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One man that has a mind and knows it can always beat ten men who haven't and don't


So here I am, back at work again, this time in a suit. You know what that means: another VERY IMPORTANT MEETING. Have I mentioned how much I like meetings before?

But enough of that, I have a photograph to comment upon. I took this snap this morning on the way to the bus stop. If you look through the gums at the front, and ignore the mountain at the back, you should be able to see a bunch of white things in some trees in the middle distance along the bottom left of the picture. That, my friends, is a rag tag group of cockatoos that hang around these parts for a good portion of the year. I’ve shown them grazing about on the grass before, but they seem to like to hang about in the trees this early (this was taken at 7:20 am).

Excuse the brevity of this one, for unfortunately I have a meeting to prepare for!
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Comments

USelaine said…
But I refuse to ignore the mountain, and I want to inspect the trees as well! Phooey!
1 September 2008 at 12:28
Benjamin Madison said…
Hi Kris, well I read and enjoy your blog almost every day. It is consistently interesting. With regard to this photo, I sense a bit of the same obsession as myself here: that is, with the photo as a conveyor of a specific bit of "information," in this case the birds. Yet the birds are probably the least important part of this photo, mere punctuation. The gum trees provide a beautiful frame and composition element that gives us a place to stand to look at the view. And that glorious cloud so beautifully draped over the mountain; the whole effect is quite lovely. You are photographing like an artist but still thinking like a person composing an instruction manual. I don't mean to be patronizing here - I wrestle with this problem all the time. A photograph doesn't have to be "about" something any more than the world has to be "about" something.
2 September 2008 at 02:40
Kala said…
Even before reading the post, I wondered what those white things were!

Hope your meeting goes well. Here, we have a holiday, but I too have a meeting tomorrow so gotz ta workaz

Sad haha
Anyway, have a great day - I believe you guys are in Tuesday as we are on Monday =)
2 September 2008 at 09:37
Kris McCracken said…
USelaine, as is your right!

Benjamin Madison, you’re correct of course. For me, the mountain and the trees are an everyday sight, with the birds being the ‘novelty’. I must admit, I still assume that the commentary is optional for the viewer. When browsing photographs, I always have a good look at the image first, and then take in the commentary. That way I am unencumbered by the ‘artists instructions’, which ultimately don’t matter! Yes, the artist is dead and the art is alive in my world view!

Kala, the meeting did go well. It is nice to meet with organised, highly functional people for a change. It doesn’t happen enough!
2 September 2008 at 16:20
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