A Balinese Funeral: Roger Garwood

A Balinese funeral is a unique combination of the spirituality of Buddhist and Hindu rites which celebrate a person’s time on Earth and, importantly, their transition to a life after death. Various elements of the funeral ceremony are spaced out over seven days. At one point relatives of the deceased walk around the funeral pyre carrying offerings and pictures of relatives. Tourists will be aware of the funeral ‘season’ on the tropical island by the visible presence of massive bamboo towers which will convey a body to a cremation. But these prominent structures are for wealthy Balinese. In most villages and … Continue reading A Balinese Funeral: Roger Garwood

Messing Around in Boats (and Laundry): Roger Garwood

I’ve read The Wind in the Willows too many times and the net result is I love messing around in and on boats and water anywhere. Thus I wound up wandering around a small fishing village, Teluk Bahang, on the north west corner of Penang Island off the west coast of the Malay peninsula.  I’d spent a couple of hours schlepping around jetties and colourful wooden boats, inhaling fishy smells, making friends with scabby dogs and slick cats while exchanging laughs with sinewy boat crews as I tripped over heaps of nets, ropes and unfathomable tackle. Narrow tidal creeks were bordered … Continue reading Messing Around in Boats (and Laundry): Roger Garwood

Defending the Temple: Roger Garwood

There’s been a temple ceremony in Padang Bai, a small ferry port in Bali, for the past couple of weeks. It is held once very twenty or thirty years to clear any bad spirits away. Today is the final day so we’re probably safe now. These kids, dressed as guards, spotted me with a camera and asked for pictures to be taken. As they were heavily armed I couldn’t refuse. #Bali #indonesia #temples #hindutemple #buddhism #photojournalism #photoreportage #flaneurmagazine #rogergarwoodphotojournalist Story and photographs © Roger Garwood 2022 Continue reading Defending the Temple: Roger Garwood

… ’til The Cows Come Home: Roger Garwood

I’ve known him for years but have no idea of his name. We sit and chat and don’t understand a single word of each others’ language. But Cowman as I refer to him in my mind spends his life tending to his small herd, four of them and, currently two calves. His cows live in a small homemade shed propped up beside the pathway which leads to a local beach. Most mornings I try to take a few bananas to feed the ‘Daisies’, skin-on is their preference. I call them all Daisy and they are the healthiest cows I’ve seen. … Continue reading … ’til The Cows Come Home: Roger Garwood

Exploring the ‘hood, Bali style: Roger Garwood

There’s not a great deal more satisfying than strolling around with a camera and shooting up the neighbourhood.  I’ve recently, in fact for a long time, found the work of many photographers inspiring. Simon Cowling for his precise graphic images and Brett Leigh Dicks for his style and projects which involve exploring anything from deserted prisons to atomic test sites and more recently lunch bars. My preference is for pictures which are complex, where colours, textures and graphic content attempt to make a simple image but don’t quite get there. I like to disobey the conventional rules and do aim … Continue reading Exploring the ‘hood, Bali style: Roger Garwood

Brett’s Lunch Bar Adventure: Danielle Berryman

Brett Leigh Dicks’s favourite photograph in his Lunch Bars of Perth exhibition makes him homesick for California and the Mojave Desert. It’s the quality of the Great Victoria Desert light framing the Hay Street, Kalgoorlie lunch bar that creates the feeling. Brett’s exhibition of over 40 images evokes a sense of delight alongside an appetite for Aussie burgers, meat pies, chips and international fare. Each lunch bar’s character is unique, shaped by owners and staff, menus, locations, signwriters … and local customers. Brett’s photographs illustrate colourful sparks of life in bland urban landscapes, serving up humour, whimsy and intrigue amongst … Continue reading Brett’s Lunch Bar Adventure: Danielle Berryman

George Street Festival: Danielle Berryman

It was a sweltering dog day afternoon with many hounds deciding to be carried through the crowds at George Street’s 13th annual festival.  Thousands of people celebrated the Plympton village event, returned after the Covid cancellation of 2020. Music was at the forefront over three areas. The Music Hub and Sewell Street stages featured established artists while the expanded Glyde Street Youth Stage hosted emerging solo performers and bands supported by an audience of mums, dads, dogs, teachers and festival goers.  Sustainability was a strong theme. Stallholders offered eco-friendly Christmas gifts of potted plants, bee hotels and handmade clothing. Green … Continue reading George Street Festival: Danielle Berryman

“Fishermen Were Sitting Around Chatting …”: Danielle Berryman

Traditions adopted by Fremantle’s fishing community in the late 1940s were well underway early the Sunday afternoon of 24th October for the 73rd Blessing of the Fleet. The festival was introduced by migrant fishermen from Molfetta in southern Italy to venerate their Madonna dei Martiri (Our Lady of Martyrs) and her icon was carried in the first procession. An article by Dianne Davidson in a Fremantle History Society newsletter states: “The beginning of the Fremantle ceremony is attributed to a Molfettese fisherman, Francesco Raimondi. The story goes that 8 September 1943, 1944 or 1946 (different years are given by different … Continue reading “Fishermen Were Sitting Around Chatting …”: Danielle Berryman

Beached Art at Rockingham: Danielle Berryman

One thing standing out like a giant penguin at Rockingham’s Castaways 2021 beach sculpture exhibition is the lack of people discussing “the juxtaposition of …” well … anything. There are plenty of people engaged with the artworks, more humanly than academically. Inquisitive children ask “What are they?” To which their slightly frayed minders seem to quite often respond “Get away from there!” Let’s face it, half of parenting is finding interesting ways to entertain children and then panicking about potential problems. Perhaps for this reason one of the most popular works at the annual beach show was Fremantle sculptor Greg … Continue reading Beached Art at Rockingham: Danielle Berryman

Toodyay on Show: Danielle Berryman

Watch the bumper cars at a small country show and you might spot whose marriage is strained and which of the smiling mothers loathe each other.  When mum and dad load a kid each into a dodgem for a demolition derby with the manic glee of Bond villains you know they’re hyper-competitive or heading for divorce. And it can get brutal when town adversaries meet to settle old scores. God forbid rival councillors get onboard the dodgems – the kids won’t get a look-in. Luckily there wasn’t time for an in-depth sociological study of bumper brawls at Toodyay Agricultural Show … Continue reading Toodyay on Show: Danielle Berryman