Imaging the other side of the wire

I’ve reached a new place in my photographic learning. Shots that I was really happy with just a few months ago now seem a bit meh. Sometimes I need to re-shoot. Sometimes, I just want to play with the images in editing tools.

Yesterday I posted a double-exposure image composed of two photos I took at the same time and place.

Early morning on the Waitemata Harbour at Hobsonville Boat Club. Su Leslie 2018

Razor-wire fence and seagull in flight. Su Leslie 2018

I quite like both shots, but there is something about that razor-wire fence that disturbs me every time I see it. Behind the fence is a yacht club. Members store little boats in the club compound, so I guess the fence is to keep their property safe.

I can’t help thinking though, of the millions of people around the world who are currently held behind razor wire; in prisons, detention centres, Gaza.

In my everyday life, I’m outside the wire. But I wonder how small a shift in the political wind would be required to change that.

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Wordless Wednesday

Out there somewhere, the Hobsonville ferry

Wharf, Hobsonville Point, Auckland, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018

Posted to Debbie’s Six Word Saturday challenge at Travel with Intent

Daily Post Photo Challenge: my place in the world

Early morning, Lucas Creek at Greenhithe, Auckland, NZ. Su Leslie 2018

To be perfectly honest, I’m really not sure what constitutes my place in the world . Even geographically, I struggle. I’ve lived in the same neighbourhood (indeed the same house) for 18 years, and yet I wouldn’t claim I’ve ever felt particularly “of” this place.

I feel even more adrift lately, as Auckland’s rapid and unchecked population growth pushes high density housing ever further onto formerly rural land that once nurtured the orchards and gardens that fed us.

This is still a beautiful place; a small claw of sandstone reaching out into the Upper Waitemata Harbour. Early in the morning, and at dusk, it is possible to find a place at water’s edge and listen to the tide lap boats and sea walls. To watch morning mists evaporate, or the sun take its nightly curtain call in rich, splendid colour.

Sunset, Christmas Beach, Herald Island, Auckland. Su Leslie 2018

It is still a beautiful place, and for now, one way or another, I guess it is my place.

Daily Post Photo Challenge | place in the world

DP Photo Challenge: Rise/Set

Sunrise. Image: Su Leslie, 2018

When you wake up each morning, you can choose to be happy or choose to be sad. Unless some terrible catastrophe has occurred the night before, it is pretty much up to you. Tomorrow morning, when the sun shines through your window, choose to make it a happy day. Lynda Resnick.

Daily Post Photo Challenge | Rise/Set

DP Photo Challenge: a face in the crowd

Rowers from a local school club bringing in the pilot boats after an early-morning training session, Hobsonville Wharf, Auckland, New Zealand. Image: Su Leslie, 2017

Being part of a team is in some ways analogous to being “a face in the crowd”. Teams work best when individuals work towards their shared goal, rather than trying to stand out and be seen for their own performance. This may be particularly true of rowers where, apart from the cox, the movements of all crew members need to be synchronized.

Daily Post Photo Challenge | a face in the crowd

The colours of morning

Agapanthus. Image: Su Leslie, 2017

Agapanthus. Image: Su Leslie, 2017

Agapanthus. Image: Su Leslie, 2017

Sunrise is just before six here now. The sky is cloudless; the air still. The village is full of walkers, all plugged into our music and podcasts, enjoying quiet streets before the cars take over for the day.