Ok, i never really used to be into photo books that much. I mean, they were nice and everything, but i never understood the big attraction.
However, over the last year I’ve developed bit of an appreciation for them. Especially when I’m in need of some inspiration, or just want to look at some damn good photographs that aren’t displayed on a computer screen (that’s a whole other issue).
I’ve been in bit of a photographic “rut” the last couple of months. Over Christmas, by pure chance i was bought Europeans by Henri Cartier Bresson, and found a very good deal on Araki by Araki: The Photographer’s Personal Selection. Now if you cant find any inspiration in these books you have serious issues.
Both books have an amazing collection of photographs. HCB is a master, there’s not much more than can be said about him, i love his street and figurative work. The book features some of his most famous works and quite a few I’ve never seen before. A real treat to look through.
Then there’s Araki’s book. I’ve only been looking at his work for a year or so now, but in that time I’ve noticed that people either love or hate his stuff (as opposed to HCB who just about everyone likes). I think you need to have bit of a sense of humour that is quite hard to explain when looking at his work, especially his more erotic pieces. I find all of his work interesting and so far like his early stuff the most. I also enjoyed reading about his thoughts looking back on the photos he has in the book, what he was into at the time, what prompted him to try a particular technique out, etc. It was a nice insight.
Here are a couple photos of the books and some pages. If you see them around, i recommend checking them out, but be warned, Araki’s book probably isn’t for the feint hearted.

Several months ago, a friend of mine started work on a photographic project based around a simple premise - “For each portrait I take, I donate one dollar to a charity”.

The basic idea itself has been done before, and donating to charity is nothing new, but mixing a passion that is quite often a self centred pursuit and using it to give back to the community is really great in my opinion, and like anyone contributing to a charity/community should be supported.

Armed with a medium format camera, and his newly acquired Letter of Authority from the Cancer Council (his chosen charity), George now roams the streets looking for people willing to contribute to his project. So if you see him hunting around with his Bronica asking for a portrait, don’t knock him back, let him take it, and consider atleast matching his donation.

You can read more about the project and the man behind it on his website : dollar portraits.
I know have my own goal, and that is to get a portrait of George. He’s not a fan of being in front of the camera. Watch out…

I love my little 1 cent Olympus Trip!
I just got some photos back today that i took over the weekend, and im quite happy with them. One thing im not happy about though is my scanning of them, its quite poor, so i’m thinking of investing in a dedicated scanner or atleast getting the lab to do it.
Anyway, these were taken in and around Circular Quay on an extremely sunny day. The glare was insane, and i was pretty worried about how the photos would come out. Luckily they came out pretty good in most cases (better than the digital scan shows also), but i’d like to go back on a day that has some better light for photography.
Anyway, here are some that i’ve scanned so far (still have half a roll to go).

These pictures are from the same roll i mentioned in the previous post. These were taken in Melbourne (hence the title), and im quite pleased with them (if you couldnt already tell, haha).
I think i might try and sharpen these pictures up though. For example you can hardly make the persons face out in the first one, eventhough the print and negative contain enough detail to see his facial features very clearly. Anyway, enough complaining, its my fault that i just didnt get the photo lab to scan them! (i didnt expect any pictures to turn out)