light and form was undisputed and she had a eye for composition like no other....

Now tell me your not impressed.

Bush fires rage through Victoria, Australia

You look at photos such as the one above and you think. Shit. Natures harsh isn't she! - or something to that effect...but I'm sad to say I don't think nature  did this... The word currently being kicked about on the mea streets of Melbourne is Arson... Arseholes more like it, they got the first three letters right ill give them that.

You'll have to excuse me for swearing like a sailor, but given my mum lives in between the two biggest fires that are currently burning across Victoria, and knowing just how fast a fire can travel and having seen one jump the Hume Highway as a kid I'm kind of pissed off that some idiot thought this was a good idea... Who in there right mind gets there kicks from dropping a match on the whole thing? and when i say the whole thing i mean the great state of Victoria. 

Homes were lost, lives wore lost, or at the very least, changed forever... and for what? some cheap thrills? I'm getting all teary watching the news coverage every night from the safety of my lounge room, i can only imagine what the man behind the lense of these photos was thinking..... a tough day at the office indeed.

Feeling a little helpless, like you want to do something but don't know what? Click here to make a donation, any donation, every little bit helps.

The Woodchopper By Cry Bloxsome

I'm reading this book at the moment called The Wood chopper by a fella called Cry Bloxsome. Its weird and a little wacky, but also a little bit wonderful too, Its about a fella called Ziggy, who's brother, Hero, was the captain of the west coast eagles, and in the first 10 pages, drowns off the coast of Perth. The bigger picture is a little more sinister and is filled with conspiracy theories, the study of synchronicity and serendipity and all the rest...

But that's not my point...

My point is its got these sporadic insights into life that just jump off the page and punch you right in the fucking face. Here's a extract just to get you hooked.

"Ziggy was visiting Hero's old girlfriend, he put his instant-coffee mug down on the TV guide. The decor of the suburban home mildly disturbed him., their high school had only ever given lectures on peer pressure in relation to smoking and fucking, it never warned anyone that their peers would convince them to become miserable shit coloured drones with the same dreams, obsessions and taste in interior furnishings"

I couldn't agree more. Live everyday how you want to not how your supposed to.

You can read more of Cry's work, and purchase his independently published books if you click here.... actually no, just to mix things up a bit click here instead.

Interesting Read. Interesting human.

The new year. A time to party right? Bolting from one Chrissy drink to the next, double, triple, quadruple booking yourself in on Saturdays to various family functions and backyard bbq's... generally running yourself ragged. 

Then you think for a second what if you didn't? 

What if you took yourself out of the game for two weeks, I'm not just talking switching off your mobile phone and cutting back on the coronas, I'm talking disappearing into the wilderness, letting the world swallow you whole, just to find yourself again, when you wernt even really sure you needed finding in the first place?

Johnny Abegg did just that - a "social experiment" if you will, to see, among other things, how he reacted to being alone... Click here to expand your mind and find out more.

Bring back the Legoland Special Edition Polaroid

I've researched my arse off and cant seem to turn up a iota of information on the Legoland Special Edition Camera released circa 1981 (Anyone, anyone?) 

There are a few floating around on eBay.... and i wont lie to you, I want one and I want one bad... but they don't come cheap, oh if only i had a lazy 600 bucks lying under my mattress*....

*I don't in case you were wondering

Here comes the sun

This weekend i did nothing but swim in the ocean and lie in the sunshine and read my book - Just like i said i was going to do! I also cleaned out my wardrobe where it came to my attention that I not only have in my possession, but wear, more of my grandma's and great grandma's dresses than I do my own. A realisation I was quite happy to have.

After all they just done make things like they used too.

The photos above where taken with my Construction Pro 600 Polaroid camera. Word on the mean streets is the reasoning behind both the name and yellow casing is because sometime in the late 60's, early 70's there was a high rate of Polaroid cameras (commonly used on construction sites) falling from vast heights and knocking out unsuspecting workers below... Bring forth the special edition "Construction Pro" made yellow so, and I kid you not, workmen could see it coming!

Bernard Salt

Thats the name of the iGen loving, Gen Y hating moron that inspired me to write "Where has all the Gen Y love gone" below.... doing some googling on the subject I was somewhat relieved to find out this gentleman is just green with jealous rage and not much else...

Click here to read the article he wrote for The Australian Newspaper in 06.