A Moment Shared with a Happy Dad

Happy Chatter Shares the City Square with the Birds 

(Parramatta Square Sydney Australia April 2015)

Strolling around the public square in the "suburban" city of Parramatta in the west of Sydney today, I came across this guy who seemed to be all alone, although the square was actually quite busy (the sun being out after several days of heavy rain). 

At the distance I was from him I couldn't see the expression on his face, but I liked the scene and made the picture. As I walked past him, he looked up and actually laughed. In such cases I always speak to the people I've shared a moment with. Here is our little conversation.

Me: Thank you (pointing to my camera to tell him I had made the photo)
I just loved the way you looked as if you were concentrating hard on your phone" (mimicking his pose).

Him: (laughing some more) I am just having a chat with my daughter"

Me: Well thanks for the photo, and have a good chat with her"

Him: (laughing again) Thank you

Nice eh? A great little moment shared with a dad who was so happy to be talking to his daughter, and was so proud to let me, a stranger with a camera, know about it.

One of the reasons I am a street photographer.

Peace

One Day You Will Remember Me: Street Photography & the Truth on the Street

One Day You Will Remember Me (Melbourne Australia June 2014)

Allow me to introduce you to Elias. I met him on the street in Melbourne a few days ago. I'd spotted him out the corner of my eye, and as is my habit when encountering people who appear to be homeless, I smiled, waved and walked on by. But, before I got more than a meter or two past him, Elias called me back.

"Take my photo," he said as I approached him.

I replied that I don't usually photograph people who are homeless.

"I'm not homeless." was his answer.

I asked him why was he laying on the street in such weather (it was rainy and very cold).

"I have a place but I come out every day, trying to make people happy,"  he told me. "One day you will remember me and one day you will remember God through me." Then he told me again to photograph him, arranging his Star of David pendant just so, as he spoke.  So I made this photograph, showed it to him and he approved.

"That's a good one," he said and smiled his thanks.

Afterwards I asked him his name and he told me it is Elias. He also told me that he is a Jewish prince. When I said that I didn't know there were Jewish princes, he simply replied, with a smile on this face:

"Well, I am one."

He refused to take any money from me and just repeated that one day I would remember him and remember God through him. 

Is Elias really a Jewish prince? He told me he is, so he is. Will I remember him "one day"? Well he told me I will, so I will.  As a street and social documentary photographer, it is not my place to judge the things people tell me, or for that matter, the 'reality' they show me through the viewfinder of my camera. Life on the street, life itself, is what it is.  Sometimes the truth is plain to see, sometimes it's hidden beneath the surface or behind masks of various kinds.

 But, at the end of the day, on the street there is truth and really the best way to see and experience that truth is to remember that, while we may weigh up the facts of a situation, a story or whatever, there will always be truth hidden there whether the facts add up or not.

PICK OF THE WEEK: A Little Light Flirting

A Little Light Flirting (Perth Australia December 2013)

I've recently started reading a little about the French Humanist photographers. In a nutshell, after World War II, French photography began to focus on the "ordinary people" going about their daily lives. It was a way to celebrate humanity, to find a new view of the world after the horrors of the war. Of course, there is a bit more to it than that: for example there are several "categories" or types of images that are defined as being humanist photography as expressed at that time in France.

At this stage, I don't feel I know enough about that particular movement to write too much. But, for this week's Pick I have chosen an image which fits nicely into one of the "categories". While I can't for the moment remember the exact label used, the category includes images of young people courting (I think that this could be where the tradition of photographing people kissing in Paris began).

It is a joyous sight to see. Two young (or not so young of course) people courting or, as we like to say, flirting. These two are clearly attracted to each other and the image appears to suggest that they are going to be much more than friends before too much longer.

Of course, like any photograph, this one is open to interpretation; the "real" story could be totally different from the romantic one I have presented here. But, to me at least, it's pretty plain to see what is happening here.

Humanist photography focuses, obviously enough, on humanity. Humanity and the way we behave, the way we communicate and the stuff we do in our so-called ordinary lives. Well, as you know, I am famous for saying that there are no ordinary moments. Nor are there any ordinary people. In fact this photograph records what to me is a really rather special moment: that small space and time when two people find each other, when they both realize that the attraction is mutual, and when the possibilities, at least for that brief interval of time and in that space (which for the moment has become all their own) seem to be endless.

Peace

PICK OF THE WEEK: On a Tour to the Temple (and some other places)

As you will know, we're in Bali. So, for this Pick of the Week I couldn't resist posting an image made here. Just yesterday in fact. On a tour we went on for the day.

