NOWHERE MAN: Sydney

Showing posts with label Sydney. Show all posts

Snaps from Sydney on E Bay

10th March 2011

My somewhat surly and wholly unkempt alter ego Andrew Stark informed me during a recent late night bout of schiziod verbosity that he has hoisted a rare copy of his 2003 book, Snaps from Sydney up on e bay to be auctioned to absolutely anyone that cares. Now despite this clearly being the photographers best work I greeted this somewhat self indulgent filament of news with a shrug of sinewy scapulas before pulling one of those 'whatever' grimaces made internationally famous by the 1943 game show ace Colonel Klink. Said book is apparently signed (I presume by the author) and the following Photofile Magazine review may enlighten the unsuspecting potential buyer (and just to the left there's an equally informative blurb on one of Bill Henson's publications).

The electronic marketplace awaits good readers, and do be sure to bring along your well swung little hessian sack, brimming to the pull-string with clinking currency - Maltese Lira, Kuwaiti Dinars, Cyprian Piastres, French Polynesian Centimes ... hell, they'll even take luke warm Aussie currency on e bay (absolutely no standards).

So for anyone with a cacophonous clinking of loose change in the side pouches of their lower covering - here's the link to visual gratification

Recent Offerings #4

17th February, 2011.

As the giant, Romanesque dial high up on the Woy Woy clock tower strikes its traditionally slurred and cacophonous eleven minutes past wine o clock, I plunge my free hand deep into the kit bag of hopeful endeavour. Gnarled digits scavenge hungrily in amongst the naïve batch of ‘recent offerings’: sweat forming a picket line of nervous shimmer just above my reddish pouty bits as the futility of everything begins its stark mantra that echoes oh so familiar… “surely there was something just a little bit interesting housed in amongst these neg sleeves of not all that long ago !” …

Photograph - Andrew Stark

White Wall Fever...Carter & Leibovitz

24th January, 2011.

Jeff Carter - State Library of NSW

In between prowling those rutted inner city back lanes in search of emotive imagery (or something) I took time out on Saturday afternoon to squiz at a couple of Sydney exhibitions. And I must conclude that the contrast between the two was both meaty and quite noticeable. For let’s face it, Jeff Carter and Annie Leibovitz have very little in common …

Annie Leibovitz - MCA

Jeff passed away recently; Annie didn’t.

Jeff was a bloke; Annie isn’t.

Jeff has never hung in the Museum of Contemporary Art; Annie currently is.

Annie’s somewhat of an international celebrity; Jeff isn’t & wasn’t.

Jeff’s images are earthy and soulful and I enjoyed his State Library of NSW exhibition immensely; Annie’s exhibition is showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art and last Saturday the powerful air conditioning in the adjoining bookshop was faultlessly sublime.

State Library of NSW
Photo - Andrew Stark

Footnote – Got hassled by security at the State Library for taking photo’s – and as the walkie talkie dude unfurled his best ‘this is really serious sir’ kind of look I could feel the spirit of Jeff Carter slapping his thigh and dancing to the ludicrous irony of banning photography at a photographic celebration.

Further Footnote – Little note to the MCA … Nowhere Man would need to be wined, dined and granted a one on one chat with Ms Leibovitz herself before forking out $15 – Anyhow, I got a fair handle on the show by thumbing the catalogue in the browsy bookshop (where I was curiously asked to wear my backpack on my front – presumably because suicide bombers don’t’ like to see it coming ???).

Jeff Carter -
"Beach Bush + Battlers" - State Library of NSW until February 20th... entry free

Annie Leibovitz -
"A Photographers Life 1990-2005" - MCA (Sydney) until March 27th ... $15 entry fee

Recent Offerings #3

3rd January 2011

I guess I should really set the record straight on these “recent offerings” claims.

The Nowhere Man wanders aimlessly atop the crumbling bitumen streets. He takes just the occasional, often curious photograph – and for what reason he forces down when he does, that little silver button, is a mystery resigned totally to the fulsome inbox of www.Theo.com – the Greek e-God of all stuff unexplainable
(...and also a great place to buy affordable on-line fruit & veg).

The process is a slow and cumbersome morass of repetitive catchupism (word invented – patent pending).
Please let me expand…
Once home from my day’s sidewalk shuffle I toss any resultant exposed film into the specially tailored lead lined draw I picked up for a song back in the mid nineties at one of Pete Garrett’s garage sale’s over on Wedding Cake Island (I’d really hate to lose work to nuclear fallout or something…). Anyway, inside the sheltered draw are a queue of grey canisters awaiting succor like a short n cylindrical gaggle of expectant pensioners, hunched, mouths agape, awaiting the lime flavoured wobble of jelly and ice cream at the Gwen Plumb Memorial Nursing Home’s traditional Sunday lunchtime buffet. Eager little soldiers of tightly coiled TRI-X for whom one by one, an introduction to twenty degree dev’ awaits.

… many many months later I scan the neg’s – a back log approaching 12 months flashes gaily upon the Nowhere Man scoreboard at my most recent glance.

So when I open boldly with the heading “recent offerings” – please factor in the lag.

These pictures are new – however the subjects of the photo’s have well and truly moved on …(no, I don’t mean they’re dead – I just mean they’re not standing where they were when the photo that features them was actually taken – which of course is bleeding obvious but is used here as a gross exaggeration for some sort of effect – something I’m told I do quite often).

So here’s a further 8 “recent offerings”, from which I’m trying to work out whether any are OK … and that’ll take another 6- 12 months to determine !

Photo- Andrew Stark

Photo - Andrew Stark

Pages

Snaps from Sydney on E Bay

Recent Offerings #4

White Wall Fever...Carter & Leibovitz

Recent Offerings #3