Tragicocomedia

Lately I’ve been going to the Art Gallery at least once a week and often twice. I’ve always been very attached to the place, indeed, it is the thing I like most in Sydney. I used to drop in about once every two months to look at my favourite paintings, see an exhibition or visit the gift-shop, but in the last year I’ve gotten into the habit of going every Wednesday night and / or Sunday afternoon. The main attraction is the free cinema there. For the last eight weeks, I’ve been to see the films accompanying The Mad Square: modernity in German art 1910-1937 exhibition, almost all of which have been stunning. I especially recommend Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and The Last Laugh, both directed by F.W. Murnau, who is most famous for his 1924 film Nosferatu. But I digress…

The point being that the Art Gallery is a marvellous place. The collection is quite extraordinary, and in some cases quite surprising for Australia. Consider the Bronzino portrait of Cosimo de Medici, which, perhaps with the exception of the Rubens self-portrait must surely be the most valuable painting in the gallery. Not that that should matter, and the 19^th century Australian landscape artists, alongside the admirable and cute collection of French Impressionist painters are far more congenial.

There are many things to enjoy in this place: the vast top foyer with its distant views of Woolloomoolloo Bay and long reflections of light, the contrasting architectures of the structure, the café, the East Asian collection, the new galleries containing recent Asian acquisitions, though the modern Australian section and gift-shop are currently closed for renovations. I’m excited to see the results of the refit.

Anyways, so I’ve been shooting in the Art Gallery and around, and doing the usual business of trawling around George Street, Pitt Street, Chinatown etc. This has been a lot of fun and I seem to keep meeting people whilst on the street shooting. I’ve also been getting back into photographing Glebe and enjoyed a nice walk around in the full moon on Wednesday night. So, without further ado, here is the results of another week of sniping : )