Photography

Rottumeroog and The Fault in Our Stars

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BqP3CsrCQAADxFFYesterday at work I was looking out the window when I noticed they were building something down at square in front of the station. As more of us saw it, we were stumped as to what is was as we are far enough away that we couldn’t make it out. I did say it reminded me of National Geographic, but other than that, we got nothing.

Naturally curious that I am, I decided to go down there in my lunch and check it out. Which is when I found out that it was, in fact, National Geographic who put it there. It was a photo exposition of photos taken on the wild island of Rottumeroog by photographer Jasper Doest. It will be there until July 27, go see! It’s beautiful.

Today I had the day off because I switched my shift (so I’m working tomorrow). I spent the morning in bed reading The Fault in Our Stars. It’s a very good book, very moving. I’m looking forward to the movie!

Tonight I watched Elysium on TV. It was worse than I expected.

100 Things That Make Me Happy [2/10]

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11. A breeze.

It’s like Mother Nature gives you this small touch as if to draw your attention to what’s going on around you. A little touch to remind you that, no matter what, she’s always there.
12. Colourful things.

I’m a very visual person, and while I often really like black and white things, I need a touch of colour. My first instinct with black and white pieces is usually to go and colour it.
13. Silence.

Nothing better for introspection and just living in the now.
14. My dog.

This is a bittersweet one. Tessa was my first ‘real’ pet ( I had goldfish before) and I was completely hers (and she mine) from day one. She’s just such a happy go lucky dog, as soon as I come in, her tail starts wagging and she comes over for cuddles. However, I was fourteen when we got her, and now she is fourteen and her end of life is rapidly approaching. She has made it months beyond what I expected, but with each passing week it is clearer that she won’t be around much longer. This saddens me greatly, although I a, happy that she has had a good life, and that we will be there for her till the end.
15. Taking that perfect photo.

I love taking pictures. And many of them are quite good, and some are really bad, and some are so-so. But when that one perfect-to-me shot happens, it’s such a great feeling. I’ve been having it much more often lately since I bought my first DSLR (Nikon D3100). And then are the ones I take now done on automatic. Just wait until I’ve learned all about the manual settings 🙂

Gert A'dam Grass Monkey Curious Monkey
16. Scrapbooks/Photoalbums.

I love to make and look through photo albums and scrapbooks. To relive memories and see and appreciate the effort put into preserving them.
17. Ladybugs crawling on my hand.

I’m not a huge fan of bugs, but ladybugs are so precious. And it always feels special when they choose to come and sit on you and share their existence with you for a while.
18. Butterflies around my head.

Similar to the ladybugs, butterflies just flitting about from flower to flower around me makes me feel connected to nature.
19. Playing with wet squishy stuff (clay, that kiddy slime).

I can’t even explain this, I just love the feeling of sticking my hands in wet squishy stuff and wriggling them around and such.
20. Fuzzy things.

Animals, but also fuzzy plush toys and related things.

 

Around the Internet IV

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L. Weingarten has a photography series called “Series of Questions“. They’re photos of gender-variant/gender non-conforming people posing with questions they’ve been asked. Questions that are often intrusive, accusing or otherwise meant to make the person justify themselves to others.

The mission statement says:

This ongoing body of work explores the power dynamics inherent in the questions asked of transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, and gender-variant people.

Many documentary photographic projects that deal with trans issues exploit the genders of their subjects, pointing to an “otherness” or inappropriately exoticizing their bodies. A Series of Questions seeks instead to make visible the transphobia and gender-baiting that can become part of everyday interactions and lives, forming a fuller picture of the various lived experiences. In so doing, this work contrasts with the dehumanizing approaches that predominate the images made of transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, and gender-variant people, which often focus solely on their gender or trans status, or use them to further a specific point about social construction and gender.

The subjects hold signs depicting questions that each has had posed to them personally— some by strangers, others by loved ones, friends, or colleagues. Presented on white wooden boards, the questions are turned on the viewer, shifting the dynamics under which they were originally asked, and prompting the viewer to cast a reflective, self-critical eye upon themself, revealing how invasive this frame of reference can be.

 

 

The Genderbread Person. An infographic that tries (and does a damn good job) to explain all the variety in gender identity, gender expression, biological sex and sexual attraction. Should be required teaching in sex ed and related courses. Hell, should be required reading for everyone.

 

 

 

The Strangers. A very creepy short horror/suspense story about Strangers and the subway. I couldn’t stop reading once I started.

Tanah Lot, Bali

Ten amazing real-world locations that seem to come straight from a fantasy (right, Tanah Lot, Bali).

Cards Against Humanity, a party card game for horrible people. Everyone has a number of cards, and one player begins by playing a black card with a question. The others answer the question with one of their cards (blind). They get then shuffled and are read out loud by the starting player who picks a favourite. The player who played that card gets a point. Then the next player plays a question card and so on. The questions and answers are not suitable for children. The game itself is sold out, but can be downloaded in pdf format to print yourself.

