Chinese New Year

Welcoming the year of the tiger. Every year I'd be home and grandma would be bustling about, cooking and stringing red packets up. There would be new budding willow branches in the big vase, a platter-ful of sweets and biscuits on the table and new clothes to wriggle into. We'll have a big dinner on the first day and wait for the extended family to come the next, everyone wishing each other gong xi fa cai and the young folks eagerly receiving ang paus (red packets filled with money). 

This year however I'm in Melbourne, far from home and family. The festivities here started early with firecrackers going pop pop pop! On the 14th the road to Chinatown was blocked off and stalls rose up so I went with a friend to see how Australia celebrates CNY. Unfortunately there were mostly adverts everywhere, and real estate agents, an extremely overpriced gelati truck and an awesome exhibition of bamboo skin and syrup artists. 

 

Very pretty decorations!

mmm...gelati. Rather unsatisfying =( 

A dragon dance workshop. The little kids were so cute and enthusiastic! So were the adults actually ;)

A syrup painting master, creating a butterfly. 

Completed syrup art. Looks very yummy. 

Around the city there were several lion dances visiting local businesses, bestowing good luck and good fortune to the happy drum beat and clashing cymbals. A man in a mask is often seen jumping around with a round fan, he leads the 'tiger' and conjoles it. There is always a cabbage and a paper scroll hung high, so the tiger leaps up and devours both, then reveals the scroll with good luck writing before the firecrackers go off in loud bangs!

 

A golden lion preparing to eat the cabbage. It succeeds!

This red lion retreats from the explosive crackers. See its closed eyes?

Off it goes finding a new place to bestow good luck!

A bold black and gold lion.

The tricky man leads the lion. 

The players of the lion are often very strong, it takes alot of energy and martial art skills to leap and show off the great lion! At other places the lion would often jump from pole to pole, wowing the crowds!

 

Taking a gentle bow. 

Chinese New Year is a time of families and friends. It is accompanied with delicious food and bright colours and lots of noises calling for happiness. Gong xi fa cai, may your year be filled with good cheer and good health and good fortune.

Fast and Slow

Met up with one of my favourite designers today- Airdrie Makim who does Joolz by Airdrie, very beautiful hand crafted jewelery made from recycled materials. She now has an adorable little shop with two other designers on Georges on Collins called Insert Name Here.

I first worked with Airdrie when I started photography, she had so graciously loaned me her collection to play around with.

Designer Joolz by Airdrie

Makeup Justine Bruers

Model Sara Downs

Photography Me

Lighting Assistant Jeff Paine

Assistant Sammi Jones

Evidently it was one of my biggest shoot with a ton of people and lasted about 6 hours. So ambitious this young thing!

So Airdrie and I got to talking about the industry. Everything is so fast paced and things just happen. It's really truly about who you know and it's about networking and pushing yourself and putting yourself out there, because if you don't no one else would know you existed. I'm pretty much the shy lamb, I feel so uncomfortable in social situations and have been avoiding parties and launches, which I should really go to!

I always hear questions on how to succeed, how to be a working photographer- I have a ton of those questions myself. Networking, perseverance, marketing yourself- I have to keep my head down and keep chugging on like the little engine who could.

But everything in this industry is also about waiting- waiting through prep time, waiting to hear back from people, waiting to be approved, waiting, waiting, waiting. It can be so exhausting- it's a social industry and you end up depending on alot of other people.

C'est la vie.

Introduction

Photography came into my life not too long ago...a very lovely photographer friend handed me his spare 10D and said 'try it' and as if something very large, something very prominent and enthusing and marvelous came and knocked me sideways, photography has become a very different reality of my life.

This is a documentation of my journey. Welcome.