man in a tree

man in a tree, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

When one is feeling bored and out of sorts it would be good to stick ones head in a tree for a different perspective.
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espressoholic

espressoholic, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

After a long walk, and the flash card is nearly full, It is good to stop and reflect over a double shot of espresso. One does not have to walk far to find a place. I prefer mine to be a long black with a little milk but the most popular I would suppose is a 'flat white' or a latte.View On Black

corner dairy & a place to live

corner dairy & a place to live, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

Just a few steps up the hill from the bars, cafes, and theatres below, and everything changes. Corner dairys open early, and the odd colonial villa in the process of renovation. And this mix of the past and the here and now is what I like to find when strolling along with a camera.
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magazines this week

magazines this week, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

But that is now why I have photographed the door, it is just a certain look of it. Just as graffiti and posters and peeling paint also give a certain look of what it is like to wander down the street.
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muddy water

muddy water, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

The rain had stopped and now starting to clear, so we got in the car and went over to Petone, there was not much on the main street that I could photograph, It seemed more interesting around the back. A shopping trolley in the long grass, and a door with what looks like a place for the cat to get out.
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aotearoa posters

aotearoa posters, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

This is one of my b series, taken a few weeks back but never posted. This week they are mainly c series so I am reconsidering a few. This one I feel looks just as good up side down, and that to me is a clue that it is OK, I used to do that with paintings. It is really the shapes, negative space and positive, dark against light, but best not to think too much about that stuff.
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mechanical repairs

mechanical repairs, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

I thought this was a nice cartoon, and the powerlines too looked like pencil lines, drawn freehand.
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wood pallet

wood pallet, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

I like to photograph things that are incidental, and random in nature, and organise them by making a photograph, rather than photograph something that is already made up by design. Here among the downtown shops, a few plastic barriers, rubbish truck and a wooden pallet, and it feels like there is something happening, something to photograph.
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twelve dollar haircuts

twelve dollar haircuts, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

Having read the book, “the ongoing moment” by Geoff Dyer, it seems most 20th century photographers at some point, photographed a barbershop. Not sure if you would call this a barbershop, there are women models displayed. but it reminds me of these photos, and also a photograph called 'penny picture studio' by 'Walker Evans”. One tends to photograph what one has already seen photographed.
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number 36

number 36, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

It is hard to guess what this place once was, a nice cottage with 'french doors'? Now it has a lathe inside.
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joggers

joggers, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

I could walk no further, I had reached the sea, I stood in the sand and turned away from the southerly swell. A group of joggers went their way, I raised my camera but they were mostly gone.

a place to hang your hat

a place to hang your hat, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

It was once a shop, but now it may be a place to live. I think what I find interesting is that the issues of life are written on the wall. And there are two arrows pointing left, the sign too is a sort of arrow, the wrong way round.
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takeaway fish & chips

takeaway fish & chips, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

I held the camera to my eye until I saw a passerby. I feel that looking at this scene the only thing that may have changed in recent years is the rubbish receptacle. People come and go, and the neighbourhood may well become gentrified, till then it is good to record it the way it is and the vestiges and traces of their history.
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book display

book display, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

I looked up “random” in the dictionary that comes with my computer, “made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious decision” and that to me is what the window is, “a random style”. It looks as if it all fell out of a box, with just a little adjustment here and there. This is the kind of subject I like, things that are random in nature, but appear to be chosen, ordered and arranged when photographed.View On White

art shop

art shop, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

I generally just walk out the door to find photographs, but sometimes to freshen up I have to get in the car and go to another neighbourhood. Inner city neighbourhoods tend to have a mixture of older colonial houses with what were once butcher shops and dairies (you can buy all that stuff in a supermarket now) They are now converted to second hand shops selling curious and collectables. And in this case art with an evident Jackson Pollock influence.View On Black

spray paint

spray paint, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

It was the painted panel of chip board that I saw. That and a red brick, yellow van and blue car. When I stood in a certain place, they seemed nicely arranged. Having seen that, I took a photo and thought no more of it.

puka tree, dixon street

puka tree, dixon street, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

Just sensed there was a picture here but not sure at the time. A steel box of conduits and bundles of wire does not seem like a subject. but when surrounded by flax and puka tree and topped with a bottle of monteith's lager it seems to fit.

double self portrait with X's

double self portrait with X's, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

Empty shops seem poignant, it is the history of past dreams, and now people have moved on. But I don't really think in language when I take a photo. Just the sight of a big X and the opportunity for a self portrait, I take a photo, and wander off. View On White

the reality of walking in the rain

the reality of walking in the rain, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

When the rain is coming down, the photos are harder to find. On an ordinary street corner I noticed a poster advertising fashion and style. Then a girl came walking along in the rain. I took my photo and moved on, trying to keep dry.View On Black

v tree

v tree, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

This is a photo of the vegetable sellers clearing up after a market day. I framed it with a silver birch, and included a couple of trucks, it is as much about these things as well. I like the idea of just collecting a sidewise glance, as I strolled by.

park alone

park alone, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

Parking buildings are usually dark, damp,and very simply constructed, though good views can often be found from the top. And if you watch movies, they give the impression that bad things seem to happen when you go to get your car at night. For me they are part of our culture, and as good a subject as any.View On Black

curious uomo

curious uomo, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

The late afternoon seems to pick my subject for no other reason than some magenta in the middle, and a small section of yellow around a drain pipe, offset by a broad section of rusty drilled steel. This is the street.

car coming

car coming, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

On a dark and non-descript street there seems to be little going on. Then I had this find, a small sign, that lights up now and then saying a car is coming.

green line

green line, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

I like photographs that are about the things that are seen, the place and their transitions. And the same photograph can be about lines that seem random, and lines that intersect and the two dimensional shapes of things.

Hunter Street

Hunter Street, originally uploaded by Lester Ralph Blair.

I took a few photos here The one I chose is where the people are hidden behind bushes or poles. I like the anonymity. And it is more about poles, pavement, and the places that people just move around and through.