On mastering the art of indolence in a hot country. 11/2/2024 0 Comments   ​OH ( my other half) and I are just returned from a trip to Mauritius. We met in Mauritius 44 years ago as students, and OH was keen to revisit the beautiful island that holds many happy memories. Memories of spending afternoons on the beach snorkelling over an incredible coral reef, listening to a young boy lying in the sea playing his trumpet. Of a bed and breakfast accommodation complete with cockroaches and geckos, and a cyclone that brought 60 inches of rain in just 14 days. It was so wet that we ended up travelling around the island in our swimming costumes, as there was no point wearing clothes; we were completely soaked within seconds. many years ago....... I am not a fan of heat, or of beach holidays. I am no longer able to lie for hours perfecting an unhealthy tan. I am a restless individual who can cope with no more than 30 minutes lying on a sun bed before craving some action. OH, on the other hand, likes nothing better than to lie for hours reading a good book, barely bothering to swim or to stray from his lounger. We are incompatible in this respect.  ​ In the past we have chosen activity holidays such as hiking or sailing. But this was to be a regular beach holiday. The potential for activities was there, but the heat of the tropical sun is more than I can bear on my ageing skin, and I can only be happily active before the sun reaches any significant height in the sky. So, determined to get some daily exercise, I got up at 6.30 every day to walk before sunrise. I left OH in bed and crept out with my camera and a desire to explore.  Our first location was a beach hotel. I was not the only one walking very early in the day. The sand was heavily foot-printed, and the beach pleasantly shaded. ​ Early morning walkers at Flic en Flac, Mauritius.  I searched for things to photograph. Mostly I was drawn to the dead corals, lying on the white sand along with sea urchins and a few shells.  Sadly, most of the Mauritian reef coral died after an extreme heatwave a few years ago. Snorkelling over it made me feel very sad, as I have memories of extraordinary beauty just off shore in the shallow waters protected by the outer reef. ​But the remains of coral washed ashore held me captive with their extraordinary patterns and variety. remains of coral reef, Flic en Flac, Mauritius It is illegal to remove coral and shells from the beach, so I took only photographs.  ​ sea urchin and seaweed  Every morning I walked, often passing the same people going in the opposite direction. When i tired of the sand I walked on the road to the village. A village that didn't exist 44 years ago. Everything was so different. A large part of me prefers to remember it as it was rather than how it is now. I passed  many coloured food trucks beside the road, closed up for the night. I was thinking of Ed Ruscha's photobook entitled '26 gasoline stations'. I envisaged my own version...... '26 food trucks'..... But I never completed the series. I was with OH, and we were on the move, so the opportunity didn't arise. After a few days at a beach hotel we moved to an airbnb in a small town. I was beginning to feel restless and frustrated with the heat. My morning walks became even more important. This time, along a busy road with no pavement until I reached the beach. I passed gateways to homes of many types, and tried to avoid being killed by the crazy bus drivers hurtling along the road  at break neck speed. ​ gateway, Pereybere, Mauritius scene from a morning walk, Pereybere, Mauritius gateway, Pereybere, Mauritius Here was another potential series; the contrast between the old and the new,  but I would have needed much more time walking the streets before breakfast., gathering more images. We were only there for 4 days. Not nearly long enough. ​ food outlet, Mon Choisy beach I started taking videos instead of photographs. They seemed more able to capture my mood. The word 'indolence' kept passing through my mind. I was conscious of a slow changing of my mood. Seven days into the trip I was irritable and wishing myself somewhere cooler. But as we settled into a routine of beach visits and snorkelling, people watching and novel devouring, I started to feel calmer. I spent long minutes watching palm trees swaying in the breeze, and the locals standing in the shallow water chatting for what felt like hours.  beach corals, Mauritius We moved on to our final destination; a fancy hotel in the east. Fancy and expensive. This was a birthday treat and another chance to revisit old memories. The son of our B&B hosts all those years ago was a chef at the hotel, and we dined there as his guest as students. I just remember a clean, white modern dining room, far beyond our budget. I have no idea what we ate. This time we were able to stay and make use of the beautiful surroundings, but my morning walks took an unexpected turn for the worse. I could either walk up the long drive of the hotel to the main road in blazing sunshine ( no thank you), or stroll along the local beach , which was not very far. I gave up this option after one day due to encountering a large amount of litter as soon as I left the main hotel grounds, and the distance not being far enough to call it a 'walk'. So I settled into a state of indolence, and carried on making videos and some cyanotypes with paper brought from home.  I got better at it day by day.  I watched clouds, and the weaver birds building nests. We took a boat to an island beach and lay under the trees drinking ice cold water. And when I got home I made a very short video of calmness. It is far from perfect, but my first  photobook course is starting this week, so I wanted to make it while I had time and was fresh from the trip. No more indolence now........ OH won't like it, as the music is too melancholy, the sun isn't always shining. there are no pictures of our adventures together, and it isn't a rip roaring ride through 14 days of sun and sand.  For that he will have to wait......... patience is a virtue. Some of us have more of it than others!

