It’s A Wonkyful World

South Melbourne, 15 April 2011 :: Bettie XL // Blanko Noir // RedEye GelShortly after I got my first iPhone, my friend Sapphire introduced me to the wonders of Hipstamatic. At the time, I was working on a freelance assignment in a quiet neighbourhood. There was little to do at lunchtime bar wandering around the residential back streets, surreptitiously taking photos of anything that caught my eye.

Once or twice suspicious residents accosted me, but I managed to pacify them with my sheepish explanation that I was merely playing around with a new camera app. But it meant I modified my photographic technique with quick, furtive movements – and serendipitously I discovered another wonderful effect of the slow camera shutter: distortion.

Rambling Roses, 2 June 2010 :: Helga Viking // Float // No flashAs I walked along, I would pause mid-stride, snap a photo with a quick flick of the wrist, and continue on my way. Back then, Hipstamatic made you wait while each single photograph developed, so often I didn’t see the distortion until I was well away from the subject. This was annoying at first, since this had not been my goal at all, but before long I grew to love the result. It was random and organic, and somehow I could rarely create the effect deliberately. Genuine furtiveness seemed to be the key.

Sadly, the new iPhone 4s is just too quick for these photographic shenanigans, and I can no longer successfully capture a wonkyful picture. Check out the set in the It’s A Wonkyful World Hipstagallery. I have a lot more photos, but shooting with the random function on left me with too many dud combinations. These are the best of them. Enjoy.

Melbourne City, 17 April 2011 :: Kaimal Mark II // Claunch 72 Monochrome // No flash

Magic Lantern

Puppet Man :: Lucifer VI // Dylan // No flashIt was a freezing evening on Saturday night, but since it was the last night, Rapunzel and I stepped out to view the Gertrude Street Projection Festival.

The Festival, organised by the Gertrude Association, has been running since 2008. This year’s theme is Elements, and the work of guest artists and community groups is projected on buildings all along Gertrude Street, from the high-rise commission flats to the humble pub wall.

From the amusing – a life-size shadow of a man playing with dolls in a window, to the tiny – a little magic lantern with a creature astride the branch of a tree, to the monumental – geometric patterns flung up on the twin tall apartment buildings; they all provided a challenge to the dedicated Hipstamatic photographer, as did the freezing air. Quite a few shop windows caught my eye too. It was a fun evening.

Cold. That is all.

It’s cold, that’s what it is. Cold. :: Loftus // DC // No flashIt’s cold. It’s cold outside, and it’s cold in my apartment. I do have a heater and it’s cranked to the highest heat setting possible. Yet despite this, it’s a lousy 18° inside. I call that poor. And mysterious. In fact, I call that cold when it’s 18° outside.

It was so cold on the weekend that I was inspired to write ‘COLD!’ in the condensation on the window. I felt like a heroine out of a Charles Dickens novel or something.

Actually, the truth is the condensation was caused by the steaming laundry on the clothes airer – which I had placed plum in front of the heater. It did make a nice photographic effect though – a bit like the Vaseline-on-the-lens trick of yore.

Excuse me while I go put on my fingerless gloves and peer pathetically through the window into my neighbour’s cosy sitting room …

Condensation :: Tejas // Rock BW-11 // No flash

A Sweet Thank You

Thank You :: Ben Watts // Blanko Noir // No flashIt was Cupcake’s last day on Monday. How sweet is this little thank you scratchie postcard she gave me? As a child I adored scratching the silver stuff off anything I could get my hands on. (That ‘silver stuff’, by the way, is usually made from latex.)

These cards by TMOD are cute and interactive – what’s not to love? As they say on their website, the scratchie cards ‘blend vintage motifs with the charm of secret messages and magic tricks.’ Each card also comes with a scalloped heart charm, which undoubtedly will go straight to every little girl’s heart and into her trinket box. Check ’em out.

Urban Artforms

Lady Watch Your Mouth :: Lucifer VI // DreamCanvas // Laser Lemon GelNot all grafitti is created equal. We pass by most of it, entirely indifferent. It’s part of the urban landscape, and we’ve become blind to it. It’s only when there is something unique about it that suddenly we notice it: often it’s when an artist has actually been comissioned to create a mural.

In the case of these two examples, the first in Collingwood, a woman’s face caught my eye. She was like an urban collage: a half-torn billboard that had been sprayed with shots of colour, waving precariously in the wind. Any moment part of her would be carried off. The other, a black and white boy with a blackbird’s head is a more permanent piece in South Melbourne. It’s immediately striking in its stark lack of colour, and strong black lines. It reminds me of the art of Reg Mombassa. 

Keep an eye out.

Blackbird Boy :: Watts // AO DLX // No flash