These photos document some of my time in Berlin. If you squint it’ll be just like you were in Berlin with me, peering over my shoulder as I snapped some strictly-one-point-perspective last Christmas. Chronological order, and I tried to leave them alone in Lightroom as much as my compulsively editing self would allow.
These were taken on my Canon 6d with either the Canon 40mm f2.8 or an old Yashica 50mm f1.9 with an m42 screw mount and cheap ebay adaptor.
Because wordpress is possibly the worst blog in existence for photography (and the main reason I don’t post on here anymore) you’ve got a choice of either scrolling through the gallery above or scrolling down to see the photos. I think if you click on the gallery above they may be slightly better resolution, but the viewing experience is pretty crap. Actually, it’s pretty crappy either way. Nevertheless, here they are. Enjoy.
I’ve just spent 10 weeks on the road, travelling around Australia performing a show called Controlled Falling Project in regional theatres. 20-something flights, thousands of kilometres in trucks and minibuses, funny hotel rooms and pub meals, bad takeaway and amazingly fresh roadside produce, dawn and midnight fishing expeditions, and of course performing in amazing and historic theatres all over the country. It’s tiring though. I found myself on the tail end of the tour, in Townsville QLD, yearning for some colder weather. Now here I am in Melbourne, with no central heating, sitting on my couch with a jacket on in the middle of the day. It’s nice.
Anyway, here’s some shots of what happens before the show. More to come.
A couple of days ago, as we drove from Geraldton to Carnarvon in the central coast of Western Australia, the idea of visiting Shark Bay appeared to push itself onto us. The signs appeared, then the conversation started. Slowly at first. “Don’t we have tomorrow morning off work?” was followed by “It’s only a few hours out of the way…”. It seems the decision made itself.
As we drove from Geraldton to Carnarvon in the central coast of Western Australia, the idea of visiting Shark Bay appeared to push itself onto us. The signs appeared, then the conversation started. Slowly, at first. “Don’t we have tomorrow morning off work?” was followed by “It’s only a few hours out of the way…”. It seems the decision made itself. We turned off the highway with the eventual goal of getting to Monkey Mia, a famous beach where you can feed wild dolphins at dawn. On the way to Monkey Mia was a beach which we didn’t expect and hadn’t heard of: Shell Beach.
The name really says it all. More than a hundred kilometres of tiny cockle shells, over ten metres deep, form an amazing super-salinated beach that is completely unique. With no natural predators due to it’s tolerance of the salty water, the cockle shell thrives in numbers which are unreplicated elsewhere in the world.
Crystal clear water, fish throwing themselves at your feet and just the perfect amount of warmth and sunshine.
That afternoon we ended up at Monkey Mia, where dolphins were fed and other things happened. But for now let’s just focus on the shells. We’re in Port Headland now, and it’s basically a big fucking hole in the ground surrounded by men in high-vis clothing all yelling about coal or iron or something, I don’t know. Kind of like some ground-level version of the trading floor of Wall Street. It’s all completely unintelligible anyway because of the flies buzzing around my ears and the constant barrage of trucks heading down the highway behind the 70’s motel we’re holed up in. GOD, I LOVE REGIONAL TOURING! Even in a place like this there seems to be some sort of magic. How the hell that happens, I don’t know. It’s just like watching a cartoon or something I guess. Anyway, let’s end it here.
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The cast of Limbo in the curtain call. (c) 2014 all rights reserved.
After seeing both Gravity And Other Myths’ new show ‘A Simple Space’ and Strut And Fret’s production ‘Limbo’, I became very, very confused.
I’ll presume that while reading this you have some understanding of these shows, but if not here’s a quick rundown:
A Simple Space is by circus performers from Adelaide, a group of 6 men and 2 women who perform quite amazing group acrobatic feats interspersed with fun competitive games (skipping, standing somersault competition etc). The infectious nature of the performers’ smiles and energy, combined with a simple consistent premise and a high skill level, ensure show is well-received by audience and critics alike. In short, it’s simple and… good.
