Tag Archives: photography

Cousins, Old and New

I am way behind on photo editing and, in fact, haven’t even pulled out my camera in a few weeks. Life has been busy as I embark on a new job and a new adventure but I hope to get back in the swing of daily photography again soon. I’m lacking inspiration and feel the need to read more photography books and walk around with my camera just to remind myself about why I love it so much. I know I’ll look back on this photography drought when I pull together our 2015 photobook and yearn for the photos that are missing. I can’t let that happen.

I’m going way back to April for this post when a new cousin (and another, more familiar one) came to visit. While they only stayed for a few days, I managed to squeeze in a lot of baby snuggling time – even taking a nap while he lay on my chest. I know a lot of people don’t enjoy the new baby months with the feeding and the crying and the sleep deprivation. I choose to remember the cuddles and the way my babies moulded with my body in a way that rarely happens with a squirmy toddler or boy. I’m so grateful for this short time with Max during peak-snuggle time so I could experience it once more.

The boys appreciated time to bond with their new cousin and share more playtime with Charlie. While it had been four months since we’d seen them in Australia, they managed to pick up right where they left off.

I think I caught these two in the middle of some sort of mischief.

Two Days in Melbourne: Summer Storms and Australian Art

We arrived back in Melbourne after our 10 day drive around Tasmania and, while the Grandparents took Thomas and Samuel back home to Yarrawonga, Kei and I were offered the opportunity to spend a couple of days in the big city. We caught up with friends (sadly not as many as we would have liked), did a little shopping, enjoyed some amazing food and got caught in an Aussie Summer thunderstorm.

There’s nothing quite like a Summer thunderstorm in Melbourne and I’d been hoping we’d experience one since we’d arrived. After checking into our hotel, Kei and I walked to buy some supplies (ahem, wine). The intense humidity and the heat reflecting off the footpath ensure we were drenched in perspiration before we reached the store. Then, just after we’d made our purchases, we walked outside to a few large raindrops which soon turned into a torrential downpour. By the time we made it the short distance back to the hotel, we were drenched. Thankfully, the view from our hotel room provided the opportunity to watch the full force of the storm over Albert Park lake.

For comparison, here is the same view the following morning.

Summer storms are one of things I miss most about living in Melbourne. It’s like the big payoff after days and days of heat and humidity.

Luckily, we were blessed with good weather for the remainder of our trip. Here are just a few photographic highlights.

I love this colorful Australia Post building. So pretty.

While we didn’t have a lot of time in the city, I was able to take a quick walk through the National Gallery of Victoria’s Australian Gallery. I can’t believe this was my first time to browse this part of the gallery (it was built after we moved to Portland), but I definitely plan to make time for a longer visit when we’re next in Melbourne.

This photograph was one of my favorites. The beauty of it for me is that it could not have been taken in any other country. It just epitomizes the Australian landscape. Stunning.

This installation with thoughts about racism was particularly moving.

The building was a work of art in its own right.

I wanted to bring this bookshelf home (and buy a house that would be big enough to house it).

Finally, after just a couple of days, we said goodbye to Melbourne and caught the train back to my parents house in northern Victoria. And, after a couple more days of country living, we packed everything in the car and drove the 3 hours back to Melbourne with kids in tow so we could begin the long journey home.

I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to enjoy an Australian Summer after so many years. As always, the visit felt way too short but I feel comforted by the fact that we’ll be back soon (soon being relative, of course) and that Melbourne will always be my other home.

Until next time…

Wordless Wednesday: One Final Postcard from Tasmania

It’s been 6 months since our trip to Tasmania and, while sharing these photos have been a great way for me to relive the vacation all over again, I think it’s time to wrap it up. On this Wordless Wednesday I’m sharing photos taken on our drive from Hobart back to the ship in Devonport as well as a few favorite photos I missed along the way.

Farewell Tasmania. It was a fun adventure.

