In pursuit of the perfect photograph

In pursuit of the perfect photograph I have climbed through demolition sites,
loitered in graffiti alleyways, been pricked by cactus & chased sheep around paddocks!

I've also discovered a cool new way to display my prints to get them out into the world, for exhibition and sale! Prints are mounted on black or white foam board with wall hanging clips & hook.

You should know where to find my photo gallery online....? Flickr is where! :) Drop me a line if your interested in purshasing!? 6 x 4 prints are $10 each or 3 for $20.

I hope you enjoy the sometimes prickly, sometimes corroded world of Bronzebrew! x

Bobby Dollar had a girlfriend

Bobby Dollar had a girlfriend
he thought his bitch was pretty hot
theyd been goin steady for fuckin ages
till Bobby said "Guess wot?"

"Wot is it darrrl" said shazza
"Wot ya gone and done"
so snorting rather loudly
Bobby told his bitch the pun

"Ive sold your ass on Ebay luv,
to a bloody yankee collar!
I got a bloody bargain though,
he gave me one american dollar!"

"Geez babe" said Shazza, not amused
"My mates warned me, they did holler,
never trust that man they said
that man called Bobby Dollar!"

So whats the attraction?

You may think I'm crazy because i do get excited when i see a rusty dumpster or a dead fish on a beach; these are just some of the filthy crusty degenerating mediums that tantalise my fascination with photography. I am not the only enthusiast for things decaying and decrepit though, there are groups for us like 'Dead things on a beach' www.flickr.com/groups/deadbeach/pool or 'Rust Whores', 'Rural Decay and check it out - RUSTY & CRUSTY - www.flickr.com/groups/rusty_and_crusty

I've delved far into the depths of what's hiding in there; some people have given me inspiration to say the least, the likes of the macro addict Imagination Alone - www.flickr.com/photos/imaginationalone or the texture obsessed Dann Solo - www.flickr.com/photos/dannsolo or the grandfather of rust Alsieber –
www.flickr.com/photos/alsieber

There is also 'goat eating shirt' guy who’s beloved goat has eaten over 1250 shirts, but hey that’s another tangent, I might make a blog just for that goat ,idea?
Here he is: www.flickr.com/photos/99439895@N00/sets/72157594434951060

What i love most is having like minded people that seriously dribble over rust! And that’s a quote - www.flickr.com/photos/pogonophobia/2277833554

I like to photograph these things in solitary, mainly yes because other people sometimes don’t understand and think I’m nuts but there is something quite peaceful about pealing paint, an abandoned house, a corroding water pipe...this world is getting older, wrinkly and decrepit, if you just stop to take a look you'll see!

www.flickr.com bronzebrew's Rust & other degenerate textures & visuals photoset

Self promotion for the consumerist

Fancy that, self taught photographer turns entrepreneur! If you stare at this slideshow from schmapp for long enough my photo of the octopus street art outside Fidel's cafe in Wellington will appear. they chose my photo from a set on Flickr - insert more self promotion here: www.flickr.com\photos\bronzebrew150.
But are you and am i any better off for it? now im providing free advertising for schnap or whatever their called and i myself have fallen into the evil ring of trying to ballyhoo you by this advertisement (btw, my photos are for sale, contact me for a fee quote)...
It seems this modern world will drown us in mass media, advertising anarchy fuelled by the money wheel of industrialism! material possessions the 'must have' to gain what we all desire most in life- true personal happiness. We are tantalized by the shiny, the glamorous, the 'new black' , it's a porn industry for consumers... mass media melds our lives, why bother with subliminal advertising any more! from when we leave the house from every angle though every orophus of our bodies we are bombarded with advertising. is it really up to us how we spend your money, or is that just what we like to believe?

The photographer

A door slams shut , the outside left to plunder
through the monotonous heat of a midday summer
trinkets gleam like thought clutter

The photographer
my neck prickles, I'm in one corner of the room
hes in the other

I drop my bags and rinse my hair in the sink
water dries crisp over my hot skin
where do we begin...

I thought I knew him
come look he says in here
I will photograph you nothing to fear

You are beautiful
like this emerald i have for you
diamonds for a pretty girl

Over by the veil
my mind wanders
click click click
look at me, now look at me
release yourself

You pig, you toad, you fiend!
give this to me a keepsake
for my turmoil
my broken dream

B.H 08

Graffiti as an art form

GRAFFITI!GRAFFITI!GRAFFITI!

