About a Girl

Another photo compilation of feminine looking girls with a sort of fierce quality about them as well. From afar you can't really see her hair but in the photograph above she's got normal hair and her pony tail is bright cotton candy pink. I know I have a close-up photograph somewhere but I don't know the model's name; all I know is I love the shoes from afar which have a sort of dominatrix appeal about them but the pink cardigan as well as billowing pink pony tail lend a feminine touch to her outfit. The dark and gloomy setting of an underground car park with puddles too and rough wooden walls is just another quirky touch.

 

I had intended on going in to university to sign up for a camp, but instead I've lined up a range of activities to do for free and centralised around the campus itself. Still, I had my outfit for the costume part all planned out; one of the themes was 'The End of the World' and I was going to dress up as a desperate bride with a cardboard sign of 'Please Marry Me!?' around my neck with running mascara but that probably would have scared off a few people and hence hindered my chances of getting to know people. This photograph reminds me of all the gorgeous and dainty white vintage dresses as well as bridal veils I was looking at last night on Etsy. Instead I have signed up for a nice little festivity in which one of my favourite bands, The Grates will be performing.

I'm so envious of the quality of her hair and the soft textured look about it, also the fact she's wearing what looks to be a rather high quality and pretty floral wreath in her hair. This is the sort of photography I'm most keen to become a part of since I struggle most often with capturing people on film and this black and white effect has simply taken my breath away. Unfortunately the photography club at my university specialises in landscape outings and may not take kindly to my plastic cameras. Instead I'm going to join the vintage and Harry Potter club and attend their parties with camera in hand. Though nothing I take will look as romantic and gorgeously orchestrated as this photograph here.

I love the soft focus of the photograph above, as well as the jagged cut of her fringe. Since I was a little girl I had always had a front fringe but grew it out during high school. It would be comforting for a few days to have the experience all over again but I like the way my hair is when it falls naturally into place. Still, I firmly believe that caps such as the hats from Disneyland in the shape of Mickey Mouse should be worn with a front fringe, other-wise you look uncomfortably bald and realistic. Somehow, this girl has managed to maximise the prominence of her hair by perching her hat closer to the back of her head. Maybe it's a size too small or something.

I've had Polaroid 600 cameras in my possession for a while now but I think I may sell one (to make room for another) and really get a feel for using the monstrous beasts. One if a Polaroid Passport camera and a machine in its own right weighing 1.5kg so I may sell that in favour of another cute Polaroid 600 camera- my main problem is that I have a few rolls of film as well as a stash of Polaroid 100C packets in the fridge that I haven't had the motivation to use of process. I'm hoping to change that small aspect about myself this year.

Since I had dark hair and a lot of it as well as tanned skin I would get away with wearing pastel shades of pink and lilac but a lot of the time I choose not to. I am however in love with feminine accessories such as book clutches by Olympia Le-Tan as well as metal bows in pastel enamel from Gala Curious. It's just a little difficult to let go of the grunge goddess/ witch that leaves deep within the cockles of my heart and abandon black clothing as well as quirky things. It seems that the character of an angsty teen will be sticking around in my blood for a few more years.

Kid's Fun

Life seems to rush at you in the most impossible ways but as you grow up it's all sort of expected really: one day you're a kind going to kindergarten, the next you're in primary school showing mum and dad you're best coloured drawings then it's all posters and presentations in high school then university creeps up on you just as you're relaxing after examinations and trying to enjoy life again. This is just me pottering about and having a quarter-life crisis or something and just wondering when the time got away from me and when I developed into the adult I am with all this free-thought and ideas. Receiving university offers and all that should have excited me but it seems more depressing really that I'll see some of the same old and tired face when I move on to the next stage in life and it won't be everything I've made it out to be in the last few weeks.

For one thing I feel tirelessly obsessed over my weight and compensated today by having three courses of salad and lettuce leaves in a sorry attempt to clean my stomach clean and lose a little weight. I think I liked it better when I wasn't concerned over trying to fit inside tiny vintage clothing and I didn't think so much about impressing my beau or using the numbers on my scales to feel good about myself. It would be nice to eat without the same guilt that I do now, but I guess that's what happens when you grow up with tiny Barbie as your role model and unrealistic stick thin models to look up to.