I'm not on the train......... I'm in the bush ....... at Orokonui ecosanctuary

A weekend away.

Not far. Two hours from oamaru is Dunedin ; a large university town with a railway, cruise liners and for the likes of me, a beautiful peninsula of hills and beaches.

I headed to Portobello, beside the sea.

It was very cold the first day. So cold that I had to put on my favourite socks,

But it didn't last. It turned out very nice.

And while the sun shone I explored.

Saturday was the pyramids and the beach.

the small pyramid at Victory beach

I duly climbed the pyramid and got a wonderful view. I had it all to myself.

looking south from the pyramid

marshland below the small pyramid

grassy paths below the small pyramid

Soon after my descent a large party arrived to climb the hill. I was safely on my way to the beach before all 30 of them crowded at the top.

The other pyramid is easily seen from the top .

larger pyramid at Victory beach

The beach was beautiful.

White sand and sparkling waves.

Victory beach

obligatory selfie

Victory beach

I relaxed in the sunshine, and then spent the rest of the day exploring the peninsula, meeting dogs and sheep along the way.

The dog was a lot better company than the sheep.

dog

sheep

sheep 

Beach side huts are common on the coast.


Interpret this one as you will.

So that was Saturday.

On Sunday I was to ride the Taieri Gorge railway.

I got up very early for the occasion. Seven o'clock on a Sunday morning.

I drove to the railway station.



I was early so I took a few photos.

I looked at my ticket.


It said I was due to travel on Saturday. I was a day late.

I talked to the good folk in the ticket office.

They kindly upgraded me to the longer journey to Middlemarch. A six hour return trip.

Time was passing. I was not sure about six hours on a train on such a beautiful day.


A very expensive piece of paper......

I chickened out at the last minute.

Turned back to the car and escaped.

I couldn't face a few hours of sitting cooped with a number of strangers who looked more keen to be there than I.

I headed off up the road to Oronokui Ecosanctuary.

The best decision that I have made this month.

It was heavenly.

I spent hours there.

Orokonui ecosanctuary cafe

Orokonui ecosanctuary

my bird photography leaves a lot to be desired.... this is a Kaka

The bird song was vibrant and loud.


I made lots of recordings, for these are the sounds that I associate with South Island.

Easter orchid

ferns

young lancewood trees

If you have a few spare minutes and are really bored, or just looking to relax,  here are some photos, a video and lots of noisy bird sounds in a video compilation from the sanctuary.

what if money didn't matter...........moments with a marmot

I came across this video today.

It made me stop and think.

I shared it with my youngest. It made him stop and think. 

I asked him what he would do if money didn't matter.

He came up with a lovely concoction of activities involving sporting activities, the sea, mountains, photography and being creative . All of which are eminently achievable, but maybe not as one job, unless he becomes a guide for photographers who want to surf, climb mountains and make beautifully illustrated books.

He asked me what I would do.

That really made me stop and think.

I came up with "wilderness photographer"..................... partly triggered by my revisiting John Muir's quote that says  

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”

Having hiked the John Muir trail into Yosemite some years ago I remember the joy of waking up in the middle of nowhere in my tent with frost on my flip flops outside the tent and a marmot sitting on the rock outside in the sun.

Such moments are never forgotten. 

Wilderness to me means a place of quiet, far from civilisation and where nature really does give strength to body and soul. I can think of many places still to be explored. To do so with my camera would give more pleasure than anything else I can think of right now.

All I have to do now is to make it happen.............

                             

And in case you are wondering, dog has made a miraculous recovery. And the new vitamin pills, despite being a conventional shape and not bone shaped, have gone down a treat, without me even asking.

thinking positively ; the art of coping with an english 'summer'

fly tipped window panes at Hawkwood carpark © Caroline Fraser 2012

The image above was taken on my walk today; I have discarded my crutches and plaster, thanks to a kind consultant surgeon who agreed with me that the minor injuries unit had gone for overkill in treating my cracked bone. I am now wearing 'sensible shoes' and avoiding vigorous walking and tennis.