 

Ending on a lighter note: 50 amazingly achievable things to do before you die 🙂

Icons v.2

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As per #36 on my 101 list, I went around my house today and shot pictures to use in making new icons. I decided to go for simple macro type shots of things in my house. This contrasts nicely with my previous batch of icons, which were more graphic things and all designed in such a way that they looked like pencil sketches. You can see them here.

The new ones worked out surprisingly well, even though I will probably replace them again at some point in the future 😀

Here’s all 15 of em:

101
101: The icon for my 101 list, for no particular reason really, I just thought it was pretty. And if I get with cat-centric posts I’ll probably use this too.
Create: For when I talk about stuff I made, it’s a painting I did.
Default: Default userpic, my hand
Genex: For talking about gender, sexuality, general LGBTQness and Fan Fiction :D, it’s Star Trek’s Benjamin Sisko locked in a tight embrace with Data
Inside: Stuff about my house, and other indoor things, it’s some decorative glass things with a portrait of me and my parents in the background.


Life: General ramblings about my life, it’s my collection of necklaces and my tie.
Listen: My pile of Omnia CDs, for when I wanna talk about things I listened too, music, but also spoken word or whatnot.
Me: Myself in the mirror
Outside: One of my new plants of this year, for garden talk and other out-and-about things.
Pagan: My other hand, for pagan and other spirituality/religion/mythology stuff


People: A tiny anatomical doll I have, it’s for posts about other people, be they friends, family or strangers.
Quote: A shot of Shakespeare’s Romeoo & Juliet, just after the bit where Romeo exclaims “What light through yonder window breaks”, and to be used for when I want to share some quotes or other lines of text that inspire me or maybe make me think, or laugh or sad etc..
Read: Some of my books. This happens to be my shelf of pagan related books, but I wanted something colourful and not piled (since I tend to pile my books)
Watch: A close-up of my bust of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Jean-Luc Picard as Locutus of Borg. It’s for posts about things I’ve watched: movies, TV shows etc…
Write: And the last one is my laptop’s keyboard and used for post about writing.

Swaart Padje, Portrait of a Consumer Society

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Swaart Padje - Portrait of a Consumer Society

Swaart Padje – Portrait of a Consumer Society

Shot in June 2008. A view of a path in my hometown that is the favoured route of the local high schoolers to reach the gas pump where they buy snacks during their breaks. On the way back they eat their spoils and usually dump the wrappers and packaging on the ground.

Me Time

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I have taken some lovely me time for the past week or two and, to repeat myself, it was lovely. I do apologise to various online friends whom I haven’t spoken to in that time. I’ve not forgotten you and I will get back on the talking grid soon, I promise.

I’ve come to a few realisations about various things, one of which I can’t really get into until I’ve posted somewhere else (which I’ll do tomorrow).

I’ve realised that I like the freedom it brings if I’m not glued to the computer for most parts of the day. Before this my usual routine was to get up in the morning, turn on the pc and check e-mail and various small games that I loosely play and then the computer would remain on for the biggest part of the day (if I didn’t have to go anywhere and such) and that would mostly lead to me hanging in front of my screen just browsing about and not really accomplishing anything. I’d have occasional bouts of creative energy in which I would scrapbook or write a bit but 90 percent of my computer time consisted out of mindless surfing around.

No more. I’m taking advantage of the summer to get my computer use back to a more regular level so I can actually use it to work on mostly and play a bit instead of it sucking me in like a black hole.

I’ve also realised that just plainly turning the thing off is very relaxing so I’ll be doing that a bit more as well.

Another thing is photography. I’ve been creative in many ways (writing, painting, graphics work) for a long time and photography has always been a particular pleasure of mine. Since I got a new camera in May, which is much better in quality and options than my previous one, I have started taking more and more photos and some really good ones as well. So I want to take advantage of the summer with its long days and sunny weather (I hope) to really get some photography done and see if I can expand that, even if only remotely, from snapshots, good photos and the odd great one to good photos and more great ones. 🙂

This was my reasoning behind turning my main website into a photo blog and opening this one for the odd blog post. I’m not most regular of bloggers anyway 🙂 Now, as for the photography, I have a few ideas for shoots and series I want to do in the next few weeks of which I’ll be posting some or maybe all of them on the site. So if you’re curious, by all means, drop by.

Yet another thing is that I realised I’ve really missed writing. I love writing, creating stories, worlds, people and I haven’t done it all that often lately and it’s getting to me. So I’m actively getting back in touch with my inner storyteller. And on that note I’m calling it a day and signing off here to go to bed.

Oh and finally, I want to try and pay some more attention to my health and body. I could do with some weight loss so that’s a thing I definitely want to incorporate in my daily existence. I’ve been going swimming regularly the past few months and I really like it. I’m not much of a sports person but some more exercise won’t hurt so I plan to ride my bicycle some more and maybe even walk a bit (I seriously dislike walking, mostly related to the fact that I’m not very good at it)