Something nice about my teenage life and young adulthood is my love of photography and owning my fair share of cameras, my pride and joy being a hot pink Diana F+ as well as a Lomo LCA+ both re-issued by Lomography. While I would have never been trusted with a real camera in my hands as a child and not showing any real promise on school camps at least I have an art to hone now and maybe something to aspire towards. Today I feel oddly empty of all the promising opportunities I thought were lying on the horizon. I'm not necessarily sad, but when one feels such an aching emptiness they want something to fill it up. I'm bashing my fingers against a keyboard myself and attempting to write better words since everything I could have possibly done to get into the university of my dreams is at an end. I'll compromise this year and take up an extra arty course at a TAFE or something since my course can't be as demanding as what I wanted it to be.

 

I shouldn't feel as sad and empty as I do, it's not the end of the world and anyone else in my position would really be quite pleased with what they've achieved and the opportunities they have but I just wish I had more of a brain to succeed or more of an inclination towards arts and crafts. I'm still trying to figure out who I want to be despite being in my skin for the last eighteen years but it's only now that I've sort of got the feeling that everything is starting now and I'm beginning life as an adult. Sooner or later I'll finally have my license and a car to drive and then there'll be moving out, and in my own place without parents and having to look out for myself... It only seems scary because I'll be leaving the life I've always known and taken comfort in and there'll be money to worry about properly for the first time in my life. While everything won't happen at once and I'll gently ease in to everything I can't help but feel terrified of growing up and just wanting to revert back into my childhood and start all over again.

Neon

After posting something about pink cigarettes, I think I'll stick to something I actually know about such as photographing ones face close-up on the macro setting as well as light pink and wildly bright yellow fluroescent colours. I'd love to find a lipstick that looked as good on me as this bright pink and pastel coloured shade- but I've got a different complexion and if anyone saw me wearing such a shade I think I'd be laugh out of whatever building I was in.

Coming soon to Alice Euphemia, one of my favourite boutiques within the CBD of Melbourne is a neon yellow dress with pleats at the back as well as a neat and prim collar at the top. I have no idea when I would ever wear such an eye-catching dress and maybe it's more suited for blonds and red-heads but the shoes have nailed me and I'd love a dress like this to layer up in Winter and really show off my legs. It's by a brand by the name of Ellison and is available now to pre-order when it launches in preparation for Autumn/ Winter 2012 collections in Australia. I can't wait to see it in store.

I don't know the identity of the model shown here but I dig her style- matching pink hair with matching pink lipstick, as well as rocking bare legs (possibly hidden under a pait or tiny shorts or dress), Dr Marten boots and a Beavis and Butthead sweatshirt. I don't even mind the dark regrowth at the top of her head, it adds character as well as the thinned out and uneven shades of pink in her hair created by the gentle curls.

I got inspired by this photograph of thick chained jewellery in hot pink and yellow and it all sort of got-out-of-hand from there. I don't regret anything though because although the jewellery shown here may be cheap and plastic looking but at least I have something to amuse myself, write about as well as a theme to collect photographs of. I'm quite envious of the pink chain wrapped continously around her neckline in a gorgeous nu wave draping style. It really brightens up her dark her and black jumper- I could do with such a necklace when I want to wear all black as well. I love the model's long hair tied down in two plaits and while the syle to me seems too much like a school girl I think the look can be then dressed down with a beanie or a cap over the top.

I've been lusting after various Polaroid 600 cameras and I think if I managed to get my hands on one of these bad boys I would blow a gasket. I can only think of some vague and dark looking film photographs of this camera behind glass cases. I'm glad I've finally seen a closer photograph of this rare Polaroid camera- but I really want to know where I can buy it as well! The Impossible Project which heave breathed new life into Polaroid cameras and film may sell a boxed set but at a hefty price as well.

Despite the sheer kooky nature of this photograph and everything in it- I love it. There's pink hair in a soft, candy cotton hue as well as a pink faux fur fox tail used as her bag charm. I wish Australia celebrated Halloween more so I could wear some costumes and take interesting photographs! This is the best photograph I could find that used neon green as well as fluorescent pink, as tastefully as possible. That is actually a lot harder than you first might think.

Homeage to Cameras

My favourite thing about working at a stationary shop over the Christmas break is being able to chat with customers about cameras and photography. I had some conversations and dealings with a girl who owned a Diana F+, a guy who used old school SLRs to photograph people riding bikes and another who used a Polaroid 600 camera in the shape of a whale. I take great pride in being able to reel off information about cameras and such when no one else can and I think that if I am lucky enough to become a permanent casual than it may be my knowledge of all things photo that gets me over the line, as well as my height and ability to reach things on most of the top shelves.