Limbo is also apparently simple, but uses seduction, hedonism and theatrics as it’s main framework for creativity. One feels as if the director had in mind the goal of the audience being lost in a world unlike our own, a fantasy where everyone’s attractive and gravity acts slightly differently. It’s lavish, dark, sexy, also very highly skilled, but with a production value at the polar opposite to A Simple Space. Where Limbo has seamless lighting changes to accentuate each performer’s physique, and perfectly calculated darkness and mood, the acrobats in A Simple Space trot over to a lighting stand and flick a switch. They aren’t trying to hide anything, and in their exposure of mechanics and staging they also expose a vulnerable and human side to their onstage personalities. In contrast, this kind of exposure is intentionally masked in Limbo by lighting, sound, stage design, transitions and direction.
Limbo doesn’t just hide, however. It’s intentions are altogether different. Through sex and seduction, it channels a different side to the audience, a side that is happy to ogle at the female figure, to hoot and holler when a guy takes his top off. Both shows are calculated in what they do, and both are successful. And at first glance, they seem very different.
I walked out of ‘A Simple Space’ definitely having over-analysed it. I was confused. Where were the themes? Where was the message? The characters? The gender balance left me uneasy. The guys felt unified onstage, sure, but that left the women feeling a little like props. There was no status, there was no story, there was no real character development… It felt like I was missing something. I was obviously missing something. But what was I missing?
It’s ironic that I had that reaction to such a well-meaning show, a show that is designed to be accessible, people-pleasing and impressive. The point of a show like this is to sit back and be impressed by honest humans. However, there’s something about the supposed honesty of it that threw me. I felt like… for some reason, like it was a divided crew onstage, despite the premise of the show and all other obvious signs. This might be my own preconceptions talking, mind you. On one hand I loved the show, on the other hand I hated it for it’s oversights. In it’s honesty, it may have exposed something unintentionally, something that could be viewed as sexist. Maybe in the show’s artistic approach and it’s subsequent vulnerability, it actually jeopardised it’s own premise and intentions.
By letting people see them for who they are, or attempting to at least, they may have revealed more about themselves than they wanted to. You’re not looking at the female flyer, you’re looking at the male base. You’re not looking at the pretty female hand-balancer over audience members and cast, you’re looking at the male cast members being stood on. Actually let’s take this whole thing back a step. Firstly, what are they trying to expose? Vulnerability, strength, masculinity, all of the above? Sexiness? Sexism? Blandness? Blankness? A boy’s club? This obviously depends on the viewer. Did they expose their boring side, or their honest side? Both? too many question marks here, and not enough exclamation points. I’m obviously over-thinking this whole thing, but why not. I get caught up in that sometimes.
It’s ironic that in my last post I mentioned that some of the circus community was possibly immune to the thought that art has it’s place in circus, and here I am picking apart a seemingly innocuous acrobatic show for no reason. Ah, the beauty of interpretable works!
To be honest, I’m still trying to work out if this is a valid opinion to have, given the overall reaction to the show by both critics and the general public. I can stand back and look at what this amazing company of people have achieved and be thoroughly impressed. Hell, I’m even recommending people see this show for both it’s approach and it’s acrobatics. So why the reaction in my gut that something isn’t right? Surely I can’t be the only one. I felt like, for all the amazing efforts put into such a show, there should have been a self-aware twinkle in the eyes of the men throwing the girls around like dolls. Who knows, maybe I had the wrong seat in the tent. Or maybe this whole thing is a reaction to my yearning for more artistic work, or for multi-faceted work at least. Maybe the themes that I reject as genuine in this show are received as genuine by others, and that’s why they like it. The probable truth is that I’m overanalysing something that should be taken at face value and nothing more.
I’m still in the process of working out which sort of shows I like and why I like them. What I do know is that the in A Simple Space, the girls were given get-out-of-jail-free cards in the competitive games, which undermines the entire premise of winning and losing and equality altogether. Once these concessions are granted, it’s all for nothing. You realise that the girls can just pull the pin on trying to keep up with the boys whenever they want, and then it’s left to the boys to do the ‘real’ competing. For me, that was disappointing. Either let whoever wins and loses deal with the consequences, or let the girls find a clever way to highlight the idiotic competitiveness of the male psyche. That’d be one approach anyway.
