Light Steps

Here's another man at work. It's hard to see him, but the feet are there - right below that duck's beak.

You can sure carry a lot when most of it is air.

Is there philosophy in that? Perhaps.

I wanted to say to you lovely people out there in my life, thank you. Thank you for checking in here, for being there, posting comments, sending emails, generating good vibes. Please know I wish you light steps in your life. Peace.

Man at Work

This larger image make get a little lost on the small screen, but that's sort of the point. All that space and quiet and water of a rice paddy and the lone farmer field. When I settle down a little I plan to put a bunch of images together into a blog series called Men at Work. This trip I've taken a lot of photographs of men, which is a change. In my work that's more personal, I always work with women.

I'm not sure what that's about, but that's half the fun.

Thanks to Made, who made this experience so sweet. Made thinks I always use the word beautiful, but that's only when I'm visiting his country. Cheers to saying beautiful a little too much.

School Drop Off

Motorcycles are the mode of transport in Ubud. I rode on the back of one myself today and felt right at home! Relaxed. No seatbelts, no airbags, no nothing I consider essential at home. I think it's fascinating to see how a place can change you so quickly. The traffic here is crazy, no lanes, no lights, just lines of concrete full of trucks, motorcycles, cars, chickens, the occasional tree jutting into a lane, and dogs. So many dogs.

Here is a father at morning school drop off. He brought the dog with him - why not? And at this moment, another dog came along to say hello. When I took this photograph I didn't even notice that had happened. So much happens, and so quickly.

An Offering

The text is funkified right now as I travel. Won't say much here in case nothing shows up like that last post, which was funny, btw.

Oh well. Gotta go with the flow when you're bouncing around this vast world.

Love to Jill who turned us on to this place and pointed us in the most mesmerizing directions.

Easter Flowers

Easter is in the air in Australia. It's a major holiday, with everything closed for Good Friday and Easter. Hot Cross Buns. Eggs. Chocolate.

Yesterday afternoon I saw a grown man, a guy of about 25 or so, straddling an orange raft in the river. That was cute enough, but then his girlfriend passed him a headband with a pair of white bunny ears. He happily put them on and the cute factor became insane.

Anyway, about these flowers here. They are unreal, aren't they? Such beauty and strength and color. Wowza. I saw them at a crowded outdoor market and had to stop immediately. I
couldn't buy them because they just don't pack well, you know. So I photographed them and then Margaret Grose (thanks, MG) told me all about them. They're called King Protea and are, if I remember correctly, the national flower of South Africa.

I wanted to post a photo of the fox bats for Marissa and Tyler (hello, hello, my dears), but it just didn't seem appropriate for the holiday. Those bats are coming, though...and so is Ringo Terrick. OMG.

Royal Things

The Royal Post in Parkville is the sweetest spot. A great brick building, these post boxes, and a woman working there who'd make you think you were way way way out of town and not living in a city with five million people.

These days they've got a massive amount of stamps with the new royal couple on them, William and his bride to be, Kate. No one is buying, however.

No one's interested in them, the post mistress said. Maybe everyone will leave them alone.

Well, that comment prompted a discussion of Princess Di. Sad she won't be there to see her oldest marry this month.

That Gas Pump

Old can be better. 'Nuf said.

Gliding Into Goodness

Here's a beauty in every way possible. Sarah. Graceful and smiling and happy to demonstrate some moves she learned as a former figure skater. I met her while she was putting on her rollerblades outside the Royal Exhibition Building, a glorious Victorian beast of a building.

It turns out she's a baker and a cook at Abbotsford Convent. I'm still grasping what the place is, but this I know so far: the convent has been converted into a collective that includes education, artist studios and galleries,wholesome food, yummy coffee, an old gas pump, gardens, yoga studios, a super cool guy named Ringo and more - much more than I can list here and more than I got to see during my short visit today.

Thanks for the kindness, Sarah, and thanks also for the chance to skate a little myself and remember how excellent it feels to glide, to remain light on my feet.

Holy Week

Today at twilight I went back to an area I discovered yesterday in my bleakness. I wanted to see the Temple among other things. My new address is Exploration Lane, which is my mantra and mission. Anyway, the five o'clock light was perfect, the Hebrew above that beautiful door created a handsome scrawl, and the elements were all lovely, approachable, and not fussed over or elaborate. Come to think of it, that's a description that defines most everything I see and love in this fine city.