After 48 hours of getting around on these crutches, with sore shoulders and hands I had mastered the art of wheely chair mobility and had felt like a new woman scooting around my kitchen , with a cup of tea in my hand, not spilling it.

the key to sanity

Note the incredibly useful bag hanging on the back for keys, phone, glasses and anything else that I thought I might need. I had crawled on my hands and knees down the stairs with this chair and my crutches, so determined was I to be more mobile. So for those of you who think you might need to be in a non weight bearing plaster, I recommend you get rid of all carpets, as you will be immobile any other way.

So delighted was I with this advance in technology that I tidied the chest of drawers in the kitchen; not before time. I found a few oddities that had been there for a long, long time.

If you know what these are for, please let me know...............

Actually, on second thoughts please don't. I have thrown them away and would hate to find out that I shouldn't have.

 All this an hour before I got the phone call that allowed me to attack my plaster cast with scissors and free myself from 6 weeks of misery.

So today I took a gentle stroll by the stream and through the mud. I didn't take a camera because I couldn't for a minute think that the grey drizzly weather would be conducive to photography. I did have my phone with me, and experimented with taking videos of the wind and the grasses. The quality is very poor and really nothing happens at all except that some drops of rain fall, the wind blows and the calls of a crow and a peacock are heard near the end, just when you are probably getting really really bored. Do not try to view large; all you will see is fuzz. 

I can't recommend an iphone 3G for video production; every time the wind blows there is an tremendous distortion, and since it was the sound of the wind that I was trying to capture, I was not happy with my results. next time I will try my proper camera.

I came home, hosed down the dog, and made myself a lovely strong cup of tea with a teabag from my new tin.

my dog looks a lot like this 

I have rediscovered the joy of just being outside, whatever the weather, listening to nature.

on photography as poetry ; inspired by Zarina Bhimji

exhibition catalogue

My other half  and I finally made it to the Whitechapel Gallery this weekend to see Zarina Bhimji's work, including the new video installation "Yellow Patch" (2011) inspired by trade and migration across the Indian Ocean.

This 30 minute installation is exquisitely made; slow, contemplative and with a haunting soundtrack of the sounds of people and their activities that are long gone from the deserted buildings and offices that the film portrays. A shipyard with unfinished boats, a defaced statue of Queen Victoria , deserted colonial  offices in Mumbai, crumbling Haveli palace interiors. The subject matter is a photographer's paradise, but seeing the images as a film transports the viewer into the landscape; watching the wind blow cobwebs and papers slowly back and forth adds a poignancy that the photographs displayed on the gallery walls that accompany the installation cannot convey. The passage of time is slow and allows for a sumptuous feast for the eye.

Her use of very slow panning in, or out, of a subject forces the viewer to really see, to think and to enjoy the colours and sounds that the conveys. It feels as though one is watching a series of individual images, with time to savour them due to the slow pace.

My only criticism is the lack of information about the installation; it is not clear how the places that she includes connect with each other, or why she has chosen particular venues such as  a stark landscape of dried soil and apparently dead shrubs. One would have to buy the catalogue to get a real understanding of her thinking.

Upstairs other works by Zarina are both beautiful and disturbing; malarial mosquitos sit alongside architectural fragments and lightbox presentations that give new depth to simple studies of faded plaster walls or a pomegranate tree in a garden. They are beautiful to look at, but lack explanations that give real meaning to the viewer. The juxtaposition of still photographs and the video installation give cause for contemplation on the merits of the single, static image over video; in this case, video wins hands down.

There is a Flickr group currently offering a competition for photographs inspired by her work.

offering © caroline fraser 2012

It seems to me that her work is about fragments or representations of a life that has now moved on. It is about seeing something in what remains; a contemplation of what has been rather than what is.

It fits well with my series on litter, but in a more poetic and beautiful way of seeing.

fragments © caroline fraser 2012

 Other half, dog and I went for a walk this weekend. Zarina's work was on my mind, and consequently I took the picture seen above.

 Where previously I have photographed lambs in this barn; today I photographed the evidence of their passing. 

 I had hoped that I wouldn't see too many cigarette packets out in the weald of Kent, but there were plenty beside the road and deep in the woods. 

..........there appears to be a better class of smoker in the countryside; here's a detail from a cigar tin found in the verge. Beware of  smoking.......... who knows what effect it might have on your offspring...............  female cigar smokers have no need for concern.

"smoking can damage your sperm" says the warning on the tin..........

enough said.