I love the rough, sketched pictures of Canon SLRs people roll off with funky geometric prints over the leather casing. I admire the rough lines and imperfection of the body but I could never bring myself to draw in this style. I'm too much of a perfection and worry about the minor details rather than accepting something as good quality in the broader scheme of things. It's on of my quirks, but at times it can be a hindrance. There's seems to be a quite a lot of good rough drawings of Canon cameras, as opposed to Nikon. Or maybe that's just my bias in the types of images I collect on my hard drive. I remember my dad bringing his heavy Canon A1 to family functions and it's weight dragging me down like a brick. It's one of my fondest memories of exposure to film photography.

It's photographs like this that almost (not quite_ motivate me towards cleaning my room and making it livable. The clean white walls bathed in an orange, yellow light as well as the shelf holding shot glasses and a vinyl edition of The Smiths. Hung above to the left is a Diana+ camera, the Dreamer and a floral wreath. Of all of which is perfectly composed but instead of the shot glasses I would replace them with either candles or empty collectable vodka bottles. Like the one in the shape of a skull I had my eye on.

The red bathed lighting of the photograph teamed up with the soft-lifted hair in the wind and the light-hearted nature of the photograph really speak to me. Specifically the red lighting and the hair makes me think of my singing idol Florence Welch and the dramatic and theatrics stage-presence she brings to her live shows. This is what photography is to me- going on wild adventures with a clunky metal body camera supported on a wildly stitched neck strap. I wonder if a coloured filter was used over the lens or the flash of the camera for this effect...

 

I'm a proud owner of not one, but two pink Polaroid 600 cameras such as the one drawn above. The first I acquired was a Polaroid Barbie edition, pretty much as new and the second is the most similar to the drawing a Esprit Polaroid camera but the top is cracked and held together a little stodgily with tape. I still love both of them though and their clunky feel against my body when I'm playing around with them in my room. The third Polaroid camera in my collection is a Super Color edition in bright yellow. It reminds me of a cheery banana. I had planned to use it when dressed up as Simba the lion for my year 12 end of year costume day- but was too busy preparing for the concert at which I performed.

From left to right: Diana F+ Glow edition, a classic Diana F_ in black and blue as well as an Edelweiss Diana+ camera. I'd love to know what other blurred and out-of-focus goodies are hiding behind these three formidable cameras; perhaps a treasure trove of camera film or various lenses for the Diana cameras. I have all the add-ons for the medium format camera including the Telephoto Lens, Fisheye distortion lens, super-wide lens, splitzer attachment as well as the 35mm back and Polaroid mini back. Lomography make a lot of money from people like me, completely plastic camera obsessed.

I love the imagination but also the minimalist approach to this photograph- taken behind the lens of another camera the Diana Mini, a 35mm camera that's pocket-sized and pretty slick. The contrast of the two blues, plastic and sky seem to fit so well with the soft focus background and the winding wheel of the camera. I have one of these myself but it's not often I get the desired results when I develop my film at a cheap big-name store. If I had any sense- I'd do it at a proper photography store and make the money worth-while.

The bright and stark flash of the other camera makes it hard to make out but that guy is indeed holding a Polaroid 600 Barbie edition! I am the proud owner of one of these, although I have not yet tested it out or bent mayhem on the town. What I love about the camera is the green foldable top in contrast to the pink and purple body as well as the flower stickers across the face of the camera. Girly- but also manically put together and a Frankenstein camera put together in plastic.

A modified Diana F+ camera body

The lighting of this particular photo as well as the floral background and deer figurines reminds me a lot of the Frankie Magazine photo album which has a lot of similarly styled photographs and vintage mood to it. I believe the correct term would be the Hipster movement, but I guess I try to avoid that word since I am a bit of a reluctant closet hipster myself. I embody their ideals but mock them conversationally with my friends. It's a weird sort of scene, especially since I own so many plastic cameras and listen to the same sort of music.

I also own a Holga 120, a beautiful beastie to look at but I think I prefer a lot of the effects achieved through the plastic lens of it's toy-camera counter part the Diana. The combination of bright red and white body against this lemon yellow coloured pleated dress is so cute though. The holder looks as though she's part of a wedding, a guest baring plastic camera just willing to interpret the happy festivities in its own unique way. That's the niche of the toy camera market and plastic cameras; their ability to turn the ordinary events into the extraordinary and create non-imitateable photographs.

It makes me want to dye all of my hair blue as well! Dressed all in black and posing with the Diana camera- the stuff dreams are made of this girl bears a doe-eyed face as well as a smoked cigarette. Punk has never looked so artistic or so intriguing. The soft-focus lens used to capture the moment was perfectly suited to the content of the photograph and only adds further mystery to the identity of the blue haired girl and her camera.