When two artists meet- Melbourne by night

One recent Sunday night, Tomboy Bill and I met up for an evening of photography. We walked about Melbourne town wearing our scarves and beanies, taking many a photo. At one point I was mistaken for a homeless person (not that there is anything wrong with that!). It wasn't all creative stuff though, Tomboy Bill and I did manage to stop for pie, dodgy mash and rock hard muffin's. Tomboy Bill was Artistic Director and I followed instructions to the T! I had to, otherwise...... Seriously though, we talked, inspired each other, spotted things, we talked lighting, angle and 'feel', we took turns to carry the equipment about and in taking the shots. Anyway, here are some of the results:

"Ahh, So that is where Bennetts lane is!", we exclaimed in unison.

A handsome and single man waiting:

Stumbling through Melbourne's dingy and grotty lanes:

The light that guided us home:

All photographs, Copyright Matthew Schiavello  2012

Autumn- an afternoon in the park and other images

An Afternoon in the park:
Recently a I met up with a friend and her family to take some photographs of her son. We went to a local park where the young and cute son, did his thing.. which meant it was almost impossible to get him to stay still or to look at the camera. My friend has kindly allowed these images to be shared....
So, please enjoy- 'An Autumn afternoon in the park'.

 

These next photographs are from some Autumn walks and I am imaginatively calling these- 'Other Autumn images'.

I love Autumn!

All photographs copyright Matthew Schiavello 2012

The good, the bad and the Ugly- May 2012

The Good: Friends.


They say a friend in need, is a friend in deed. Recently, I was in a pickle and needed to email some example 'headshots' to someone. I only had a couple of days, and was really busy with other work... one frantic email and many kind friends lined up to be models! Bless them for saving my neck. Here are a variety of shots that friends have kindly 'modeled' for me.

  

The Bad: Being single for too long.

I think I may have been single for too long....here is why:

Recently I was wined, dined and had the most magnificent evening .. ever! Actually, I think I may have met 'The One'! Sick of waiting to be asked out, I decided to take myself out. In fact, I made a night of it. Pre-dinner drinks, nice meal at a posh place and even more drinks. I was witty. I was a real gentleman. I opened doors for myself, whenever I needed to sit, I pulled my chair out for myself and pushed it in afterwards... I sparkled, I shone, I made myself feel like a million dollars! Genuine compliment's were generously handed out and I, oh how I made myself laugh! I am such a funny and warm guy! What fun the royal 'we' had that night! Did I mention charm? Gosh, I have never met anyone so charming!

After such a marvelous time, I had to invite myself back for a night cap. On the way home in the back of the taxi, as we tenderly held hands, I caught myself excitedly wondering if I might be 'the one'. I am everything I would want in a man! When we arrived at my place, some serious aromatherapy happened, as did a lot of candles and muzak. Oh yes, the mood was set for my man and I. Let me tell you my friends, that I was not disappointed. It was everything I thought it would be and more! I was gentle, I was passionate, I was full of surprises and I loved me like no other. In the morning, I was still there! I didn't sneak out on myself during the small hours of the morning, leaving a note that made me feel cheap and dirty... No, I stayed and even made myself breakfast. Fingers crossed, because I think this might be it!


The Ugly: Imitation as a form of flattery?

It’s not easy being me. I try and do my thing and suddenly everyone else is doing it.  You just have to see me to know that I am a style maker. Forty,  short, bald and tubby… oh.. and the glasses.  Even that is being imitated!!  Every time I walk down the street, I am faced with copies of me… albeit lesser copies. Over Easter I visited my brother and discovered he’d stolen my latest style invention ‘the beard’. I had just made a change from my old ‘thing’ -the constant three day growth.. which he (yes, my brother again) recently copied. WTF? And if you know what ‘WTF’ means.. then you know that yet another of my ‘things’ has been stolen…. It’s a hard life.. a friend of mine is the worst.. lets just call her Paula (because that is the thief’s name), she steals everything I write!  Just for the record, the use and overuse of exclamation marks is mine!!!!!  As is starting an email with ‘hey’. Misspelling and poor grammar- yep, who’s ya daddy? I, matthew laurence schiavello,  invented those little beauties.  I could go on about it, but I tired of ‘going on about things’ ages ago and gladly let the imitators keep that one.. even though they still don’t get the subtle nuances of it. Anyway, Is it a form of flattery when people steal your thing? If I was rich and cashed up to the eye balls, I'd smile and see it as flattery, but whilst I am scrounging through rubbish bins for my dinner (yet another of my little beauties.. I am calling this one 'poverty').. I'm kind of feeling like it is stealing.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue- May

Something Old

I had this post ready to go this morning and as I gave it a once over, sad news came over the radio that Adam Yauch From the Beastie Boys had died after a battle with cancer of the parotid salivary gland. I grew up with the Beastie Boys and their first LP 'Licensed to ill' was one of the first cd's I ever bought. I still have the 7 Inch of 'Fight for your right to party' as well as a few other of their early singles. Their next record 'Pauls Boutique' blew my little mind with its brilliant use of samples. The boys came from a punk background and played a few different styles of music. So, Adam, thanks for the music and the inspiration! You and the band have a great DIY spirit and you made me feel that I could get out there and make music as well!

