the write stuff

probably a title that has no doubt been used many times. but it is so right for expressing me at the moment.

writing writing writing

writing my thesis

writing for the museum

writing for my research assistant work

writing my blog … when i need a break from academic writing

i don’t think i would technically call myself a writer, therefore i must qualify that i have also been

researching

kung fuing

exhibiting

photographing

travelling

socialising

loving

booking ( international flights!)

life is full and good …

but i will really enjoy that holiday when it comes

to mum

happy mother’s day!

this is a special post for you since i can’t be up there to give you your flowers in person.

xoxo

miss fitz

the crowd is his element … his passion and his profession are to become one flesh with the crowd.  for the perfect flaneur, for the passionate spectator, it is an immense joy to set up house in the heart of the multitude, amid the ebb and flow of movement, in the midst of the fugitive and the infinite.  to be away from home and yet to feel oneself everywhere at home; to see the world, to be at the centre of the world, and yet to remain hidden from the world … the spectator is a prince who everywhere rejoices in his incognito … thus the lover of universal life enters into the crowd as though it were an immense reservoir of electrical energy.  or we might liken him to a mirror as vast as the crowd itself; or to a kaleidoscope gifted with consciousness, responding to each one of its movements and reproducing the multiplicity of life and the flickering grace of all  the elements of life

charles baudelaire, ‘the painter of modern life’, figaro, 1863

as i’ve was going through some polaroids the other day, i came across these that i took in november last year in fitzroy.

i was in the midst of a flurry of polaroid shooting and, as i walked through fitzroy from carlton to get home in the afternoon, it was often my subject. i loved strolling down the streets, knowing i was on my way home, caught up in the joy that is finishing work, with all sights and sounds of brunswick street around me.

soon after this i started working in the city most days, so began to only see lovely fitzroy from a tram window as i zoomed (or crawled) through. i could often go a week without going there at all. maybe a quick coffee, popping into a shop for something or meeting a friend for dinner. but that’s not the pure joy that you get from walking down a city street with other individuals adding to the buzz.

the idea of flaneur has long been associated with urban & street photography & baudelaire has often spoken to me as a photographer, a historian & a lover of cities. these photos made me remember that this is how i felt when i walk about in fitzroy at the times when i have no purpose other than to soak up the atmosphere.

so when i looked at these i realised how much i miss this daily stroll, how much i miss fitzroy.

so yesterday, when i finished

when i finished work, i got off the tram at the start of brunswick street and did a flaneur’s stroll from one end to the other.

it was lovely.

how sweet it is …

i was sitting on the tram on my way home tonight and thought

despite being rocky at times

life is very good

there is so much to be glad about

 like hugs & kisses, photography, nerdy sci fi shows, friends, laughter, learning, amazing sites, travel, animals, babies, family and so so much more. oh and …

 delicious treats

&

cherry blossoms

&

 polaroids

signs of hope – ume

this post and its title is was inspired by today’s shutter sisters’ post signs of hope. the gorgeous  photo of magnolia buds reminded me firstly of a polaroid i took of magnolia buds on gertrude street in fitzroy last spring.

quickly a few connections occured in my brain – i’d also taken pola shots of the plum blossoms in both fitzroy & preston. plum trees abound around the streets where i live in preston. i have several in my front and back garden and am so excited when they start to flower. this is because they look & smell gorgeous and i love to photograph them but also, come november, we’ll have a glut of plums, enough for us to make jars and jars of jam, as well as keeping all the birds that flock to our yard very happy.

more soberly however, they made me think of japan, where the plum (ume) blossom is one of the first signs of spring. the japanese apricot/chinese plum/prunus mume is a species of plum and one of the first trees to flower in the spring.

they have deep importance in japanese culture and are found in parks, gardens and shrines throughout the country. a number of ume matsuri are held in japan at this time of year, including at the yushima tenjin shrine in tokyo and kairakuen garden in the city of mito in ibaraki prefecture, close to the pacific coast where the tsunami hit on friday.

in the disaster that has hit the country, perhaps the ume blossoms will be some small sign of hope for them.

sweet things: polas on show

hello all! i’m back. i’ve been having a wee break from the web 2.0 world since early december – no tweeting, no flickr, no blog reading! this was all for a variety of reasons mainly business:

a. i went to new zealand for 10 days. it was part work, part play. i friends in auckland & tauranga (bay of plenty), as well as going to the contained memory conference in wellington. the former was restful and good for the soul, the latter was mind-blowingly inspiring!

b. christmas in brisbane with family after a week back from nz. lovely and restful, great to see my family. lots of dvds watched on my parents gigantic new flatscreen and harry potter at gold class. it rained the whole time, which made it hard to go out but it forced me to relax. unfortunately, as we now know, that rain turned into devastating flooding that affected so many in queensland.

c. new years. four lovely friends came down from sydney and spent the week with us. it was so much fun! i worked the whole time, including new years day but we had plans for a nice quiet dinner with cocktails and drinks at my house. everything went to plan … except for the quiet bit (i was in bed by 1am, the rest of them partied all night!)

