Monthly Archives: October 2007
Portfolio v1.1
It is a day work of adjusting web portfolio. This new version is viewed better with 1024×786 screen resolution.
One task is ticked off before the big trip to Thailand. However, there is major hiccup with the equipments. The 18-70 mm lens has decided not to work. It has been to the service with the same problem twice since it was accidentally dropped last year. It is likely to be the time for a replacement. No time to decide and no money to spend.
Portfolio Launch
Finally, I have got an web portfolio.
Special thanks to Lokesh Dakhar for Lightbox 2, a wonderful javascript that let browsers beautifully show the images.
First Published
I cannot remember how long ago I have not googled myself until last night. Amongst the usual associate and photography sites, one surprising result is from Google Books. Thanks to this new beta version of Google search engine, I have found my first photograph published in a book.
Apparently, one of my good old rainbow lorikeet photographs is an illustration in a scientific book, Extinction & Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Bird by David W. Steadman. I gave the permission to use the image in the book two years ago but thought that the author was not going to use it because I had not heard from him since. So I forgot about it.
Although the black & white version in the book blanches the colourful feature of the couple from the original web version and, in fact, they are not captive animals as captioned, I feel honoured that it is a part of an epic research of birds in the region.
Sprinkled across the tropical Pacific, the innumerable islands of Oceania are home to some of the most unique bird communities on the planet, and they sustain species found nowhere else on earth. Many of the birds that live in this region are endangered, however; many more have become extinct as a result of human activity, in both recent and prehistoric times.
Reconstructing the avian world in the same way archeologists re-create ancient human societies, David Steadman—a leading authority on tropical Pacific avian paleontology—has spent the past two decades in the field, digging through layers of soil in search of the bones that serve as clues to the ancient past of island bird communities. His years of indefatigable research and analysis are the foundation for Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds, a monumental study of the landbirds of tropical Pacific islands—especially those from Fiji eastward to Easter Island—and an intricate history of the patterns and processes of island biology over time.
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Dr. Steadman came across the image through the Web as well as I discovered the book from the same channel. It is a wonderful world of the Internet.
Go Vegan
For a good cause, I decided to fast for the occasion of Phuket Vegetarian Festival and Stilgherrian was also loosely on board. During the Fast, we were not supposed to consume any meat or animal products. So, no favourite steaks, fish, eggs, dairies or alcohol for just over a week. To be very strict, you have to purify the mind as well as the body by wearing white, meditation and so on. I did not go that far. It is not too hard to find vegetarian food in Sydney but to get a strict vegan dish is a bit tricky.
If I was back in Thailand, where the cult become mainstream, the vibe would help me get through the period and I would feel cleansed at some level. Here, it brought me back the questions about living in the modern world as we try to make sense of everything these days.
- On the surface, it is definite healthier not to have something to block your artery. But does that lift your spirit off the ground if the deed is focused just on yourself?
- In developed societies, we are bombarded by trillions of different products trying to get our attentions. How could we find what we really want and need without them telling us so?
- In every religions, limitation of choice is one of the path to enlightenment. Why do we consume everything what we have in front of us so quickly?
Any answers?
Waif
Waif from ApostrophePong on Vimeo.
This work is pretty much the same content as Red Sofa, exhibited on Marrickville Art Prize 2007, but different medium. When the print was commented at the opening night that it cried out loud to be a moving image, I could not agree more. I am happy to take that on board. And here we go, another short films collection of dumped stuff on the streets of Sydney after Anywhere Chairs.
Image Makers, Image Takers
Image Makers Image Takers by Anne-Celine Jaeger is basically a collection of insightful interviews of living legends in photography business. That includes the big names like Martin Parr, David LaChapelle and rising stars such as Alec Soth. And the list goes on.
But what I like the most in this book is the section she involves a number of major curator and photo editors of our time, for instance, Camilla Brown from the Photographers’ Gallery, Kathy Ryan from New York Times and Gerhard Steidl from, of course, Steidl.
Although this second part of the book is smaller than photographers’ dialogues, if gives another spectrum of this huge medium. The great thing is to hear from people who get to see photographs as a profession in depth. I want more of them.
BrightCove VDO
Sick of YouTube? Here is Brightcove lets you have more control you shared video over the Internet.
Portfolio 02-04 from ApostrophePong on Vimeo.
This the video I made a while ago is a compilation of my early photography. It started off with point-and-shoot camera then I found a medium that I could express my relationship with the world. Look and see how things change.
Edit (4 February 2016): Brightcove changed their services to corporate years later. The embed video is now from Vimeo.
Zirkus Slide Show
My little project on Sleaze Ball is being exhibited as a part of Sleaze Slide Show nightly from 7pm onward from 4-14 October at Darlinghurst PhotoArt Space, 76 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst.
This is another exposure on the commercial gay street of Sydney. I am very pleased with my nine-minute slice of over-half-an-show slide show amongst other talented photographer:
- Viteck Skonieczny
- Kristen Elsby
- George Voulgaropoulos
- Markham Lane
One interesting thing, even though night event photography is not my strength because my gears are not the best for low light situation, the producer, Robert McGrath, edits my shots differently from my selection. For example, it comes to my surprise that he prefers to put this blurry take on the slide show in stead of the sharp one.
He actually asked me at the media meeting that my style still involved shaky movement and I confidently nodded. I still do not regret deleting that image when I was being criticised in the party, though.