Apples are NOT the only fruit.

Today is not a great day though it’s no way as bad as Saturday was. Saturday was the day after my laptop’s Hard Drive decided to die without even saying goodbye first. I mean how rude!

I managed to lose EVERYTHING! Well, OK not everything but everything recently, which includes my thesis (note my entire thesis!!!), most recent photographs not yet backed-up, readings and all my business docs. So I am mad and I am sad… there is no glad….. at all.

Apple have been about as useful as tits on a bull. This is the second Apple computer that has died on me in the last 16 months. And before you even mention the words ‘back-up’, let me just say that I do. Just not every single day of the week – I mean who the hell does this??? OK, other than my stepdad who is an official computer geek.

So, I’m now writing this on a Windows machine (which btw has yet to crash on me). I’m being bounced around various Apple tech-heads who are all very un-hopeful of the prognosis though one did mention that it could probably be recovered…. for a small fee of $2500!!!

I feel like I’ve lost a limb and even though I’m embarrassed by my own reaction to all this, as anyone who uses a computer to keep their work knows,  it’s your heart and soul that gets stored there.

Please spare a prayer for my little friend.

RIP Penny Lane

Dusting off and Knuckling Down…….

I’m officially on holidays – as a Mother anyway. Kids are off having adventures and I’m facing a looming (actually 2 month overdue) deadline for the first chapter of my thesis. I’ve bravely attempted to face the music this very afternoon, and even progressed somewhat, only to realise that it’s BIG and I’m…. well, I’m umh….lazy. Well to be fair, I did manage to turn some piddly notes into a structured and rather coherent argument (at least until I re-read it tomorrow!). At least I can look forward to completely unstructured 2 weeks which means lots of photos, writing, catching up with mates, movies etc…. Well, that’s the idea anyway.

Here though, is the kind of thing that sidetracks me – oh so easily – from knuckling down to the words. It’s an online magazine that you can make yourself through Issuu. For some reason you can’t embed the magazine into WordPress Blogs? Very annoying but here is the link anyway. Bit of a work in progress……

And lastly a photograph of my little sista and her number one boy (ain’t mummy-love grand?):

Brothers and Sisters: the Unbearable Lightness of Siblinghood

Siblings are strange things. Most of us have them or are one to someone. The uncanny – and perhaps slightly freaky – thing about siblings is the codified behaviours, the funny habits and the more obvious physical likenesses (all of which by my observation aren’t necessarily confined to those who are biologically related.)

There are a bzillion studies out there that investigate the idea of ‘sibling culture‘, both within the contexts of kinship and society. Some are interesting, others use boring, made-up words that are simply too taxing for the brains of someone who isn’t Einstein. So whilst the science of siblings is being advanced by those who seek to know, I’m finding that photographing them in the context of art and perhaps even anthropology, is far more interesting and in many instances, very telling.

What do you think?

Katya and Mikayla

Meg and Lizzie

Liam and Rory

Kim and Louise

Charlie and Pia

The depiction of siblings in art has a long and ancient history. One only has to take a stroll through any Art institution to find examples of the complex yet rich relationships between brothers and sisters. Whilst not quite as fond a theme as the depiction of Mother/Madonna and Child, it’s getting seriously close.

To my eyes at least, it makes for interesting observations of sibling behaviour. Now, if only I can get my kids to stop chasing, punching and yelling at each other, perhaps they might stand still long enough for a photo….. in the same shot do you think?? Mmmm…. nevermind, it’s a trick question.

NB. Check out this TIME photo essay about “famous siblings and their sometimes fractious, sometimes harmonious relationships.” Interesting…. ah, la famiglia!

Blog-Monsta in a Blog-Ocracy

One of the things that I enjoy about blogging are the very democratic virtual encounters one has with people from – quite literally – all over the world. Our common point of interest is quite obviously, photography and the small email exchanges are a Nice biscuit moment at the end of a weary day.

Throughout my cyber-walkabouts I am still finding little gems which I often simply add to the Links section but sometimes, they deserve a better mention. Here are two fab finds from my latest expedition:

Aaron Ruell

Aaron Ruell, aka Kip in Napoleon Dynamite, is about to release a book called Some Photographs through Nazraeli Press. The interiors are beautifully nostalgic and despite the cinematic (as opposed to documentary) underpinnings, his portraits are like visual lollies. Kitsch rocks!

And ………… Henrik Duncker, a Finnish photographer who sums up his latest offering Relating Latvia here:

I love the forlorn suggestion of these images – there is a sweet melancholy in what Duncker has chosen to picture. His earnest exploration of a new culture brims with a longing to understand new familial relationships against the broader context of both history and place….. and what a poetic love letter it makes.

Light Leaks, Amongst Other Things…

Opening tomorrow night in Northcote, Melbourne is a show that I have some work in at Kerala Art Gallery. If you’re down south of the border, do go along and check it out.

And just for kicks, I will be curating my first group show to be held in July – in conjuction with the Vivid Photography Festival. Here are the details:

Suburban Zeitgeist: ANU Photomedia Postgraduate students

10 to 18 July 2008. Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturday, 1pm to 5pm
Curated by Lee Grant, this exhibition explores the eccentricities of suburbia within a globalised world. Familiar suburban landscapes are transformed into a strange world of peculiar subjects that defy notions of suburbia as a place of banality and uniformity. ‘Suburban Zeitgeist’ includes the work of Kaoru Alfonso, Thomas Cliff, Rozalind Drummond, Clem Baker-Finch, Ursula Frederick, Alexandra Gillespie, Cindy Godden, Lee Grant, Brian Jones, Lucian Leon, Frank Lindner, Judith MacDougall, Janet Meany, Tim Thomas, David Wills and Carolyn Young. This exhibition will be held in the ANU School of Art Photography and Media Workshop, 1st Floor, Building 105, Childers Street, Acton.

And, to top it off, have been invited to show in one of Martyn (Jolly’s) gigs called Parade: Manufacturing Selves – an exhibition exploring new modes of self representation, also to be held during the festival.

After the slog of the new year, things are beginning to look up!