Postcard from Tasmania: Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Tasmania

The Museum of Old and New Art is one the largest privately-owned gallery in Australia. While I really didn’t know what to expect before our visit, I had heard that it was an amazing building but that some of the exhibits were a little controversial. I think it lived up to that description quite well.

We decided to forgo the boat ride from Hobart to the museum in the interest of saving a little money both for the boat and for downtown parking. I’ve heard the boat ride is beautiful but I think it’s most convenient for people who are staying in the downtown area. It just wasn’t practical for us.

It’s hard to tell from this picture, but the museum building is carved into the side of the limestone cliff which makes it look a lot smaller from the outside that it actually is. It also means that the inside layout is a little quirky to say the least, but more on that shortly.

The museum is more than just a building and that becomes obvious as you walk to the entrance past a garden with a stage, a beer garden, multiple bean bags and some interesting pyramid structures.

The courtyard just before the entrance holds some pretty amazing sculptures and is host to a great view. This trick made from rusting, yet intricate, metal, was just beautiful.

Parts of the outside of the building are covered in a reflective surface…

… which provided the perfect opportunity for a family portrait.

After a short wait, we headed inside and were handed iPhones containing a guided tour app. I think this was a great idea and the kids were definitely more interested (duh! electronics!). At the end of the tour, you have the option to send yourself the recording so you can relive the experience all over again. Not that I did look at it again, but it was nice to have the option.

As I mentioned, the building is built into the side of the cliff so this amazing limestone wall is one of the first things you see when you walk down three flights of stairs to the belly of the building.

Then it was on to the exhibits. The first one was a temporary exhibit by Matthew Barney that really didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Some of it was very interesting but I didn’t understand why they mixed in Ancient Egyptian artifacts. Here’s the description from the website:

Matthew Barney’s River of Fundament is a sprawling, ambitious interpretation of Norman Mailer’s chequered masterpiece, Ancient Evenings. It comprises a symphonic film by Barney and Jonathan Bepler, an exhibition, and a selection of Egyptian antiquities from Mona’s own collection.

As I mentioned before, building a museum into the side of a cliff means that it doesn’t conform to the classic layout of a museum. I think it was largely intentional in an effort to make this a museum a little more out of the box but the problem is that museums are laid out the way they are for a reason. The large rooms and white walls make it easier to enjoy the art, especially amidst crowds of people. While the unusual hallways and weirdly shaped rooms were interesting, they didn’t allow for a good flow of traffic and could sometimes feel claustrophobic.

Although this tunnel was very cool. It played sounds as you moved through it.

I really liked this sculpture as well but it was at the end of a long dead-end pyramid-shaped hallway.

See what I mean?

This puffed-up Ferrari was an interesting look at consumerism. It was also very cool to look at.

But this was my favorite – a giant mural by Australian artist Sydney Nolan. It was an enormous rainbow serpent made up of hundreds of smaller images. Just beautiful.

This one was fun – a spooky dark maze that led to a room with a mirror on the ceiling when you least expect it. It was creepy in a really fun, weird way.

And this one had about 50 old TVs showing people all singing Madonna’s “Cherish”. The videos were recorded separately but play in synch. It spoke to my inner karaoke diva.

Finally, we made our way to the infamous “Digestion” exhibit. It’s set up to mimic actual human digestion so you feed it in one end and it “poops” out the other. It also smells like digestion. I’ll let that sink in.

After a good four or five hours, we decided we’d experienced enough of the museum. We made one last stop at the (poorly laid out) gift shop before heading back outside to make the most of those mirrored walls.

We also took one last look at the view.

And then walked through the beer/sculpture garden which had become a lot more lively since our arrival.

While Nan and Grandpa waited…

Thomas and I explored the pyramids.

Finally, we said goodbye to MONA with mixed feelings. While I enjoyed it, Kei wasn’t as thrilled. Sure, there was an air of pretentiousness about the whole experience, but it was something different and some of the artwork was beautiful and thought provoking. I’m not sure I ever need to go back, but I’m glad I experienced it just once in my lifetime.