Off their third lp- 'Check your head', here is chilled and very cool track: Beastie Boy's- 'Something's got to give' 




This next artist and the clip, speak for themselves: Kate Bush-  'Wuthering Heights.'




And now for something completely not different at all:
Noel Fielding dancing brilliantly to Wuthuring Heights (From 'Let's dance for Comic Relief'). 

Something New


Plan B- "Ill Manors"- I don't condone violence and destruction of property, especially against the innocent...  This song is not a glamorization of violence, don't misunderstand it. There is an interview below that talks about what the song is about, what inspired the artist and what needs to be done.. even that aside, as a standalone track there is energy, grit, great drums, menacing strings and importantly  brilliant lines like:

"Keep on believing what you read in the papers  
council estate kids, scum of the earth"

"Feed the fear, that's what we've learned"

and

"Oi! I said Oi!  
What you looking at you little rich boy!  
We're poor 'round here, run home and lock your door  
don't come 'round here no more, you could get robbed for Real... "

There is so much in this song that I want to share, but will leave you to discover yourself. I will say that Plan B voices what needs to be voiced. He is real. On Plan B, I recall some really gritty, uncomfortable and confronting raps from him 'round 2005 or earlier.. more recently he seemed to change tack and add a soul/ r'n b sound to his tune and singing.. which was great, but I am happy to hear him back with his gritty story telling.  

Here is the the interview in which Plan B (Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew) talks about the tune and inspiration... as noted from a discussion post from someone on you-tube: "All problems of a class society. Chav is a derogatory term for the working class. In a class society the upper classes look down on the lower classes. Ads and magazine say you've got to have the right trainers and clothes. If you can't afford them then you feel devalued and feel looked down upon. So when riots occur is it no wonder people who cant afford these things take them. Social revolution into a classless society is the only solution to these antagonisms"

In the interview, Plan B also states that we are all animals and when backed in a corner we lash out.. it is a primal instinct and exists regardless of class.  He asks why aren't aren't the London riots still being discussed and questions raised about why it happened and how do we prevent it from happening again.

If you have time, this is a really interesting listen and is great to hear this stuff from someone who isn't an academic.

Something Borrowed:


'Samson'- from the TV show "The Voice'. Sung by Casey Withoos. Originally a Regina Spektor tune. I hadn't heard this song before and I loved it immediately! 



Something Blue.


This is also cheekily something borrowed.... Bluejuice and their cover of Lana Del Rey's - 'Video Games'. This has a great swing, shuffle feel to it and it grooves subtly.. I like it!

Bluejuice - Video Games (Lana Del Rey cover, from Triple J's Like A Version. Please note that the tune starts around the 1.30 mark)

 

All things Melbourne Part 2- from twilight to night

The Melbournian fast approaching his twilight years:

When I was younger, an uncle often referred to me as a 'trendsetter'!.. Now I wonder if it was code for something other than 'fashionable' . Anyway, we Melbournians, are trendsetters.. and I don't mean code for Gay, sure some of us are, some of us are metrosexual even ( I am never sure if that is code for bi-sexual, or bi-curious). We love anything as long as it comes in black... well that is not completely true.. just kind of.   Oh.. did I say that already??   Ekkk!! Surely a sign of age. Another sign is my tetchiness and strong unfaltering feelings (or are these just stereotypes of aging?). Recently I have found myself saying 'no, I don't like that!', in a tone that screams 'don't even dare to question this! On a recent Sunday night photo shoot (samples of which, will be below), I was out way past my bedtime. I think a clock struck 10.30pm as I smiled smugly. I was clever enough to bring my nice wool cardigan, which was now keeping me warm. I recall noticing with much disapproval, not only the numbers of young people out and about! I couldn't help but wonder why their parents were allowing them out at this hour, shouldn't they be in bed, if not, then surely there are things to be done- Chores, homework etc. But my oh my!, I was mostly unhappy about how under dressed for such cool weather these young people were. My head turned from side to side and as my lips pursed. I was not happy at all. It was not all bad news though, as I did see a couple of younger people dressed appropriately and to these young people I smiled approvingly and felt reassured that when the reigns of power are handed down, we will all be ok in the hands of these particular young people... obviously not the under dressed ones.. because if they can't even work out what to wear on a cool night, how the hell are they going to manage a whole country??? 

Ok,  enough about the prematurely aged person- me. As we left off last week at Birrarung Marr, it is only fitting that we begin again from there! So prepare yourself for:

  
The city from twilight to night.




