Extreme Closeup

Doll-face :: Watts // Ina’s 1969 // No flash :: Extreme closeup, shot with a macro lens, from a distance of one inch. I was sooo excited when I arrived home tonight from work and found a package from Hong Kong in my letterbox!

Inside it was a magical wide-angle and macro lens that can be fitted onto my iPhone. I had first read about this miraculous tool on the Hipstamatic page on Facebook. Someone had posted about these lenses available from Photojojo, but I dithered too long and by the time I went to buy a set, they were out of stock.

Matryoshka :: Watts // Ina’s 1969 // No flash :: Shot with the wide-angle lens. The curve of the iPhone 3Gs means the lens cannot sit flat on the back, which causes the black curve in the bottom right corner – a small price to pay.Undaunted I investigated eBay, and found a seller in Hong Kong touting the same product, and by extraordinary luck it was only $12. (A huge savings compared to the $70 I was going to pay for the two lens Photojojo set, including postage.) Hong Kong, I thought, isn’t so far from Australia. Perhaps they can send it to me in time before I head off overseas? I didn’t even dare to email them to check, but bought and paid in an instant, and crossed my fingers, trusting fate. All week I waited with bated breath, and hardly dared to hope when I arrived home today that it had landed in my letterbox – it’s the last day before my trip.

I was so excited that I ripped open the package, attached the lens by means of Blu-Tack as there did not seem to be any other way, and began experimenting.

Belatedly, I unfolded the badly translated instructions and discovered that I needed to stick a metallic ring to the back of the phone, which I did, and Bob’s your uncle: the lens cleverly attaches to the magnetic ring!

Oh, and it takes brilliant photos too.

Coffee-Table Books

Coffee-table books :: Bettie XL // Ina’s 1969 // No flashA snapshot of my most recent book purchases, from the top:

1. Unseen Vogue; bursting with images that didn’t, for various reasons, make the cut into the British edition
2. Lanvin, by Dean L. Merceron; an absolutely breathtaking monograph on the early twentieth century fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin – worth every penny!
3. The Handbag, An illustrated history, by Caroline Cox; a great reference
4. Seduction, A celebration of Sensual Style, by Caroline Cox; the 20s and 30s photographs are particularly lovely
5. A Century of Hats, by Susie Hopkins; another great reference book catering to my obsession (hats, of course, although collecting books is fun too)
6. The Artful Storybook, by Terry Taylor; a book about one of a kind artist-created books in a myriad of formats, which also explains the creation process
7. Russian Textiles, Printed Cloth for the bazaars of Central Asia, by Susan Meller; beautiful images to inspire anyone interested in textiles or pattern design
8. Édouard Boubat, the Monograph; Boubat’s career spanned 50 years, his elegant, poetic black and white photographs sweep one from the everyday life of Paris on a trip to Africa, India, Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Japan 
9. The Snippy World of New Yorker Fashion Artist Michael Roberts; with a short foreword by Tim Blanks, this large format book is chock-a-block with Roberts’ wonderful cut-paper collages and drawings

All these books – with the exception of The Artful Storbyook, bought in Vietnam – were purchased either through Abebooks.com, or in remainders bookstores at very good prices. It goes to prove one can confound the Australian Government’s heavy tax on imported books!

Easter Bunny Hoop Disco Dancer Man

Easter Bunny Hoop Disco Dancer Man :: Kaimal Mark II // Cano Cafenol // RedEye GelI captured the Easter Bunny Hoop Disco Dancer Man on Easter Sunday, performing at Federation Square in Melbourne, along with a troupe of other equally incongruously costumed men.

My friend and I were walking past, on our way to the NGV International to see the Peacock portion of the ManStyle exhibition, when this hilarious guy caught my eye.

We stopped to watch, and I wish I could recall the disco anthem the Easter Bunny Hoop Disco Dancer Man was groovin’ along to, but alas, memory fails me. Aren’t his legwarmers and bunny bonnet delish though?

Art Fair in Canterbury

In the black and white room (with a touch of red) :: Lucifer IV // Cano Cafenol // No flashI went to the Canterbury Art Fair today. My friend Rapunzel (aka Polka-Dot Lisa) had some work in the show, so we thought we’d tram it down to Canterbury and check out the fair.

There was some good, and some very bad art, mostly 2D, but there were some interesting sculptures too in rusty iron and some made from driftwood. 

Lisa in front of some her paintings :: John S // Blanko Noir // Laser Lemon Gel

The fair was held in Canterbury Primary School, which was built in 1908. There were lovely stained glass windows everywhere. After we finished the circuit, and browsed in the well-stocked giftshop (handcrafts, jewellery, prints etc), we went to the Canvas Café and enjoyed some homemade lemon syrup cake with our coffee. There were even Crayola crayons on the table for kids to draw on the butcher’s paper tablecloths – a cute touch. 

I didn’t buy anything (apart from a little bag of meringues), and it was a pleasant afternoon. It did inspire me, however, to pick up my own oil pastels and get back into the drawing. But I need a studio first. 

Stained glass overhead :: Chunky // BlacKeys B+W // No flash

I liked the Paris sign in Canvas Café :: Lucifer IV // Blanko Noir // Laser Lemon Gel

Drunken Hipstas

Super Lurched! A view of Melbourne from Morrell Bridge, South Yarra :: John S // Cano Cafenol // No flash

I have a series of Hipstamatics that I call my ‘Lurch’ photos… Why ‘lurch’? It means ‘an abrupt or uncontrolled movement, esp. an unsteady tilt or roll’ – and these do look like drunken photos! 

The images are distorted to some degree, and are created when just the right shift in angle – coupled with very slight movement – occurs at the exact moment the shutter goes off. It is not so easy to recreate deliberately: either the result is movement blur, or it doesn’t work at all.

(I was afraid I would be cuffed by an angry resident at any given moment)

I used to often snap them by accident, and I realised it was when I was furtively taking my ‘Scenes of Suburbia’ series (I was afraid I would be cuffed by an angry resident at any given moment). Yesterday I was very excited when I managed to capture some on purpose!

It helps that my iPhone is getting old, ie, slow and dodgy. There is a noticeable delay between my pressing the big yellow shutter on the Hipstamatic and when the camera actually takes the photo. Those precious milliseconds are what are required to create the distortion.

It will be very fun to experiment with this effect when I go overseas!

I'll be loading up a new Hipstagallery in the next week or so of my favourite Lurches. Look out for that.

Lurched. A view of Melbourne from Morrell Bridge, South Yarra :: John S // Cano Cafenol // No flashNo Lurch. A view of Melbourne from Morrell Bridge, South Yarra :: John S // Cano Cafenol // No flashA failed attempt, but I do like the composition and colours anyway. A view of Melbourne from Morrell Bridge, South Yarra :: Helga Viking // Cano Cafenol // No flash