In the big smoke. Miss my country.

I am quoting Bill Neidjie again; writing about his country and why he loves the bush in his book ‘Story about Feeling’ he says:

“We like white man alright. We like im city.
But city make you sick of it. Better this…”

I am now hanging out with friends in the big smoke; in Sydney. It is a culture and climate shock indeed coming here from Darwin; Kimberleys and Hawk Dreaming. Sydney is gorgeous but I don’t really like it anymore. Too big, too busy, too narrow streets, too claustrophobic, too many cars, too much traffic, too many people. No aboriginal presence like in Darwin, no history, no art etc. It is not Australia to me. The real Australia is the outback. I think I am going more and more back to my roots. Have no need or use for cities anymore. Just want to go back to “my country” – the outback. City make you sick of it.

It is also bleedin’ feckin’ cold here! Only about 20 during the day and 10 at night; I am close to being in suspended animation. I am used to 35-40 during the day, 25-30 at night. I can deal with the high temperatures; I actually love it. I can’t deal with the cold. Used to walk around in shirt, shorts and thongs (flip-flops). Now I wear 4 layers of clothes. For the people back home that know me: Yes you read right. I wear thongs (known as flip-flops in rest of the world). I have the photos to prove it. I love ’em! I certainly still hate sandals with a passion! And Crocs shoes! Hate ’em even more! But thongs good!

I am here for a few days to hang out with new and old friends. I am actually staying in a super nice house with friends who are not here. I’m housesitting while they’re in Europe. Ironic! I will shoot a bit here; but already have lots of Sydney images so trying to capture something different this time like this one:

Sydney Duotone Panorama. Flemming Bo Jensen Photography

I shot a stitched version of this, this is just a single shot so I’d have something to post. I find myself more and more seeking some sort of art angle on my shots and becoming less and less interested in reality. It’s reality but not as we know it. I capture the data and already have the final image in mind when I shoot the photo; I visualize the end product before shooting; an end product usually quite different from the actual scene. I capture data; but the end product is created in the digital darkroom – in this case quickly thrown together in Lightroom 2.1. The original data is still the most important though. Garbage in means garbage out!

I spent a lot of time sitting in the sun in the back garden of the unit I live in. It’s very relaxing and quiet, you wouldn’t know central Sydney is a 10 minutes walk from here. There are small lizards in the garden I play with. Until I get cold. I still wake with the sun, meaning 5.45am here in Sydney. Miss my country.

16 Comments on “In the big smoke. Miss my country.”

  1. I hear you mate. I moved from Sydney to New England this year, I've never been happier. Sydney is all well and good for a time, but its no place to call home.

  2. Another interesting read Flemming !
    I like the composition of this shot/scene and B&W definitely works well here.
    I look forward to seeing more shots from your trip.
    After 3 wks in north Aust…It may feel cold in Sydney (it was 30 there a number of days ago too). Then I'm not sure how you will cope with reality back in a Danish autumn/winter ?

    cheers,
    tone 🙂

  3. Christian; thanks mate!

    Tone; I think grainy bw (duotone here) works so well for cityscape. Often you have ugly colours anyway from neon signs etc. reflecting into the water. BW to the rescue! As for the Danish autumn/winter – I honestly don't know how I make it through Nov-Mar every year but I do. I always think in April "never again!"

    Kirk; thanks mate yeah ya can't go wrong with the Opera House somewhere in the shot 🙂

    Gudrun; same here! Has been heaps of fun!

  4. I know what you mean flemming – each year I think oh no – not another winter down south…but it has good things to keep some interest – like snow,incredibly rough seas/weather and some flooding… In saying this I do somehow end up back in the tropics somewhere as well… lol

  5. I hear you on the whole city thing.
    Really nice shot, great comp, great view, and great processing.

  6. It's hotter than hell in Charleston, S. C. Come for a visit if you can stand the Crocs. (Shoes, that is.) We always have a room for you. 🙂

  7. I suffer that same culture shock every time I return from the bush to Sydney — or any other city, for that matter. Sydney is spectacular and definitely one of my favorite cities, but I prefer not to live in a city, just visit. But even a visit is difficult when you've been Back o' Beyond for a while. I even noticed, on my last visit, after three weeks of hiking out bush, with no foot problems at all, a day of walking around the city gave me blisters. So it's not just my mind that has trouble readjusting. But glad you're having some fun in Sydney, because it really is splendid — for a city.

  8. I agree Cynthia, after the culture shock Sydney is not too bad … for a city. But I have gone full circle it would seem, back to my roots and have to get back to my outback, Back o' Burke. Have little use for cities anymore.

  9. I have never left Sydney airport even though I have been through about 30 times!
    I really like the composition mate but im gotta say Im not a fan of the grain.

    I can't wait to shoot Sydney some day!

    Cheers

  10. Dylan, thanks very much mate. It's good fun shooting cityscapes in Sydney so schedule a bit longer stop sometime!

    The grain sets the mood and reminds us of simpler better days when we shot on something called "film" and worked 25 hours a day on the farm 😀

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