The rowing sheds and Southbank skyline, across the Yarra river:

Because of a combination of factors, such as slow shutter speed, twlight etc I think this photograph is left looking more like an artist's impression of what the bridge will look like once it is built, rather than the actual photograph that it is!!

Twilight in a lane with the beautiful Dani.. note the eaterys!

The Arts Precinct:

yes I love this sign.... I think I took 20 shots of it.... obsessed?.. maybe :-)

In and around the Arts Center:

Cool lit door way in the arts precinct:

Our proof that we are cultured- The Arts Center on a cloudy night:

Looking across the Yarra river to the city, around 11pm on a cloudy night.

The city on a cloudless night:

and here my friends, is where we say goodnight.
My bed awaits me, as does yours await you.



all photographs, copyright Matthew Schiavello 2012.

All things Melbourne part 1- The Melbournian and Day

The Melbournian:

 We Melbournians love anything as long as it comes in black... well, that is not completely true.. just kind of. We are kind, friendly and forgiving. Ignore the stories of the gangland wars, they happen everywhere and only add an edginess to our beautiful city. We love fashion and have built an ever growing shrine to it, called - 'Chadstone'. We invented Aussie rules football. Back when I was a child and referred to as 'Master' (oh, how I do miss those days... ), it was called VFL- The Victorian Football League.. now those other States (yes those ones full of terrible coffee.. (it is a widely known fact that we Melbournians are coffee snobs)), anyway, now those other states have honed in on our action..and just to show how nice we are and that we can share, we let them join in on the fun and we relabeled it 'AFL' .. 'A' for Australian. Speaking of which, Melbournians will generally support at least one AFL team and will look dumbfounded at you if the word 'rugby' is murmured, even if you mention 'Melbourne Storm'. At this point I should be very clear that it is not all about sports, for we Melbournians are a cultured bunch and we built an Arts Center to prove it!


Melbournians also love lanes and alleyways and going to cute pokey, cool bars that seemingly pop up over night! We love the new and the novel and then drop what ever it is like a hot cake the moment something better comes along.. probably explains why we are a city full of people either transitioning to their next relationship, or like myself, seemingly permanently single. Coming back to cool new places, the general Melbournian rule of thumb is 'the more people that know of a place, the less likely we are to go'. We Melbournians are complex creatures, we may talk your ear off about some obscure film or arts festival, or bang on about our art or music project that we are trying to get up and running (we are all aspiring artists or musos). If you are a 'northsider' like myself, you probably also go to 'open turntable' nights and spin leftfield indie tunes (throwing in a few mainstream hits of yesteryear.. just to be ironic and 'cool'). Those northsiders that can, squeeze themselves into their  hipster ultra-skinny leg jeans (well, as skinny as we can get our fat thighs into), speaking of fat, you can spot Northsiders who are over thirty by our one-too-many-brunches tummy, spilling over the waistband of our too tight pants. Some of us may be found with our guts sucked in and pondering if corsets will ever be cool again, and if so, where can we buy them (umm maybe that one is just me).  When not pondering about corsets, we will be blogging, or taking photos of the food we have eaten, to then review in our blog, alongside our inspired 'Band of the moment' reviews. We will read broadsheets like The Age and pretend we know the difference between The Labour and Liberal Parties, as we sip lattes and alcoholic beverages in cafes and bars...we may seem a pretentious bunch, but we're not. If a Melbournian sees you on your own, we will smile, we may say say hello and ask if you would like to join us... and maybe, just maybe we could workshop an idea for a collaborative conceptual art piece!!  
Speaking of which,  I have this one idea for something called 'Multicultural, Indigenous, Disadvantaged Women: Left lonely and marginalized but still hopeful of a world that is Environmentally Sustainable and free of Domestic Violence, as we search for our voices in an ever changing  community of cultural and religious diversity'. Given that the title hits most of the funding 'buzz words', there is a really good chance that we might be able to apply for some funding from the City of Moreland, to put it together and present it at next years Sydney Road Festival!! .. err I'm just saying.... 


Here are some Photographs of the city during the day:

The view from 48 Floors up:

Back on the ground :

Bikes are all the rage:

Some of Melbourne's famous Lanes:

We love to sit, eat and drink!

 

No matter how small, or how dirty a lane is, we will probably set up an eatery or bar. Take this for example:

I am sure even this lane will have a queue waiting to be seated soon!!! The kitchen/unisex toilet can go right behind that colorful screen!!

Melbourne loves it's Sports:
The G for those who don't know... as in MCG... as in Melbourne Cricket Ground. Where confusingly, football is also played. They should just call it the Melbourne Sports Ground- MSG..ummm on second thoughts, maybe not.

 

 Melbourne loves it's Arts:

Melbourne loves it's bookstores:

Melbourne loves it's many beautiful parks:

And as dusk falls over the 'top end' of town, let us say goodbye for now.. and meet back here at Birrarung Marr next week for part 2- 'Twilight and Melbourne by night'!.

All photographs, copyright Matthew Schiavello 2012.