Monday, June 13, 2016

the power of mundaneity

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the power of mundaneity is a phrase i throw around pretty regularly these days and that in itself is why i must rant about it now, before it too is lost to the mundane.  The phrase first began to rear its bland, ugly head when i started to realise that achieving my dream of shooting photos around the world was in fact the worst thing I could do for that dream..  This post is already riddled with too many contradictions for even me to figure out whats going on but i'm going to keep ranting on because nowadays this blog has become more mental-therapy under the not-so-subtle guise of pseudo-textual exhumation than it is for photo exposure and that's what i've always wanted but i've held onto this idea of self-representation that definitely still exists in some realms of my work, thankfully not this one.  Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is I never realised how naive i was to think that achieving a major life goal was essentially the beginning of the end, the same way i perceived university and completing it.. something i tried multiple times but never followed it through.. and when my experience grew within the realms of what were just figments of my day dreams from yesteryear i began to realise that things were only enjoyable for as long as they are new and exciting.  Or at least the level of enjoyability that I planned to adhere to, my parents always called me the apparel man, but that was essentially a monetary extension of my youthful restlessness demanding new experiences because new thing are exciting and happiness only exists in memory, and with that the contradictions seemingly carry on...    

But back to the power of the mundane: realising that taking photos around the world was actually something I wished not to continue was without a doubt the most shocking reality check i've had to date.. the death of transients.   How could the thing i wanted more than anything else become dull and dangerous to the underlying element that defined my passion for image taking: being forced to explore for the sake of new imagery, new locations therefore new experiences therefore happiness...  and in the case of the notion that happiness exists only in memory, what better way is there to be happy than to store memories in the most highly defined and visual pleasing manner??  Hence my love for photography, but perhaps also hence why i know don't really like the thought of travelling to take photos for money, i still love travelling, i still love taking photos and i dare say i 'still' love money but together these things can't compute.  The concretion of this idea came late last year when i gave myself the ultimatum to continue doing it or to try and travel, take photos and make money without relying on each of those aspects as a single motion, and i'm doing it, it's fkn stressful too, but i'm forcing myself to achieve some form of income that i consider more rewarding than taking photos around the world so i'm naturally having a really really hard time.   I've ulcers in my mouth and palpitations in my sleep but the real world is a hell of a place and to be quite honest i've been living in a dream land for 26 years now..






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Sunday, June 5, 2016

introspectagram

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Instagram is taking much of my photo concern as of late, trying to understand the platform, the audiences and the producers, be it photos, video or the act of 'selecting.'    It's not my first dig at instagram, i first dug into it a number of years ago out the generally undeniable need to document that which rings true in most of my actions, that's not to suggest i'm constantly taking pictures, sometimes i wish i still did, but other times i love the freedom i'm now afforded to pursue other epic things in life.   I dove into instagram 3 years ago thanks to a hand-me-down smart phone and revelled in the documentary.  

That journal, @maxicasj, saw my travels through my phone and i'm so glad i kept at it because without it i'd not have a cheeky lil log of every continent on earth- bar antarctica.  As phone's became sharper and screens larger the proliferation of serious image taking on instagram set in force the culture of post 2010s photography because now people, the population- not just people who were intrigued by photography- are given ample access to this rad art form..  I do now regret avoiding a serious [SLR] account back then instead of riding my presentation high horse, but had i done so i wouldn't have this brick of photos which is allowing me to post upwards of 3 photos a day and enjoy the fact that i'm not posting work that someone has paid me for but not yet used, the burden of exclusivity..  It's fun but i'm pretty disillusioned by the lack of context in my posting however my main qualm is that the audience are not particularly photographically concerned, nor are many of the curators, so at the end of the day quality photography is being taken over by the designers etc, i dont wanna whinge about this, i already did that in my previous post.

Since working with the application of Landyachtz social media I began to intrigue myself with the potential for exposure of my real photos.  It wasn't until the beginning of April that i finally bit the real photo bullet and it was the overdue realisation that i could post directly from my dropbox app to instagram that was the catalyst to all of this, who knew the cloud could be so handy... :/

if you've not noticed, i only just noticed so i dont expect such a thing, but all these notions i've just spoken about highlight my historical perversion to modernisation and photography and perhaps living itself.   It was not until very very recently that I came to terms with the importance of adaptability as without it i'll just get left behind, be it in picture taking or business or catching the bus cuz on friday, riding to work through torrential rain, i ploughed into the back of a car and totalled my motorcycle but I am completely fine so that was rad!!  lets hope i dont get $moked by their insurer because at the end of the day it involved a council bus and they have blanket right of way, even though i've head that there's an epidemic of alcoholism [i don't blame them in the sense that they cop shit all day long even thought they're just there to help, but on the other hand they're responsible for up to 50 people and bus v car has a pretty standard outcome...]  p.s. if you're reading this council lawyers don't tear me for calling them out pls, im just butt-hurt cuz my most favourite toy ever is in the bin.







