This week I’ve collected most of my related photographs onto my spare hard-drive & have subfoldered them into categories relation to the type of shoe or it’s state of disrepair. There are a number still to retrieve from backup drives & a lot still to process from last year. It’s sad how many are left to do, but it’s a personal project so it holds the lowest priority rating of my processing folders. However I’ve had a bit of a break this week & have gotten through processing over a thousand mostly personal shots. I’m rather happy with that.

Along with all of that processing, I’ve managed to get in a couple of shoots for the Shoe Book.  After finding a home published job for sale online that used my own words from the forum on this website & from my Livejournal, I was feeling rather flat & uninspired to continue it.  But a few good friends pointed out all the work I’ve put in so far, & pressed me hard to keep going.  So this year that is my priority.  There will be as many related shoots as I can fit in, & all my spare time will be spent working on it.  After all, there’s four years of work in it so far.

I’ve uploaded a small selection to my gallery.  These include photographs of shops (with permissions) & shoes from a mixture of booked & spur of the moment shoots.  Many thanks to all of the random strangers who have granted me leave to photograph their feet instead of running away screaming from the strange girl with a large camera!  Not just Perth either – I have quite a solid number from my trip to Beijing last year.

The other night I had the opportunity to photograph the pair of Red Shoes that have a story I will never forget.  That’s them above, along with the piano that goes with them.  Yes, you read that right; they’re a matched pair.  Those shoes haven’t been wearable for about a decade, but their owner is not intending to part with them any time soon.  She still has a mischievous glint in her eye when she tells their story.

And therein lies much of the point to the book.  The stories & desire behind a pair of shoes, or the compulsive need to own as many as possible.   As my mother & her best friend both say, “If the shoe fits, buy it in every colour.”

A few people have emailed me lists of their shoes, &/or photos of them all lined up, so that I can start planning shoots around them.  If you’d like to have your shoes & their anecdotes involved please drop me an email,  draganin at dragancaor dot net.  No matter their state of wellbeing or how ‘boring’ they might appear.

Alternatively, over at Livejournal you can leave a reply on one (or all) of three posts regarding this project.   Anecdotes are being collected here.  There are also  two questionnaires; an overview of your shoes & one that relates specifically to Chuck Taylors by Converse.

The Australian College of Beauty Therapy’s Diploma of Fashion, Theatre & Media Makeup students hit the popular tourist beach; armed with sunblock, brushes, latex, adhesive…. & a few bottles of stage blood!  Council & surf life savers forewarned & at the ready, the girls & their models trekked from as far as Toodyay, Rockingham & Roleystone to Perth’s best-known beach with the sole plan of doing some gore-some makeup & having fun in the process!

Heads turned & questions were asked,  the students assayed the public’s fears & let them know it was all makeup.  A couple of friendly boarders were willing to join in one makeup shoot & pose as the rescuers (left), all the while yelling, “Help!  Life guards!  Shark!”  & waving their arms.

The Diploma girls proved that no one was safe from shark bites when they didn’t stay between the flags; victims ranged from a 6 year old boy, through to adults in their mid twenties – even a washed up mermaid.

Working covered by shirts, hats & numerous reapplications of sunblock, they remained working under the shade of the gazebos until each makeup was complete but for the final, location reliant, touches.  Preventing burn & staying hydrated was forefront in everyone’s mind.

After a hearty barbecue lunch, complete with a variety of salads, the girls packed up, cleaned up & headed home, their presence at the beach no more than memory & captured photographs.

Thank you very much to the Rangers & to the Surf Lifesavers at Scarborough for making the day possible!

To view the full set of photographs, click here or the class (photo above) to be taken to the gallery album.

For my shoes book  it’s starting to look like the good old Converse Chuck Taylor All Star (”Chuck” for short) are going to take up a chapter to themselves.  Now, believe me, I don’t mind that at all… but I figured if there’s going to be a chapter on them, then I want serious amounts of words strewn in there amongst them too as to why there is an entire chapter on just one shoe design in so many flavours.

I’ve done up a little questionnaire for people to answer with regard to this shoe type & have hosted it on my Livejournal account.  I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take the time to answer the questions – even if it’s just to tell me that you don’t own any & why!  Pass the link to this questionnaire around to your friends & anyone else you know who might be interested in taking part. The more answers, from the most diverse range possible, the better!

In addition to this, if you live in Perth, Western Australia (or near enough that you can travel here) I’d love to photograph you in/with your Chucks.  There are a number of shoots being lined up later this month & over the next few after that, that are centred entirely on this single model of shoe.

First to go up are the photographs from the Mu Tian Ya section of the Great Wall of China.  Mu Tian Ya is about a 2.5 hour drive from Beijing, though that’s certainly dependent on the time of day & amount of traffic. Peak Hour in Beijing is second to none.

It was beautiful up there; sunny & hot, roughly a 34 degree day (that’s 93.2 fahrenheit for those of you not using the metric system) but the shade inside the guard towers was at least 10 degrees less, the ancient stones keeping the cool. The smog/haze wasn’t the greatest, but certainly wasn’t as bad as Beijing was 6 days later.  The Chinese characters painted on the mountain [apparently] read “Honest Mu Tian Ya” – while I can speak a little Mandarin, I cannot (yet) read it.