d. exhibitions! yes … plural. i’ve been doing back to back exhibitions for the last few months and feeling a little exhausted by them all. i of course already blogged about the m.a.i.d. show in october at the owl & the pussycat, richmond, as well as my solo show, feria, in november at chiquitica. for the last month i’ve had six polaroids up in the annual small works show at brunswick street gallery. i was so pleased with the way they worked out i have to say! they included some that you’ve seen before and a few new ones, including the two above. you can see all the images on my small works exhibition set on flickr. they’re a nice little mix of foody treats and images of two of my fave spots in fitzroy for being foody - sonido & alimentari. there were so many gorgeous works in the exhibition in all types of media … i was so tempted to buy … but could not make a decision what to buy! i literally just pulled these off the wall today, so apologies that i made no effort whatsoever to promote it or tell anybody about it at all. but … i promise i’ll keep you up to date on the next lot coming up very very soon … in two days in fact … eep!

chiquitica

remember my first post and that girl in the yellow dress and how she was part of something really exciting?

well it’s all happening now! i’ve just hung a solo exhibition at a new gallery space called chiquitica at SONIDO! cafe on gertrude street in fitzroy (in melbourne, australia).

i’m exhibiting five of my images from the san telmo market in buenos aires that were shot on film last year. i’ll do a longer post after the exhibition with all the images but you can read about the show on the chiquitica gallery page.

the pola shot above shows the front of the cafe & is the last of my ’roid week shots that i promised to show you in my last post. the cafe opened on gertrude street several months ago & is owned by columbian couple carolina & santiago. SONIDO! is an oasis on gertrude street with fixtures, great tunes on vinyl & amazing coffee all sourced from south america. they also have great arepas & empanadas, inca kola & other south america goodies for those missing the continent’s fabulous food or wanting to discover it. 

they’ve had some great reviews & mentions since they opened, including from the age, fitzroyalty, agenda, opulent, fat belly club & pieces of victoria wining & dining hotspots. SONIDO! has fast become a gertrude street fave & they are a saviour on sundays when no other cafes along that west end strip of the street are open. (try the arepa with huevo if you’ve had a big saturday night!)

for a while they’d been wanting to open a micro gallery space along one of the cafe walls, featuring artists that focus on south america in their art. after a conversation about my photography one morning they asked me if i’d like to exhibit first. yes please! soon after they also asked me to manage the gallery space, which i’m very excited about. i’ve lined up artists for december 2010 & january/february 2011 & am now considering artists proposals for the rest of 2011.  it’s all very exciting & i’m sure i’ll write more about it in the future!

you can keep up with both the cafe (& gallery) news on facebook & twitter.

polaroid love – part one

across the road, preston, 2010, © nicole davis

i have three exciting photography projects in the pipeline right now, two of which involve polaroid photography.

i have been seriously taking photographs for several years. i only vaguely remember where my polaroid fascination came from. one day, somehow, probably via flickr, i stumbled across amanda’s wonderful blog. it struck a chord with me as we were both from the same suburb in sydney (glebe) & had recently moved away. i also bought one of her polaroids of glebe as a reminder of home. the photo is, coincidentally, a shot of the window of a vintage shop owned by my friend & i spent many lovely hours in there chatting & having tea. 

i was newly arrived in melbourne & was finding it hard to find my place. gradually i discovered & was inspired by some amazing polaroid photographers like kat, andrea, emilie, francesc, jenifer, dave, anne & many many more. i dreamed of getting my own vintage sx70 & scoured ebay & etsy to find one that i could afford. meanwhile i avidly browsed flickr groups & blogs dedicated to polaroid, read all about cameras & film online, followed the progress of the impossible project, even buying packs of atz film (now sadly gone!) before i even got a camera.

meanwhile i began an apple a day, a 365 project using my iphone & polarize (a fake polaroid app). it was important for me to do this project as i hadn’t been taking photographs for many months after moving to melbourne. so this began as a way of getting back into photography & exploring the possibilites of polaroids through a digital medium.

one day i finally found my beautiful baby on etsy & waited eagerly for it to be shipped to australia from the states. i unwrapped it with glee & couldn’t wait to snap my first photo – with some trepidation as the camera was bought untested. i finally figured out how to get the film cartridge in & snapped. the camera clicked & whirred then spat out a photo. my heart lept! i agonised as it developed & turned it over so i couldn’ see. a couple of minutes later i peeked. damn! it was so dark! but it was nightime so i thought, hmmmm, i’ll try again tomorrow.

the next day was a beautiful sunny melbourne day & as we wandered to the tram, with my new precious in hand i wandered across the road from my house & snapped a beautiful rose … & when i saw the result my pola heart lept!

since then i’ve had a mix of great successes & great failures (usually when trying to photograph in anything resembling low light). but now it’s all coming to fruition … more about that tomorrow!