We are not great fans of tours, preferring to do the looking, seeing and experiencing on our own terms and in our own time. But, now and again, we feel the need. Tours can be okay for getting to out of the way places, to see the things we might not otherwise be able to and to get a kind of a general overview of where we are. So it was this time: we just felt a bit disoriented in terms of where we are and what's around us, so we booked the car and driver for the day to take us on the "No. 7" which was a day long tour to three temples, a palace, the beach, and through some very beautiful rice terraces and small villages.

Now, as you can imagine, tours don't necessarily present the best street photography opportunities. But, sometimes there is a scene that pops up and just asks to be photographed. This week's Pick is at a temple called Goa Gajah, also known as Elephant Cave Temple (apparently the carved entrance you see here looks like an elephant). It is an extraordinarily beautiful spot: gorgeous gardens complete with palm trees, lily ponds steep steps and ornate bridges, all surrounded by dense forests. And there is of course the cave temple itself. Just a few minutes before I saw this scene, I photographed the man in the photograph filling his water tank in the bathing pool, normally reserved for prayerful ablutions, and actually quite beautiful in its own right.

I say "normally reserved for prayerful ablutions", as if I mean to say that such mundane and "practical" matters such as filling a cleaner's water tank don't belong in such a holy place. While that was my first thought, it then occurred to me that this was wrong thinking. Why? Well, what could be more prayerful, more holy, than to gather water from a sacred pool to use for the cleansing of the temple guardian which this carved wall represents? It is an act of significance and of immense spiritual value.

But, what of the rest our the tour? Well, it was interesting; the countryside was so very beautiful and we got to experience a tropical thunderstorm in the "Mother Temple" at the foot of a holy mountain. Also, we now have a better idea of where we are and what else is "out there". Overall though, I would say that tours are still not really for me. Except for the Elephant Cave Temple. This place was the highlight of the day for me and will, I think, remain vivid in memory for a long time.

Meeting Scotty on a Sunday Morning Sidewalk

Let me introduce you to Scotty. I was out on the street early today, and so was he. Not too many other people about on a Sunday morning at just before nine. Not many with coins for the minstrel; not many passersby for me to photograph and share a moment with.

Scotty Singing on a Sunday Morning Sidewalk

(Armadale Western Australia February 2014)

Well, yes there were the Sunday morning "let's read the paper over breakfast" crowd in the cafes, but not too many people actually on the street. So, as I walked by, I shouted out to the guy singing and strumming on the sidewalk:

Me: You're an early bird. What's that expression?

Scotty: It's the early bird catches the worm.

Me: That's right. Have you caught any yet?

By this time I was standing next to him and we kept on chatting.

Scotty: Well not really, but you know I used to have a worm farm. I know how to do that! 

(this said with a laugh)

Me: Really? They're a great idea aren't they?

Scotty went on to explain how he kept a worm farm going through the hot summers and how he used the worms for fishing. Now, being a vegetarian, I can't help but go "Oh" at this kind of thing.

"Well, you know, I used to feel pretty sad about them myself sometimes," Scotty said, clearly picking up on my vege face.

"But those worms helped me feed my family," he added. We agreed that we all have to do what we have to do and sometimes it's not always how we'd like it.

We talked for quite a while. I learned a little more about him. He joined the navy at 17 and "saw quite a bit of the world". Now, he's a man of the road, a nomad. A lot like me you could say.

"I'm a free man," he told me. He went on to explain that his busking allowed him to eat well and he move freely wherever and whenever he likes.

"I put my tent and a few spare clothes in my pack, grab some food and water, and I'm right for a few days at the beach. I just pitch the tent in the sand dunes." Scotty has seen a lot of Australia in this way. And while he's at it, he's bringing a lot of joy to people in the street with his fine voice and guitar playing.

We chatted on about photography (the pros and cons of digital vs film, photoshop vs a traditional darkroom for working on photos), the various places around the world we'd both visited, and a lot of other stuff too. As you do on an early Sunday morning sidewalk.

Then I asked Scotty if he'd mind me making a photo of him. He didn't mind and, while I focused on making the photographs, he played an instrumental. Very groovy indeed! I thanked him, we shook hands and said our goodbyes. He started up a new tune and I turned my camera towards the now more numerous passersby.

PS I gave Scotty my card and he told me he uses the internet in the library sometimes. I told him to look me up sometime. I hope he does.  If you see this Scotty, I hope you like it mate!