Colour collision

When two waves collide at the perfect time of day.

In a similar vein to my previous post Ocean Waves, is this Chris Bryan video, if you team water with colour it can be spectacular.

 
via Gfycat Posted by u/MyNameGifOreilly

Don't play with your food (too)

Helga Stentzel is a Russian-born visual artist based in London. She works across a wide range of media including illustration, photography, video and stop motion animation.

She has built a large following for her playful art that often uses everyday objects and household items in creative and unexpected ways. 

 

Especially love the dog ones

Vintage Melbourne

 Definitely time for a 'Now & Then'. This is from an article by Carolyn Webb of The Age.

"History buff's vintage Melbourne Instagram site is a hit"

"Today it’s known for its street art, but 50 years ago, Hosier Lane, off Flinders Street, was part of Melbourne’s thriving clothing district.

A sign in a 1972 photo of the bare-walled lane advertises the business of Bernard Rothschild, who sells underwear, knitwear, children's wear and hosiery.

Swipe right on the photo on the Instagram page Old Vintage Melbourne, and you'll see the same view in recent years. The walls are covered in art, with a sign indicating a recent focus of the precinct: a bar called Misty.

Melbourne lawyer Chris Macheras started Old Vintage Melbourne six months ago and it has taken off, with 28,000 followers.

"It's insane," says Mr Macheras, but he is happy it's helping connect Melburnians with their history.

One comment on the Hosier Lane post states: "Wow the graffiti is so ugly ... 1972 looks much better."

But another says: "I’m loving the graffiti. The laneways are so cool."

Someone called Yael Rothschild says that "the Rothschild sign was my father-in-law’s warehouse" and that he passed away just two years ago, aged 95.

"He worked so hard. He was a great man. We have this photo framed."

One of Mr Macheras' favourite historic shots is from about 1906: a Mr and Mrs Laycock pose for a photo outside their shop in Middle Park, with ads for The Age and Cadbury chocolates.

Mr Macheras was relieved to find the building still exists, although it is no longer a shop. A modern verandah has been added and its door has moved.

He learns something new with every post.

A circa 1870s photo of Melbourne GPO, by Charles Nettleton, shows the building with two storeys, not today's three, and a much shorter, more squat clock tower than the one added later.

Mr Macheras said that during the gold rush, large sections were often added to such buildings as Victoria’s wealth and population grew.

 

Right:  The Fish Market on the corner of Swanston & Flinders streets c1895, later becoming the site of the Flinders Street Railway Station (2020 Photo supplied by Chris Macheras) 

His Instagram efforts aren't all about buildings.

When he posted a 1981 photo by Rennie Ellis of a Greek family in Prahran cooking a lamb on the spit, a woman commented, "Wow this is a great photo of me and my family. We are still a very close family and we still celebrate every Christmas and Easter together."

Mr Macheras' own family has run a hairdressing salon at 216 Tyler Street, Preston, since the early 1970s. But the shop dates from the 1930s and he would love to see old photos of it.

The Old Vintage Melbourne Instagram project started in June, when Mr Macheras had more free time as a result of not having to commute from Preston to the city for work.

He discovered vivid digital photos on websites such as that of the State Library of Victoria and started digitally restoring a few.

Mr Macheras says he is allowed to use old photos for non-commercial purposes, where no copyright restrictions apply, provided credit is given.

He hopes to write an Old Vintage Melbourne book, incorporating people's stories. It has, he says, been good for his mental health to have this creative outlet."

I couldn't copy the cool way The Age article did the swipe across the photos, so go to the original article and try it for yourself.

And check out the Old Vintage Melbourne Instagram site for more old photos and Now & Thens. Here are a few of my favourites.

This has been a great exercise for during the changes wrought by COVID, a positive. Thanks Chris, and thanks too to the State Library's photo pool.

Lost Collective

 These images are from Lost Collective a project by Brett Patman. It is a visual and written record of the forgotten and neglected built environments that pervade society. The key focus of the project is documenting the important roles that people and places played in shaping the communities who collectively make up the identity of our societies, engaging everyday people through evocative imagery, to reconnect with past lives and even former friends. It encourages people to share their stories, stories that would otherwise be forgotten as society progress and generations age. 

