Sweet Dreams

Photography Club at Monash University is something that I'm thinking of becoming a member of but I wonder how much of the members work is similar to these photographs I'm showcasing here. I've seen some wonderful effects taken when using multiple exposure shots combining landscape's with portraits as well as shots of floral fields and portraits. I've got the cameras with the capability and tools including film but the real question is, do I have the guts to take the proverbial leap of faith?

I love little tin toys and things made in miniature; while horrible plastic things are good too including My Little Pony figurines as well as Polly Pocket but I can't think that toys from the 1940s made of tin in exotic lands such as Japan are a whole lot better than the mass-produced junk that's coming off the factory lines these days.

From accumulating heaps of Lomography items I can also create such a vibrantly coloured photograph as this one above but in the instances I do want to photograph skylines of buildings I prefer to use a reliable SLR camera such as my Minolta of Canon AE1. It's just good to have a little peace of mind to see what it is I am photographing but still have the unpredictability of the film and lighting doing it's magic and creating a bit of a romantic vibe to the image.

I'd love to visit New York myself and luckily for me there is one of the sister university campuses located nearby, the stature of Liberty seems so romantic as well as iconic of freedom and I'd love to take a cheesy tourist photograph. It doesn't really matter what you look like when posing in one of these since it's a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity really.

Some of these hipster-like photographs have such a surreal quality about them, I mean honestly, who sits around in their garden having a shower using the garden house. Still though, with a body like that why not flaunt it off and show it off to the world. Makes me wish I was an apt photographer and also that there weren't any water restrictions in my country, darn drought.

I haven't yet mastered how to use my cable release or indeed, the timer functions of my analogue cameras but there's always that worry about the focus not being correct if you step into a pre-focused frame. But in the grand scheme of things, that doesn't really matter when using film photography since each frame captured is unique and wonderful.

Differences Between Me and Cool Kids

Since I'm pottering about the house and being anti-social, I'd like to put together some facts about myself and the distinguishing features of cool kids that will lead you, dear reader to come to the conclusion that this is the blog of the lamest person on Earth. For one thing, cool people either host or get invited to costume parties where there are drunken hook-ups and people acting without inhibition and I have never been invited to a costume party (or crashed one) and have never been drunk. I've barely been tipsy when I drink alcohol but that's because I don't really have the intention of making a fool of myself.

Cool people are often skinny and attractive, wear layers of make up to school and not a lot of clothing when they go outside. At the age of about fourteen and fifteen they wore leggings as pants with white socks they wear to school with cheap canvas shoes and mid drift shirts because they have a flat stomach and at the age of about sixteen or even younger they may engage in the activity known as belly button piercing. At the age of eight when I got my ears pierced my mother made me promise never to get any other piercings aside from my ears and since she's the kind of person to hold a grudge for years I am bound to keep my word.

Cool people often can perform amazing feats and tricks when using their mouths and tongues such as tying up long strings of lolly such as snakes into knows, blowing bubbles using bubble gum or chewing gum and are fantastic kissers due to their promiscuity and rebellion against a traditional romantic relationship. I had my first kiss at age sixteen, have only ever had one boyfriend (although to me he is pretty cool, the bees knees as it were) and cannot perform any cool tricks involving my mouth and food. There is the disappearing act in which I swallow, digest and process food but that's nothing too special really.

Through years of breeding with other cool people, a race of super cool people has been perfected in which they are immune to the painful blistering at the back of the heel caused by popular culture combat boots by Dr Martens. The last recorded appearance of my combat boots on my feet was the day was followed by an incredibly painful blister and a few days of limping hap-hazardly around the house.

Many cool people pursue university/ college education in which they will spend three years or so earning a white elephant degree such as an Arts degree or possibly going to art school and living vicariously through selling bad drawings and paintings.While some are educated in practical trades and more complex subjects, some remain to practice the photographic arts and have mastered the use of multiple exposure shoots as well as using fisheye distortion lenses.

Lots of cool people have dogs and or cats that they don't bother to discuss in everyday conversation and they also contribute very little to the quality of life of his/ her pet. There are people like me who have one or even both parents opposed to the possession of an animal fearing they are dirty and flea-ridden or who have had a multitude of rabbits or other small pets in their lifetime. People like me spend their time talking about what their pet rabbit chose to eat on that particular morning as well as ignoring all human life when meeting a four-legged friend at someone else's house.

 

Youth

It seems mankind is always doomed to long for something they can't exactly have; the young can't wait to grow up and the old miss their youthful days when their bodies were fit and spry. I'm a little all over the place myself, one day I'll feel completely content with my situation but I want the year to hurry up as well and take place. I'm excited for the possibility of meeting new people and studying somewhere different and new as well as seeking new places of employment, earning cash on the side and continuing to blog when I can. When I was stressed and maddened with worry for exam results I wished I was younger- back when I didn't have a care in the world and my parents would dress and take care of me. But it's nice to be partially independent of myself and my own affairs too without having to pay for my own Internet use yet. That's not something I eagerly anticipate.

I think it's a little strange though that soon my teenage years will be over and I'll be turning nineteen this year. Coming even sooner is my boyfriend's twentieth birthday. I already knew by the age of about fourteen that I would never have enough coordination to learn to skateboard for myself and that I was too big a dork to get a boyfriend who could teach me but it was always something I wanted. At my current age, I should be more focused on practicing driving and getting my hours up so I can finally get my probationary license.

I certainly won't miss the pain and misery associated with clumsy childish actions such as falling off of playgrounds, tripping over and painfully losing bits and pieces of my skin everywhere. Even when I'm not that badly cut though I still think it's fun or at least therapeutic to wear a band aid- more for the mental side and reassurance rather than any anti-sceptic care it may offer. I've never really been clumsy enough to slip and cut my skin while shaving my legs and for that I can be thankful for.

While the march of time has progressed, it seems that fashion has gently regressed and favours vintage touches such as Peter Pan collars, floral shift dresses as well as vibrantly coloured leggings. Mind you I'm not complaining- I openly embrace such fashion trends and the beaded collar look when combined with frilly socks or even Doc Martens. While there are plenty of treasures yet to be created and made, there are also things to lean from the past as well and second hand shops tend to have the more favourable price tag if you know where to hunt; if you catch my drift.

Another skill I failed to master was being able to blow bubbles using bubble gum which means I miss out on recreating dreamy and romantic feeling photographs such as this one. It would have been nice to maybe undertake in a self-portrait shot of plaits and a long flowing tartan skirt while wistfully blowing bubbles on a desk but I'll just have to wait for another idea to come across my mind- something that's actually doable for me. Unlike skateboarding, there's less of an age associated with blowing bubbles and I could try within the privacy of my own home but I'm sure there's a vital element I've simply overlooked. I usually get my kicks and fair share of tongue and mouth exercise from kissing these days anyway.

I have managed to make my own fair share of daisy chains- while the prime time for such a task was not in Primary school I did manage to waste away an hour or two making chains of small flowers while sitting on the school football oval at lunchtime, out on picnic dates with my girlfriends as well as using them as en affective prop and item for the attention of a camera's lens such as the image shown above. I never managed or had enough patience to make something as startlingly long and romantic as this daisy chain but I might. I always seem to get too itchy and sneeze while sitting on the grass to be able to last that long though.

I seem to be moving away from my old days of childhood and doing more adult things- last Saturday night I went out into the city to celebrate a work friend's 18th. My first drink bought at a beer garden/ pub/ club was at the hands of my boyfriend's brother; I really didn't see that one coming. They were only small girly drinks though, it's not as if I've managed to take whole swigs from bottles and I certainly don't like wine or champagne. I'm more into vodka stirred in with my Up & Go... alright I'm not entirely grown up yet.