Let’s compare this to Limbo, which has often been accused of a thoroughly sexist approach. Throughout the polished, slick affair, the only female presences are in the form of sirens. Glimpses of doe-eyed, smokey and fake-lashed seductresses act as a series of seemingly pointless but powerful vignettes in amongst the supposedly more important male presences for the majority of the show. This obviously leaves the viewer to question the depth of the directorial approach, even in the middle of the show. But then, just as you think you’ve got it figured out, that the girls are unimportant, one of them swallows swords and breathes fire so spectacularly it leaves the audience breathless. The night I saw the show, this was the highlight and the part that brought a wonderful natural reaction from the crowd. There is also a stunning Lyra act which has a beautiful and unashamed femininity about it, appealing to both sexes and all ages. So what starts out as something tired and cliche ends up in complete girl-power mode, a simple bait-and-switch that is well executed and actually quite refined.
These two shows are at polar opposites, and possibly shouldn’t be compared to each other. I have no idea why I am comparing them, in fact I’m sort of just having a rant about nothing in particular and attempting to draw parallels where they may be none to draw. The reason is because I had a different reaction to the reviews and to my friends in the post-show analysis conversations. That’s not to say my opinions are entirely different to everyone, or that each show isn’t completely valid in it’s own way. Maybe this will be unpopular, I don’t know. I’m not even going to go into the subtleties of gender roles or the double standards women are constantly faced with even to this day “Wow, you’re so strong for a girl! He’s actually standing on you! I mean, That’s amazing for a girl, right?”. I’m not even going to go there. It’s not all about a female role being masculine, or basing big tricks, or denying femininity. It’s not about a girl shouting to be heard or ramming politics down the throat of the audience. Femininity can be strong, present, natural and powerful. Obviously.
The likely possibility of my slight ill-feeling towards A Simple Space comes in the form of workmanlike acrobatics and it’s aesthetics. The acts, moves and tricks chosen by Gravity And Other Myths sometimes relegated the women to props. It is true that the women in the cast are an integral and indispensable part of the show, the acts and the tricks. It is also true that they do have a presence. Perhaps the non-acting nature of the show means that they feel they can’t flirt, be a feminine character or exist as something other than an acrobat. But then, this in itself is a kind of oxymoron, the idea that exposing one’s true nature onstage makes a performer inhibited.
Maybe it just reminds me of my days as an athlete, performing a gymnastics routine then heading back to the bench (or lineup, as it were in this show) to unstrap your wrists and get a pat on the back. I long ago left the world of sport behind, only to be unwittingly confronted by a show called A Simple Space which is unashamedly filled with competitive games and competitive acrobatics, an exercise in machismo and gloating. My view is tainted by my experiences, and maybe my own experiences are the problem.
But that’s not the case. It’s an insight into my view, but not others’ views. I’m not the only one who thinks the show might be a little unintentionally sexist, but the fact is that my entire opinion doesn’t matter because the majority of the audience love the show, and probably never get this idea. They see a glimpse into the fun of circus, and I see competitiveness which I detest. What we’re witnessing is a perfectly executed, high-energy training session.
The magic for the audience of A Simple Space is that they get to see what fun it must be to be so amazing at the physicality of acrobatics and also have a camaraderie and closeness with your peers. The by-product of that for me is that other things come to the surface, like the potential relegation of women to a less important status in amongst all the competitiveness and man-sweat.
I really don’t want to put forward just one side of my initial reaction. I guess I’m trying to process why something that feels obvious to me can be missed by critics and audience alike. What I saw as sexist in A Simple Space, nobody else did. What others saw as sexist in Limbo, I saw as calculated and clever. What makes this whole thing amazing is that both shows have a completely valid approach to circus and theatre, and both are well executed. My musings matter not; they both will be successful and have a market and audience waiting for them, and the positive aspects of the two shows far outweigh any perceived negatives. So is that the conclusion of all this, that opinions don’t matter if they’re unpopular? Maybe. How depressing is that!
