Tuesday 5 November 2013

A Bush Fly Sandwich

The flies are friendly in the Aussie outback. The 'Aussie Salute' is embedded in our traditions -the act of waving our hand across our face. But when the weather warms and the humidity rises  Australian bush flies multiply and swarm all over you. You wish you were the Valiant Little Tailor who killed 'seven in one blow' according to the Brothers Grimm.

Just recently I had a student who was like an Australian bush fly. Whenever I looked around she was there close by; questioning, quizzing, annoying. Why didn't she go away and take some photographs of her own.

On this particular day she was especially inquisitive and intense.
'Dale, can I walk with you and watch you'
'Yep'
'Where do you get your ideas.? Where do you get your inspiration? I can see nothing at all here.'
'HmmMmm'
'How could you possibly find anything of interest here? Dale, where DO you get your ideas'

It was time to swat a fly, I thought.

I looked at her and smiled.
'I get my inspiration from people. People like you. Especially you'
Her mouth wrinkled a little at the corners of her mouth. She looked perplexed.

'Well, while you've been talking I've been looking. I've been looking and imagining. I fantasised that I was a bird flying low across that fallen tree trunk. The patterns in the tree trunk are a bit like a landscape.'

I photographed the tree trunk.
Then I asked her to stop talking and I shot my Aussie 'bush fly'.

There's a button on the D700 that you push and it squashes two photos together.
Sort of like a bush fly sandwich.

That was a few weeks back. Since then, my little buzzy bush fly has been buzzing less and shooting more and has sent me a couple of creative little photos.