Later, walking home in the darkness, it occurred to me in my vague stupor brought on by weeks of unscheduled time and awayness that passover is coming. Well, yes indeed. Turns out passover began today, and whaddya know, I went to temple to pay my respect.

Monday's Melancholia

Hanging On

It's autumn and the final fruits of summer are just barely hanging on. This lone red pepper in its windowbox struck me as I wandered the quiet lanes of Melbourne.

There's a line of thinking that says every image is a self portrait, and this may be true. Yesterday was a bit of a lonely, weary day on the road. We moved from our cheerful college setting, didn't land easily in the next spot, and my eye began twitching, which is always a sign of suppressed distress.

Still, melancholy creates a quietness, a tenderness, and I will post a few more images that seem to reflect that rich and moody place.

Contagious Joy

Walking down the sidewalk on Swanston Street I heard all this laughter and fun behind me. I turned around to see what has going on and here's what I found - Julia and Kadesh.

When I asked to make a photograph, they laughed even harder, embracing each other and the chance to pose and play for the camera, for an audience. Their friends were joking and laughing too. They kept saying, Ohhh, this is a sign.

A sign of what, I'm not sure, but a sign of love and future togetherness looks like one strong possibility.

Tram Time

A love of all things vintage seems big in this city full of so many young people. Here is a woman on the tram and the only thing not vintage is that little thing in her hands. The style watching is a blast, especially for one who has always loved thrift shopping.

Elegance at Work

Watching Samuel at work yesterday at the most delicious coffee house called Seven Seeds improved my mood tremendously. He was lovely to see, sweet to talk with, and had a certain panache to the way he moved and approached his busy job.

He reminded me of that Taoist saying that goes something like this. A man chops onions. A man becomes enlightened. A man chops onions.

How you do what you do is more essential than what you do.

Magic Happens

The rain had finally stopped. Freddie and Alex walked into their dorm from lunch, chatting and exuberant and approachable.

I asked if they'd participate in a photo. Sure, they said, breezily changing their plans to go inside. I'd wanted to make some photos from a spot by the elevator on the third floor which looks down on this intimate and interesting architectural space.

These images surprised me in a way I think I like. I hadn't counted on the dotted bouquet - part lens, part raindrops on the windowpane - making these images the impressionistic things they are.

If anyone out there is game to do more photographs with me, there is that enchanting outdoor spiral staircase...

Backyard Playtime

Here's a lovely six year old girl I enjoyed meeting this past weekend. She's the oldest of three and full of joy and creativity. I think I've been a busy artist lately, but my output pales next to hers. Within the time I ate brunch with the grownups, she'd created, titled, and hung up for display four pretty wonderful drawings.

When visiting a far away place, even a different city, it's always fun to go beyond the restaurants and public spaces and enter a home. Thanks for the hospitality!

Looking Within

This one is for Campbell and all the gracious hosts at Trinity College. The experience of looking in and through and more deeply makes the world open up, vivified and new.

My gratitude is as boundless as the Melbourne sky.

After the Storm

A lot of songs have been written about what comes after the storm. It's a rich time.

Here's what happened in my current neighborhood after our morning deluge. Around 12 o'clock noon, the sky broke free. Men, dogs, birds, and yours truly came out to experience the transformation.

Feels Like Home

This year I scandalized my neighborhood with color. I painted the front door and porch red and orange. It seemed time to break free of the black or white door tradition. Something a little French Provincial or Italian or Mexican or alive seemed like the way to go.

Finding my color scheme replicated in Tasmania thrilled me, confirmed my decision, and looked absolutely beautiful in the green landscape.

This posting marks a slightly different format, my dear and sweet readers! My daughter thought the images seemed too small. She has a keen eye and is my most trusted editor, so here we go. Always love a little feedback!!

Drive By Shooting

Felt a little more sky was needed after that last entry.

This looks so cinematic you'd think I was planning and photoshopping and plotting out those diagonals. But I was purely letting go. After hours of careful image making at Port Arthur prison, I got in the car and simply looked out the car window at the enchanting, if menacing sky, and the moving contours of the land.

Mark was driving - something I can't handle when driving means on the left side of the road - and after a while, I grabbed my camera, rolled down the window, and began shooting willy-nilly. We were driving highway fast. And there were only about two horses the entire way, so I felt pretty lucky to get one here, and so perfectly planted in the frame.