There are some amazingly talented artists around and I post my admiration and thanks to them for turning the dirty city walls, the dull gray factory buildings and the plain lifeless trains, cargo holds, fences, pavements and back alleyways into colourful, bold, expressive works of aerosol art..piece, mural and stencil...

Just who are these people throwing up the art anyway? Is it the young homie boys with and bandannas hanging outside timezone? Is it the spanish gangsters blasting hip-hop from their valiant as they cruise down Courtney place? Is it the art school hippies creating intricate stencils? Who made the stencil of the spooky tree with the bats? Was it the quiet goth girl on her way home? Was it the kids with teenage angst? It was all of them!

So graffiti as an art form stemmed out from Hip-hop culture, but i wander if its appreciated by people of other cultures? It wouldn't be fair to say 'most cranky old people' say its filth and vandalism. Good graphers with respect don't damage personal property, its a kinda rule to stick to public property in general. With the exception that i guess those people who just painted their new white fence don't like coming out and finding a big tag sprayed all over it.....but thats shitty tagging, not helping to make proper street art a popular art form. That's just kids (of all ages) being dumb and if kids weren't 'rebelling' in that way they would in some other way cause its fun doing dumb stuff when your a kid. PSY was a tag youd find in every crevis of Canberra and randomly in other cities in Oz. PSY fucking everywhere... ofcourse the poor guy got busted tagging PSY one day and so at the same time was busted for every single one, it was a lot of community service, ironically he had to clean graffiti off walls, he must have detested that!

Anyway, for the real enthusiasts and talented graffers they might meet up at a 'writers corner' as its known - a place where they can come together in peace to learn, practice, share and compare techniques and skills. Could be subway, train graveyard, alley way, park, etc. The best example i've seen of this in Wellington is down one side of Aro Valley park..... and that's certainly not harming anyone...

I feel in recent years there has become a growing acceptance for street art, the authorative figures play the 'blind eye' towards some of these writers corners and are encouraging the youth the learn through workshops on provided walls, or is it they have simply given up due to the vast popularity of this culture? I'm all for it but there is definitely a dislike in the community because people associate any type of graffiti they see with vandalism, tagging of private property and images of scary youth gangs cavorting the neighborhood at all hours!

Public property - theres just so much 'wasted' space out there, I can see the attraction and I love that I can wander through the streets and parks, under bridges and railways and see the culture and the youth and the artists representing everywhere, massive tribal or hip hop stylistically pieces hidden in back alleyways, little butterflies, robot men, amazing fonts & typography..... and you come across amazing murals like the big octopus outside Fidel's or the 'Vintage' bar piece in Wellington or see Deb's familiar cat girls in the streets of Melbourne and theres no denying these are really talented and admired artists...

It is a way as its always been of expressing oneself, what you believe in and about freedom. Well, aswell as about rivalry, rebellion and anarchy!

I'm into the real art work and i wish there was more of it, but maybe then it wouldn't be the same, i don't want it to be mainstream, i don't want it to be altogether popular and it's exciting when you just stumble across a cool piece cause you ventured that little bit further down the side street or around that corner, its like gold!

bronzebrew at the seaside

My first memory of being in the ocean was not at all comforting, i remember being bobbed on mothers hip as she edged deeper into the cold and tumbling water, the taste of salt already in my mouth... I disliked the feeling of being taken unwillingly into this huge unknown mass of liquid, it far differed from the comforts of the bathtub of bubbles and rubber duckies. Mother had taught the three other children to swim and i was the final one to be dealt with, it wouldn't matter that I was at an age two years earlier than the others, she knew the ropes, take her in put her under and bobs your uncle, you have yourself a water baby! No, impatient mother, i wasn't ready!....I squirmed against your bosom as the shore line fell away, the waves came lapping at my neck, my ears and splashed in my mouth, my eyes! i did not enjoy it. Id been happy enough playing with my bucket and spade at the waters edge, dipping my toes in the edge of the vast unknown, that didnt mean i wanted to be dragged out and introduced in this brutal fashion! Under i went, mother gripping me tightly i was plunged deep into this cold and hostile environment, my mouth open wide gasping in shock, flailing helplessly, I choked on this putrid sea soup. . up again, to breath at last...and once more just for good measure "woooooo under she goes" sang mother! gasp choke! .....then, at last i was bobbed back to the sea shore, quivering and cold, now a child that had experienced the ocean properly, mother making sure of it! That image haunts my summer holidays, possibly to this very day, ive never really liked the waves, i guess im just not a water baby...