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Rachel Bagels in the San Bernadino Mountains, California.  She's quicker than most dudes and has the style to match.







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Cooper is solid on all fronts.  Malibu, California.




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1jb /  Obi wan Janobi was our South Korean tour lord and far out i've never met anyone that stoked let alone that infectious when it came to good vibes.   Dope pavement on a switchback run by the DMZ, South Korea.




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Billy Bones the king of lux diving inside as we skated down to this afternoon's watering hole.





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Dexter Manning, future world champ.



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Kyle Martin, still my favourite skater, forever one of my favourite dudes to tour with.






I love these last two shots because they are of Patrick Walker, who is rad and kind and FAST and i hope he beats the world one day.


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Thursday, June 2, 2016

it's sad but it's true and to be bitter about it is to condone creative genocide




"It’s ironic that as photographs have become easier to make and there are more photographers than ever before- making more photographs- the pictures are worse." [source]

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A 70 year old photographer, Neal Rantoul, 40 years teaching photography at a university level- writing about the photographic establishment distancing itself from ubiquiitousity in order to protect their idea of the professional. At the end of the day, every person making a living from this trade feels threatened and I dare not to think about what's to become of this 'art' once RAW is available to the camera phone... In my opinion it's a final step in the reduction of photography by those willing to manipulate reality whilst comfortably under the guise of authenticity which photography somehow still implies. But this sense of giving-up on skilled photography is the only part of all this that truly enrages me because it's these preachers of Deceptionism that are promoting the death of professionalism and I don't know if they realise this but if they do it seems that they don't care, which doesn't surprise me as we are truly in the age of getting paid in likes by parasites that leech off the hard work of the people that are out there making the photos. The worst part is they self-glorify the role of 'selector' which to me just implies their photos aren't good enough to find the social success they crave therefore they turn to stealing better people's work and not only get away with it but make money off it.....?! I feel the future of photography will be bifurcated by those who express through art-theory and those who express through manipulation and this I've come to terms with, however I do feel the need for clearer definition of photography and digital art as to promote digital art as it's own form of art and not one of deception.
The only real way to 'save' the professional is to make film viable again as it STILL has greater resolving power than my $3500 camera [I honestly think this notion is ridiculous but anyway..] However we must consider the development in post-production tools that so effectively grade digital to look like film- which is fkn crazy because no serious photographer considers grain a good thing.... It detracts from one's ability to create sharp images and is something they relate to desperation [not the desperation of trying to look like you shoot film but the desperation of needing to shoot a photo in light conditions which are technically impossible because you've still got 400 in your body] And don't get me wrong, I know that this is merely a dream, for example just last year, Australia's most comprehensive film lab was purchased by my friend for $5000.......... enough equipment to turn over the entirety QLD's professional requirements... Oh and that Big-W's nation-wide developing equipment was worth so little to Fuji that when Big-W shut their developing services Fuji just sent the equipment to the dump........!?!!!! Nowadays, all facets of 'the act' are taken control of by the programmers developing the algorithms, not the chemists nor the AMO Physicists. 3.5 years ago I spent $13,000 on equipment, today I'm doing the same job with the skeleton of my former camera bag, thanks to breakages and losses, because the evolution of post-production takes consistently greater leaps forward than that of purchasing a new camera body... But it's okay! This is evolution and this is why I'm stepping away from using my camera to chase an income, because the futility of professionalism is not something i wish to fight for. I'd rather have food security than fight a loosing battle against technology and besides, taking pictures for your self is way more rewarding than making money from images you don't agree with.






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Brisbane CBD









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These Vanlifers lurking around Transylvania instilled in me much envy.








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this is a light farm in the Mojave desert and I dont think i've ever been so gobsmacked by something man made, the beautility of light control is something that obviously fascinates me to the core.









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Delivering drinking ice from the mainland to baby our first world bellies....







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standing atop North America's highest dune was suprisingly terrifying, i dunno if it was vertigo or that with each step you started falling sideways as the sand gave out from under us but i wasn't super comfortable..










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Behind me a Super moon, before me a limestone plug, beyond that the rising sun. one of my first adventures with my future wife.








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minor crags of Fire Valley, perfectly human sized.










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sunrise on my favourite road in the world: Transalpina, Romania.









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sunset from my second favourite road: the ol fishing hole, Malibu.