For my self portrait, I wanted to represent a sense of place and how I see myself in it, as well as those who make me, me.
I see myself as an observer and so my media recordings, both audio and video, represent sounds of the places I frequent, environments I inhabit and people I meet.
My sense of awareness increased once photography became a prominent factor in my life and sounds/music/ambience/light are always on my radar.
I notice little sounds, gestures, movements, and smells; each contributing new layers to an environment and our experience within it.

I chose to represent myself as a shadow in my first image because of my appreciation and fixation with light and darkness.
How it shapes and contours, softens, obstructs and brightens form and because I prefer not to highlight myself.
I initially began photography through self-portraiture because I didn’t feel confident in photographing others and slowly the focus shifted from me, so I found this a challenge.
I took this image next to a lamp post and stood by it and noticed how similar the figures were, aesthetically and symbolically; as two people walked by me, hand in hand, licking their ice creams, they didn’t even notice me standing there – just as we don’t notice a light pole.

Work is a big part of my life, so I included an image of the Design Hub. I love the design from the outside, working on the inside tends to stifle creativity because of the stark interior and institutionalised aesthetic.

I like to go on road trips with friends and last weekend I assisted a friend with a photo project of hers, I held a reflector and bummed about Trentham Falls.
Nelle, the model, who I have photographed before, had an unfortunate fall down the cliff and cut her leg open. I carried her bags as a couple others helped her climb to the top of the hill.


I like watching old movies, French and Italian especially.
Their intimacy is really beautiful and unapolagetic – different to the environment in which I have grown up.
I find comfort in it.
– still from La Chinoise.

And this last image is a red door I like in Fitzroy – an area I frequent every day on my way home.

                                   Courtesy of Google Images

In our first week’s class, we were given an extract by Katherine Hayles on Hyper & Deep Attention to read over and discuss.
It resonated with me as it’s been a ongoing discussion that I’ve engaged with and instigated many times among friends and colleagues.
Working in media and marketing, I’m constantly trying to read the ebbs and flows of the ever-changing market, increase engagement with interesting content and to post at peak times.
Having to be hyper-aware of the habits of other hyper aware individuals is a huge task in and of its itself and it came as no surprise that
a study undertaken by the Microsoft Corporation found that our attention spans had decreased from 12 seconds to 8 in less than a decade.

As an individual running on hyper attentiveness, I’ve found, like most, that I can only slip into a deep focus state if my interest is triggered.
The girl next to me in class, Alice, mentioned that she would turn on a bad film or tv show to turn her brain off, not necessarily sitting there and absorbing the content but disconnecting from the exterior stimuli.

Another guy in the lectorial mentioned that while he may also choose to watch something numbing to switch off, he is still aware of the notifications, texts and calls that are coming through on his phone.

I find myself turning my phone on ‘do not disturb’ of an evening and sometimes ‘airplane mode’ so that I’m not disturbed by the vibration of the incoming texts as I try and disconnect and recharge my own batteries.

It seems we’re all having to actively turn ourselves on and off, that or we all know what our triggers are and we’re having to heighten our awareness by staying on top of these personal cues.

As for the above image, I found it funny but also took comfort in seeing a picture from the 1950’s that showcased an equally demanding lifestyle, albeit largely different to ours these days but nonetheless taxing.