Sometimes you are given gifts. I count this as one among many in my life.

Sunday Morning

Worshipping the sky is easy for me to do. It's massive, it changes, it carries stories and storms, the moon and the sun. It's mysterious; here and yet beyond reach.

This image is made of the ruins left behind at the chapel at Port Arthur, one of Australia's most nefarious prisons.

Another Twosome

And another one of those couples you just know has spent a lot of time with each other.

Twoness

Here's a picture of my marriage. The his and her-ness of this twoness struck my husband and me as we ambled about in Hobart late one afternoon.

Look at us, I said, we're parked right there.

Traveling with my husband, who is my great friend and navigator supreme, makes our adventures more rewarding. But we have different styles. He's mister map, obsessed with knowing how it works, and I'm more a wandering idiot.

Questions come to him ahead of time,.

Questions occur to me later.

He likes a roof, a clear foreground of green, and a license plate.

Me, I can live with the chaos of brick, the lack of identity, and a horizon of nothingness.

We're just like these Volvos. We love the road, and we know how to travel well together and take space to be alone.

Foxy Fashionistas

Fitzroy is a very cool name that also happens to be the name of a very cool neighborhood I love to visit on a daily basis. From old sinks to vintage dresses to mannequin warehouses, Fitzroy has it. The corporate world seems to be banished from this ramble-damble pocket of Melbourne.

The foxy lady smiling here stood outside a place with vintage Japanese dresses, great boots, and a seriously interesting woman minding the store. I tried on clothes as we discussed French photographers, Helmut Newton, and Bill Henson. Need I say more.

Morning Fences

During a morning walk around a nearby neighborhood I stumbled into some sweet shadow play. The rows of older homes clustered together like little buddies and were often wrapped up with ironwork that reminded me of the French quarters in New Orleans.

I always love turning left or right off the main road to see what there is to see.

Caps For Sale

In keeping with my interest in school kids overseas behold this gathering of caps on very small heads. Red, blue, white, pink, sparkly. It's all there, including the teacher with her practical brown felt cap. Do as I say and as I do.

I did, however, feel a tiny tad pervy looking out my second floor hotel window, lens stretched to the max. But these kids in their caps were a compelling and adorable movie with soundtrack playing outside the opened window. I wanted to capture the round heads that became little lollipops, moving lollipops.

Anyway, watching them was a pleasure that stretched on and on for, no lie, two hours. Talk about a hell of a great recess. A lot of games were played. A lot of inventive stuff transpired.

School's Out

Every school day at around three I seem to be out walking the streets and seeing Melbourne's students all dressed in their uniforms. The part that makes me ache for these girls most is those anklets.

This particular constellation of teenage girls captured my attention as I waited on the other side of the street. I felt like I was watching the middle of a movie.

Guarding the Sky

Sydney's Opera House is a physical and spiritual wonder. From all the photographs I'd seen of this signature building, I'd never comprehended its sculptural construction. The Opera House is comprised of three buildings that play off each other in unison and angular variations that change and shift depending on where you're standing. The dynamic sky is the fourth dimension that joins in the mix, adding even more enchantment and movement.

If I was a more mellow type, I would love this man's job being a guardian of this magical mix of construction and nature.

Biking in Style

What a cool city Melbourne is. Big and full of life and lively folks.

I mean, seriously, look at this bike rider who pulled up along Elgin Street as walked home from a great afternoon wandering in the Fitzroy area. Her outfit beats the heck out of the black spandex wedgie wear I see bikers dressed in around North Carolina.

It turns out, this lovely woman, an artist from Ireland, is like me. She's trying to be braver about making photographs of people she doesn't know. She wants to photograph trends, to be a trend spotter.

Anyway, we had a good conversation about getting up the nerve to ask someone, just ask, go ahead and ask if you can make a photo of them. Usually what I find is that people are happy to be photographed, but how many people can look as happy and lovely as she is another thing all together.

Coasting

There's a lot to say, but not too much time right now to say it. I'm seeing things I've never seen, which is a gift beyond measure. Water and coastlines are a big part of my life, but I've never seen this kind of sheety veil stretch down from the sky to the water, which in this case is the Tasman Sea.

On a recent afternoon I stood on that beach for about two hours as the heavy winds pushed against me and the sound of water and wind silenced everything else.