The French intended to pass a law banning “happy slapping” — where people beat up someone, record it (usually on a camera phone) and distribute it for the “amusement” of their friends. Instead, the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than “professional journalists” is now a crime.
Billy Law: watch this photographer!
Last night we had the very great pleasure of seeing our new friend Billy Law take second place in the inaugural Shutterbug 07 competition for non-professional photographers with his Pumping Iron series.
Billy got behind the scenes at the National Amateur Body Building Association competition to capture the real theatre and humanity — and humour! — of this event.
You can see more of Billy’s work on his Flickr stream, including his Mardi Gras set. Actually, take the time to check out all of Billy Law’s sets.
If you’re quick, you can see all of the images from Billy and the rest of the ten finalists at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington tonight.
Oh, and just for the record, Jeremy Wilmotte won first prize with some astounding surf photography — including several images which took it outside that often-cliched genre. (I’m not sure if that link goes to his competition work, but it’ll give you an idea.) And Wacharachat (‘Oat’) Vaiyaboon came third with a series of waterscapes — a bit too “postcard” for my tastes, but very finely crafted.
[Update 29 March 2007: I’ve added links to Oat’s work. I seem to like it better tonight than I did at the cinema last night. Maybe I’m seeing it in its own right now, as opposed to comparing it to some very distinctive material.]
Lights Off for Earth Hour
A few weeks ago I decided to support Earth Hour and turn off the electrics this Saturday night. While in one sense I think it’ll be another hollow gesture — like so much in Sydney, all talk and no action — every little bit helps. I’m also committing my business to this.
Tagged! 5 favourite feeds
Oh dear, Zhasper tagged me with one of those “tell us your 5 favourite feeds” memes. At least it wasn’t “5 things you may not know about me,” or I’d be forced to emulate Hugh MacLeod’s sarcastic reply. OK, here we go…
Stay alert, ye nameless, toiling animals
Hindsight is wonderful. When we look back at, say, World War II, TV documentaries cover the rise of Hitler in a few minutes. It’s easy to forget that Hitler was head of the National Socialist Party from 1921, fully 12 years before he became Chancellor in 1933. And it was another 6 years before WWII officially kicked off with the invasion of Poland.
I’ve often wondered what that all looked like for people living it in real-time. And oddly enough, three articles in the Sydney Morning Herald this weekend got me thinking about how that relates to the big global issues today.
New look!
Yes, things look different. I’m still using WordPress as the main content management system, but I’ve switched to the extremely flexible (and beautiful!) theme Tarski.
The header photo is the Sydney Harbour Bridge, shot on my Nokia N80 phone last weekend. I’ll fiddle with the colours and other elements later.