This is just one line of thinking and one opinion about a relatively small portion of two amazing circus shows. Not the truth by a long shot, just an opinion. An unrestrained dive into semantics for no point other than being self-indulgent. And to be honest, even I am still unsure of what that opinion is. So what do you think? Seen both shows, or one of them, and have an opinion? Let me know, I’m curious to read what you think.
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The resident stray at the arts space we performed at in Brazil.
This was in October ’12 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We performed outside in this courtyard with an old steam train in it, and this little guy hung around all week. I think he was being fed by one of the employees of the art space connected to this courtyard. Belo Horizonte in Brazil is quite a clean city in general. Up in the favelas it’s a different story but the city itself is quite normal, very politically active and educated. There were actually quite a lot of protests when we were there and all the bank workers were on strike too. We had to get up early and get to the ATM’s just after they were filled.
Coming from Spain the month before, I wasn’t ready for the strange sounds of the Portuguese language. I can recognise it now, but at the time it sounded like a bizarre combination of Italian and Russian. As I connected the dots with the Spanish similarities and latin origins, it started to make sense to me. I have a good general grasp of grammar but a terrible short term memory, so learning languages is difficult for me. That fact aside, I still enjoy giving it a go.
These beautiful old mares waited patiently on the hard cobblestones for customers. When I think about it, it’s a strange way to treat animals. Blinkers on, movement restricted, bit in the mouth, shoed up and standing on stone all day. It’s the same way people have used horses and other animals for thousands of years but, looking at like this, it doesn’t look particularly pleasant for the animal. I took this photo last year and never thought about this aspect of it until right now, as I look at it.
Without going too far into animal cruelty and exploitation, it’s interesting that I consider myself fairly conscious of these sorts of things but I didn’t even see it because I guess I was too busy being a tourist. On the positive side of things, I’m sure they get treated well regardless of their relatively curtailed freedom. They’re healthy, well fed and well groomed. They go to work in the morning just like the rest of us and probably sleep in a warm stable. But are they aware of their situation? That’s both the obvious and age old question, the question that either justifies their incarceration or successfully argues against such treatment of them. It could be worse, but just because it’s normal doesn’t mean it’s right either.
50 travel photos, a milestone! Woo. anyway, Korea is awesome. The people are great, the food is my favourite ever, the country in general is cool. We had a show rained out due to a typhoon’s suprise appearance, and this is the day was the tail end of it. My first typhoon, nothing too crazy but quite damp.
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I sailed out of Sydney Harbour a few times this year, on my way to Fiji and The Great Barrier Reef. The cruise ships either dock right next to the Sydney Opera House or they go right in and dock in the navy port. You leave at dusk, with the sun going down and everyone up on the top deck just like in Love Boat. I’ve got enough photos of this area of Sydney harbour to last me a lifetime.
The people doing the Harbour Bridge walk love to stop and wave you off as you sail away. Makes for some nice snaps, for them as well probably.
Swaypole is an interesting thing to see. It can be boring or it can be really entertaining, as with most other acts. These performers in Purmerend, just outside Amsterdam, were by far the highest I’ve ever seen. The poles are flexible metal or fibreglass, and the acrobat climbs to the top and performs various swaying choreography and skills. The female performer on the left had a safety line on, but the male on the right did not. Scary stuff.
A Lithuanian sailor takes his snake out in public.
This Lithuanian sailor takes a wary look at someone attempting to pet his snake as he takes part in the celebrations of the Festival Of The Sea in Klaipeda, Lithuania. There was just so much grilled meat, potato and beer at this festival I didn’t quite know how to approach the whole thing. It turned out, trying or two one of everything worked just fine. They do these little crunchy fried garlic bread piece thingies that go with the beer… I could do with some of those sometime soon I think.
ONEMETRICVINCENT 