Every location has a story of its past; it’s present state and in some cases, a plan for the future. From rural country towns to energetic inner-city suburbs, derelict power stations and heavy industry to the tiny farmstead. All these buildings had significance in one way or another. Finding this from the words of the people who made so is what Lost Collective is all about. Societies change, and abandoned buildings come and go, but it’s important to remember and record our heritage amongst the ever increasing rush to replace the old with the new. We only get one chance to do this.

In a recent post Brett showcased a couple of now-and-thens - the Terminus Hotel in Sydney.

He was inspired to blend a historical image into one of his own (as have I). The left side is from the Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University, taken c1970. The right is one Brett took on 19 March 2015. As well as simply aligning and blending the images, he has taken elements from each era and masked them from one into the other in the same position as they were. The vine has arguably been one of the most recognisable features of this amazing old pub, and while the vine is now long gone (the pub has since been renovated and reopened to customers), he couldn't resist brushing it back into the past over the historical image. 

His other image is of the W.H Lucas/Delegate Motors garage. (Delegate is just over the border in New South Wales on the way to Bombala). To blend an old and new photo together but for it to work properly, the perspective of the two images really needs to be exact or at least very close. He has layered these images over one another and added a transparent gradient so that the old photo gradually blends into the new one. The original photo on the left side was taken by Alma Reed, c1940. The right side of the photo was taken by Brett on December 22, 2018.

Always a fan of the Now-and-then, hope he does more.

Time lapse

A couple of starry nights from Lost Collective
Firstly the Green Cape Lighthouse with its easily recognisable hexagonal tower -'Green Cape Astrolapse'.


And, this one of the Jincumbilly Railway Station

Lost Collective is a project by Brett Patman. Check out some of his other videos and photo galleries. 
I also enjoyed the 'To Bourke and back' and the drone footage from 'A Place to call home' and needless to say the abandoned buildings.

Dog-gone

This optical illusion that appears to be three suns shining down on the earth, is known as a Sundog or Mock sun, formally called a Parhelion (plural parhelia) in meteorology. 

It is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the sun. It happens when refracted sunlight is reflecting through icy clouds that contain tiny ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. 

Isn't nature neat! 

Ocean waves

From the people at TwistedSifter comes this awesome video 'MOCEAN' it is an incredible short film by Chris Bryan that captures the raw power and beauty of waves. 

 A major part of the beauty of the video is the colours - yes I know water is clear, but the reflected and absorbed shades and tones add to the mood and that sense of power.

All the images where shot using a Phantom Flex 4K camera with Leica Summilux lenses and Bryan’s custom underwater housings.

Image from 'Back to water' Chris Bryan

'Now and then' and gone

It must be time to resurrect 'Now and Then' images.
Unfortunately in the fast moving app development arena, apps come and go the National Trust's "Lost! 100 lost buildings of Melbourne" is no longer available, (I first encountered this Augment Reality app in 2012, the interactive 3D app enabled users to "ghost" - visually overlay buildings from the past onto the present, by augmenting the iPhone's existing camera function. A history, photos and stories of these often long-demolished buildings was also available), likewise the "StreetMuseum" from London.
Fortunately people have utilised the app and we can see the 'now and thens' they have created, and published in a Daily Mirror article.

This image shows Piccadilly Circus, Coronation day, June 1953. Crowds gather to witness the Coronation procession of Elizabeth II. The coronation went ahead in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, and at the Queen's request, the entire ceremony was televised throughout the Commonwealth, and watched by an estimated twenty million people.

People and traffic in Oxford Street around the turn of the 20th century. Christina Broom at this time photographed London street scenes to reproduce as postcards for sale.

 

Street scene at Covent Garden with underground station and horse and cart in the background. George Davison Reid photographed activity in the marketplace from opposite Covent Garden Underground station on Long Acre. A police constable was often needed to control the congestion of the horses and carts and increasing numbers of motorised vehicles. The long established market place was under pressure to move. The congested facilities were described at the time as 'altogether inadequate to the necessities of the trade'. However, the fruit and vegetable market did not relocate until 1973.

And my personal favourite, it is the children which really elevate its impression.

