photograph by nikole from 46th at grace.

It’s Monday morning here and I’m very busy distracting myself from the work I have to do. Perhaps you need some distractions too.  Here is what I’ve found…

1. Nikole’s post on icing cakes and meeting boys is sweet, to say the least – a must read.

2. Victoria from sfgirlbybay has launched a great concept called ‘blog it forward’. I’d briefly read about it on other blogs over the past couple of weeks but to be honest, still had no idea what it was about until I made the time this weekend to read some more. It’s great! And most certainly a wonderful distraction. Read about it here but even easier, view the list of blogs participating here. And  here is victoria’s initial post. Enjoy!

3. If you’ve been following Louise’s 52 suburbs blog like I have (and even if you haven’t), then you will love this little video documentary about her. I love to see how other photographers and bloggers go about their business, so this was a real treat that I think you will love to.

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Surely that will distract you for some time now. And really, if distractions are inspiring, then it’s all for the greater good of the work to come, right? Right? hmmm.

xx

PS  zoe just sent me this video link – now this is what I call enhancing the everyday! and perfectly distracting.

PPS and another fab video that will surely make your day. thank you for the link Josephine!

…because on the rooftop of the world, and in the valleys below, a new year begins. May this year be the year.

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click here to see tibetan new year festivities happening in sydney.
photo courtesy of l’internaute, photographer Miguel-Angel Horcajada.

For those of you who have been visiting the (blog)house from the early days, you may remember my little story about the first time I walked into ‘Tracey’s world’ as I like to call it, when I was propping in Sydney some years ago (here is the post). I’ve been wanting to visit Tracey in her new studio in Redfern ever since then, and last week I finally managed to do so. It really is a world of natural wonder, with exotic flora and found objects made into incredible pieces of art. Tracey continues to be a huge source of inspiration for me, her work stretches the imagination in the most sophisticated, yet simplest of ways. I took some photos while I was there, just for you, would you like to see them? Here you go…

Tracey’s studio is just around the corner from Baffi & Mo, that great cafe I featured a few weeks back. My suggestion would be to have some breakfast there and then wander over to Tracey’s (Studio GO1/59 Great Buckingham St, Redfern)…

Thank you Tracey! I can’t wait to see what you create next.

You may recall that not so long ago I wrote about my love for making photograms during my uni days (click here to read the original post which features the beautiful photographic work of rowena dugdale). For those who don’t know, a photogram is making a print in a photo lab without using a camera.

Rowena reminded me in a recent comment that I said I’d try to find an example of one of my photograms for you when I went back to sydney. I happened to be rifling through one of my visual diaries the other day and found this, below. It is one of my original photograms which I made by exposing some text that was written on a sheet of acetate, tiny pebbles, and piece of sheer fabric over a self-portrait. I remember feeling some sense of exhilaration over the finished product.

photogram with print, untitled, Pia Jane Bijkerk 1996.

I love the tactility of making photograms, it’s a rather marvelous process and if you are a photo-making-enthusiast, I highly recommend the developing adventure. I’ve now realised how much my love for making photograms has influenced my work today – even though the digital world we now live in has mostly eliminated the hand touched aspect of photography, the physical contact I have with the image from beginning to end is still ever-present.

Incidentally, I found this feedback written in my diary from one of my university lecturers. Love the second sentence…

I am delighted, as you can imagine. How many times did I wish for it to snow when I returned to Amsterdam? Countless, I thought it was all in vain. But no! Because I woke up to a blanket of snow all over the boat. And as soon as it was light enough, I pulled on my long johns and 4 other layers of woolens, grabbed my camera and headed outdoors. The snow was perfectly powdery and every sound was muffled – the passing bikes, our footsteps, even the rijks bells were softer and more gentle than usual. Oh, it was magical…

After our walk we headed into a café to warm ourselves with some hot chocolate. It was so cozy inside…

Then, I noticed something in a not too far away tree. Something completely familiar in the strangest of settings. Had this little guy followed me from warmer climates? Looks like he too, was enjoying the snow as much as I…

xx

PS then I  walked past this sign as I exited the park gates…

ha! not bloody likely.