Mu Tian Ya has been open to the public for 12 years. It’s not overly touristed, like Ba Da Ling is, but it’s definitely getting there.

Also uploaded are photographs from the Underground Palace in the Tomb of the 13th Ming Emperor.  Not far from Beijing, this was the first tomb to be opened.  It was only opened due to the manner in which it was ‘incorrectly’ closed; untimely deaths & bad weather.

The original coffins were replaced when the tomb was opened – the new wood of the replicas looking nicer than the original ‘old’ wood.  Then, during the cultural revolution, the remains of the Emperor & his two Empresses were destroyed by the people.  The marble thrones are still intact, as are the massive doors with their 72 doornails.  It is considered good luck to throw money to the coffins of the Emperor & Emperesses.

The 2008 Olympics were held in Beijing & the jade factory that made the medals for the Olympians is open to the public to visit.  They explain the manenr in which jade is found, the different types & grades of jade, traditions, as well as how to pick the real jade out from the fakes.  Not only the item itself, but its position in your home & the direction it faces are important in Feng Shui.

To view images, click here.

Should you wish to make a print order, please contact me.  Prices are available here.

The book, Life on the Lake, is 10″x8″ (25cm x 20cm) which is not quite A4 in size, landscape in orientation & hardcover. There is no dust jacket, the cover itself is directly printed onto the hardcover with a durable matte finish. There are 60 pages & around 63 photos (though I can’t say I’ve counted the exact number of photographs).

For a preview of some of the pages & the cost to purchase, click to read the rest of this entry.

Pages 6 & 7

Page 20 & 21

Pages 38 & 39

Pages 46 & 47

Pages 54 & 55

Cost to purchase is $119.95 Australian, which is roughly $87 American according to today’s exchange rate. Please note that the American price is subject to rate fluctuations.
Postage is not included in the above mentioned price.

I’m looking to do an order of about 40 books, though that’s subject to interest. I’ll get that many if I receive 18+ pre-orders…. otherwise I’ll just get 10 for now & see how things go. I wish printing wasn’t so darn expensive, I’d really hoped to keep the sale price below $90 (Aussie). But then again, there’s a lot of work in this book; 4 weeks in Cambodia, hundreds of hours of RAW image processing, selecting shots, 2 weeks solid research for the text & then a couple of months working on the layouts & ordering.

Hopefully though, the work I put into this will help make subsequent books less stress to put together & complete.

]]> http://www.dragancaor.net/2009/04/25/book-life-on-the-lake/feed/ 1 http://www.dragancaor.net/2009/04/11/zig-zag-dancing/ http://www.dragancaor.net/2009/04/11/zig-zag-dancing/#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2009 07:45:02 +0000 Gillian http://www.dragancaor.net/?p=53 Zig Zag Community Arts are at it again.

Seeing a gap in the Bush Dance market – the last one at Whiteman Park was in 2006 – they’ve gone out on a limb & brought them back.  With the great excuse of raising funds for the Madjitil Moorna Halls Creek Project, they brought Stirk Park, Kalamunda, to life yet again; this time with a range of musical sounds from performers NumGuts, Black Chook Chutney & Madjitil Moorna.

Dances were demonstrated by Jenny, flautist of NumGuts, & called by Tony & Kevin, & the crowd picked them up quickly.  Audiance participation wasn’t limited by age or height or job – even the videographer, Matt Dekoning, got in on some of the dances!

Photographs from the evening are available to view within the main gallery.

Keep an eye out & an ear to the ground – it’s not long before the annual Zig Zag Formal Ball, Bella Noche, 23rd May 2009!

Evening Stars

Erin will be doing make up, however you will need to bring your own (& come with your foundation already applied if you can).

The shoot will be happening outdoors, so it would be a good idea to wear something beneath your outfits such as bathers that you don’t mind being seen. I will be bringing a large sheet to hold around you during changes, though the under outfits are a great precaution & addition to this.

The location will be advised on RSVP. I’d like to keep this as participants only.

I can be contacted on draganin@dragancaor.net

This is a ladies only shoot.

You will need:

1. pre applied foundation if possible.

2. your make up kit, colours, applicators, brushes etc
Please bring your foundation with you as well, in case of the need for touchups during the shoot.

3. 2-4 outfits

4. a few pairs of shoes – these are one of the main focuses of the shoot, they don’t need to be brand new; beaten up & loved to death are fantastic!

5. an under-outfit for quick, un-embarrassing changes.

6. Water! It’s summer & it’s outside. Even though it’s evening, it is likely to still be warm & hydration is an absolute must!

7. Dinner. There is a BBQ right by where we are setting up, which is perfect for dinnertime! Bring something to throw on for dinner.

8. a smile!

I’m looking for as much variety as possible; bring your favourites, be yourselves!
The atmosphere will be relaxed & the shoot should be lots of fun!
xx

If you are looking for a photographer to capture your memories for print or if you are looking for something special to mount on your loungeroom wall then please, take a look around.

To view a portfolio of Gillian’s work, click here & browse by categories such as music, places, events, people & landscapes.   Gillian has work on display at DeviantArt, Flickr & RedBubble also; their links can be found to the right.

If you are looking for prints or photographs from a specific event or style, please contact Gillian direct & arrangements will be made.

This site is undergoing maintenance at present.  Any links currently not functioning correctly should only be a temporary issue & your patience in the interim is highly appreciated.

- Gillian