The pressure to build upwards is coming from demands on the Greater London Assembly and local authorities to come up with more housing at a time of very high land prices. Pictured here is the west side of Tower Bridge showing London as it is now and back in the 19th Century

Abandoned photography

"Abandoned : the most beautiful forgotten places from around the world "
by Mathew Growcoot, a photographic book of the dark yet hauntingly special places.

The places time forgot. From the magical empty theatres of Detroit to the lost playgrounds of Chernobyl, there are places across the globe that were once a hub of activity, but are now abandoned and in decay. With nature creeping in and reclaiming these spots, we are left with eerie crumbling ruins and breathtaking views that offer us a window into the past and capture our imagination.

"Abandoned" showcases the very best photographs from around the world documenting this phenomenon. More immersive than a museum, abandoned photography has given the world an exciting way to look at times gone by and the places we have long neglected. The images captured provoke questions about earlier times, mans' futility, and the relentless power of nature.
The book was compiled and curated by photographer and former urban explorer, Mathew Growcoot from Birmingham in England. Below are just some of his images of industry, landscapes and the built environment post usefulness.

 Part of the incline at the abandoned Dinorwic Quarry, which lies between Llanberis and Dinorwig, near Bangor in Wales, UK. It was once the largest slate quarry in the world.

Nature reclaiming a derelict building

 An old locomotive in the Istvantelek Rail Workshop, Budapest, Hungary

To view more of Mathew's photographs borrow "Abandoned".

Above and beyond

Nick Rains latest book "Aerial Australia" is beautiful, and reminds us that depending on the angle there is beauty in just about everything.
In this case the angle is from an aeroplane, but the proliferation of drones is likely going  to make the rarity of aerial photography more commonplace.

There's nothing like the thrill of looking out the window of an aircraft and seeing the world from above, and in "Aerial Australia", Nick's photographs reveal Australia as it's rarely seen, revealing a whole new side of its beauty. It offers sweeping views of Australia's cities; dramatic glimpses of its Outback sand dunes and epic waterfalls; a new perspective on Australia's coral reefs and coastal fringes, and a new way of looking at Australia's countryside. These hundreds of stunning photographs turn industrial scenes and winding rivers into abstract art. 

Nick Rains has been a professional photographer for over 30 years, starting off in the UK with sports and commercial work before moving to Australia in 1990. Since then he has specialised in travel and landscape work, crisscrossing the country on assignments for publishers. His work involves packing up his 4WD and heading off into the wilderness for weeks at a time, driving tens of thousands of kilometres and camping out under the stars in a never-ending quest for the perfect light.  

Here are just a few of the images in the book-
 

The solar reflectors at White Cliffs, N.S.W.

The everyday reflected in White Cliffs, then the everyday transformed with a red car on a road crossing the shallow Wallaga Lake near Bermagui.

The unexpected - headstones in Melbourne General Cemetery

This beautiful keepsake casts Australia's beauty in a whole new light. 
And talking about drone photography, I was recently impressed with Jaimen Hudson, check out his website for more stunning photos, especially those around Esperance.

Here is the link to Nick's website, and other books by Nick Rains.

The Glenelg

The Glenelg River rises from its source in the southern Grampians (near the Chimney Pots) and flows over 350 kilometres to Nelson on the coast, where it empties into Discovery Bay. 

It passes spots like the road-side camping area at Cherrypool, the rail bridge at Kanagulk, the town of Harrow, and flows into and out of Rocklands Reservoir and through the Lower Glenelg National Park.

Cherrypool

The Fulham Bridge at Kanagulk

Rocklands

Canoeing on the Glenelg at Harrow

< A bend of the Glenelg as it passes below the Princess Margaret Rose Caves near Nelson.

From dawn to dusk

Another week-end, another batch of photographs -

Pano of the northern spur of Mt Arapiles, Mitre Rock in the centre, and the Arapiles silo to the right, as the morning mist was lifting.

Believe this was Wasgott's house, it's on Hauslers-Dundons Road at Miga Lake. 

The smoke from stubble burns obscures the sunset near Remlaw, while a plane to Adelaide makes it's own smoke trail. Mt Arapiles again - on the horizon.

More than 4 seasons in 1 day

Experienced some dramatic weather on Saturday, and while I didn't set out to capture it - was just admiring it - some became part of the image anyway.
Here is a selection in the order in which they occurred, with no playing at the edit process.