Workshop Wednesdays Vol.46

Workshop Wednesdays vol. 46

WARNING! This blog contains extremely cute cat photos curtesy of Life Magazine. I’m sure you are aware, our speciality is family portraits with pets, so when I came across the ‘Interesting Read’ for the week, I had to share (you’ll see why – get the tissues ready). On a different note we enjoyed watching the NRL for the first time in 64 days (my husband was counting)… and when he showed me the image below, I said: “Wow – that is a great trophy” thinking the men were already a bronze statue. I didn’t realise it was the actual, original photograph of Norm and Arthur! We hope this ‘Workshop Wednesday’ finds you all safe and well and keeping warm now that winter is officially upon us. We are keeping our studio extra safe and warm and hope to see you for a portrait soon (cats are optional!)…

Photo For Thought

“Norm Provan (b. 1932), footballer and coach, played for the St George Dragons from 1951 to 1965, taking part in ten of the Dragons’ eleven consecutive premiership wins (from 1956 to 1966), including five as captain-coach. The towering second-rower also represented his state 25 times and played for Australia in 18 Test and World Cup matches. Provan’s NSW and Kangaroos teammate, Arthur Summons (b. 1935), is one of 47 footballers to have represented Australia in both rugby codes, having played fly-half in 10 Tests for the Wallabies before joining league’s Western Suburbs Magpies in 1960. He went on to play a total of nine rugby league tests for Australia, as halfback and five-eighth, winning five out of five of his matches as captain of the all-conquering 1963 Kangaroos.

Taken after the Dragons’ 8-3 victory over Wests in the 1963 grand final, this photograph of the two captains was for a long time considered a depiction of mateship. Summons later revealed, however, that it in fact shows a moment of bitterness, when Summons refused to swap jumpers with Provan amidst talk that the officiating referee had bet £600 on a St George win. Regardless, the photo later became the model for the NRL premiership trophy. Provan and Summons were both named in the list of rugby league’s 100 Greatest Players during the game’s centenary celebrations in 2008.”

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2009″

SOURCE

In The News

Minneapolis, US

Protestors demonstrate in front of a burning fast-food restaurant, over the death of George Floyd.

Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

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Iconic Photographer

– Lisa Kristine

“Lisa Kristine’s images take us behind the veil to the atrocities of slavery. To respect human dignity for those from every walk of life, we must embrace our unique role in upholding the precepts of equality, belonging and purpose. When we do so, together, we can enact powerful change.” ~ Sir Richard Branson

“Lisa’s unique blend of still-documentary journalism and fine art in action has garnered widespread acclaim in the world of photography and the international humanitarian stage. She is the recipient of a Lucie Humanitarian Award, presented at Carnegie Hall, honoring the greatest achievements of master photographers. The Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Queen Mother of Bhutan and Amnesty International, among others, have all endorsed her work. David Clarke, former Head of Photography for the Tate Modern, describes Lisa’s arresting images of modern slavery as “a testament to truth and an insightful and inspiring body of evidence which should never and can never be denied.”

“I believe that a sound work of art should be captivating each time it is viewed,” she says. “A viewer from any place or walk of life can be in direct relationship with the subject within it, and be emotionally and viscerally moved.” Lisa oversees every detail of the reproduction process, resulting in a magnificent display of color with the precise hue, value, and intensity of each fine art print.”

SOURCE 

 

Interesting Read

“One morning, some years ago when I was living in New York City, I gathered Kaya into an old blue shawl and carried him eight blocks to the animal clinic to be put to sleep. He had been my cat since I was in the ninth grade. I named him after the Bob Marley album. “Nineteen years is a long time for a domestic short hair,” the vet said, stroking him.

Kaya still had a little life in him at the end. On the walk over to the clinic he batted at my chin from inside his wrap. I talked to him matter-of-factly, telling him about a recent CNN/New York Times poll that had voted him one of the seven best cats in the Northeast. I often told him things like this over the years: my version of coochy-coochy-coo….

Kaya appreciated good, simple things: being brushed with a fine comb, warm chicken scraps, a scratch behind the ears, weekends on the Cape, a place to sleep at the foot of the bed. How often do we celebrate the life of a cat?

The mewing became a backdrop to my life that did not fade until the very end. When I made the appointment at the clinic, Kaya had been sick for several weeks. Thyroid condition. He slept nearly all the time and he couldn’t keep his medicine down. He stopped jumping up onto the bed at night. He kept to a corner of the apartment, venturing out every few hours to stare into his water dish and take a few half-hearted laps. When his mewing died down, a strange silence settled upon the apartment. Around that time he stopped eating.

It got to me, of course. I tried to tempt him with his favorite foods. Friends came over to tell Kaya good-bye. The night before we went to the clinic I was sitting on the couch—quiet, glum, and staring off. I guess Kaya could tell I was in a rotten way. I looked down when I felt him rubbing weakly against my shins. He peered up at me. “Mow,” he said, and then he slumped back over to the corner to rest.

The next morning I carried him in the crook of my arm. I talked to him as if nothing were wrong. At the clinic I set him on a table in a small greenish room and stroked him until I could feel a faint purr in his breast. The vet was there too, and Kaya, with what seemed like great effort, gave a final, soft meow.

His life was gentle, I tell people, and you could have learned from him.”

(Don’t say I didn’t warn you)…..

Kittens can sleep up to 20 hours a day, but this one woke all the way up to smile for the camera. jdross75/Shutterstock

This fluffy cat was in a playful mood; feline personalities begin to emerge at around five weeks, which is when they begin to be weaned. Evdoha_spb/Shutterstock

It looks like this dog, cat and mouse were considering acting out the food chain, but this was in fact a friendly gathering of the household pets of the Lyng family in Denmark, 1955. Jytte Bjerregaard Muller/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

This Siamese cat escaped up a pole in Carlsbad, N.M. in 1962, and hoped the cocker spaniel in pursuit would obey the sign. Bettmann/Getty

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Story of the week

Not many of our clients enjoy the full spectrum of what we do: portraits, weddings, events and businesses… Ai and Des, however, have now completed at least a trifecta (if not the full set – you decide?!)…! We first met in 2017 for a family portrait, then we photographed their tenth wedding anniversary event in 2018 and this year, a wonderful business portfolio for Ai’s yoga studio: Tawa Yoga! And to top it off, another family portrait – this time with three generations included! We are so appreciative of your support over the years and very excited that you can finally re-open your stunning brand new studio now that the restrictions have lifted. It has been a difficult year for so many businesses – gyms and yoga studios in particular. Let’s hope the second half of the year makes up for the first! 


Best Wishes From HP!

Thanks again for getting this far! We have appreciated the lovely feedback since relaunching our little blog and thoroughly enjoy putting it together. Photography is the BEST!!

Best Wishes,

Hannah, Olivia, Angela, Nic and Charlie

The Hannah Photography Team