Lens Love: six photographers present their work in Canberra

Six photographers from the Canberra region are exhibiting their work at the Canberra Museum + Gallery until 23 February 2014.

The six photographers include:

Denise Ferris with The colour of snow 2013 and The long hot summer 2010 – inkjet prints

John Reid with Walking the Solar System 2011, Fishman Documentation 1988-1989, Fishman Domain 1988, and Self Portrait 1989 and 1994 – prints, inkjet prints, and videos

Marzena Wasikowska with 6 inkjet prints including from the series Kai at … 2004-2013 (photographed in this blog)

Lee Grant with Belco pride 2006-2013, Oriental dinner 2007, and The Korea project 2011-2015

Cathy Laudenbach with The beauty and the terror 2013 and inkjet prints from the series The familiars 2009-2011

Martyn Jolly with ACT Bushfire Memorial images and Faces of the living dead 2001

Each photographer presents an intimate portrayal of family, home, domestic life, cultural similarities and differences, local landscapes, history, shadows, and themselves. The sub-title of Lens Love is “The Tender Gaze of Six Canberra Region Photographers” – and this is particularly true of the images of people: a close-up, a colour, a stance, the growth from a boy to a man, or a subject intently concentrating on an activity - unaware of the photographer. The notes provided indicate that “the gaze” is “a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze.” In this exhibit “the tender gaze” is almost the opposite of power and superiority – it is more about understanding, empathy, curiosity, and an exploration of feelings and emotions.

Comments

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

The Knight in the Panther Skin by Shota Rustaveli (2015 translation): book review

The Knight in the Panther Skin (12th century, this edition 2015) is a recent translation by American poet and author, Lyn Coffin. The author, Shota Rustaveli, is Georgia’s most loved poet. This poem is mammoth, a magnum opus – it is 1,656 verses long, separated by chapters. But readers, don’t give up, because every verse is worth reading. It is akin to 1001 Arabian Knights, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, or Shakespearean poetry. King Rostevan of Arabia has a daughter, Tinatin. She loves the knight Avtandil and he loves her. Verse 368 from Avtandil: ‘The doctor’s could do nothing. A dark twilight on my heart now pressed, I was on fire because of love, but nobody knew or guessed. They blamed my blood. The king decided bleeding my arm would be best; I let it be done to hide the suffering I had not confessed.’ But a knight in panther skin is seen weeping, and subsequently kills the king’s soldiers, sparing the king. Before Tinatin weds Avtandil she r...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog