Fitter, Happier.....More Productive

This week, as countless blogs and magazines will tell you, marks the 10th anniversary of Radiohead's Ok Computer.

Rather than explain the impact OK Computer made on the world and the 90s, I really just want to say - I really love this album. Sure, it is groundbreaking, inspired and beautiful, worthy of every overblown adjective that critics and fans threw and continue to throw at it. That's not a reason to love it though. Some albums just become part of who you are or even show you who you are and when you are lucky enough to find the album that does that for you, life just becomes a teensy bit more bearable.

Happy 10th birthday Ok Computer.

Musings on art

Jeff Tweedy from Wilco commented in one of his interviews that he doesn't believe music makes us feeling anything, but that music makes us recognise what we already feel.

Mostly, I think he's spot on. People are drawn to art that "speaks" to them, which is a pretentious way of saying it makes us feel "I've felt like that!". When art mirrors our feelings and individual experiences as something universal, we feel validated. Recognising that most of your emotions and feelings are felt by millions of others throughout their own lives is both humbling and amazing at the same time.

Because we experience the world through the subjective, complex, personal and singular filter that is our brain, this makes many crave the very opposite - a collective experience. It's why people love rock concerts, religion, sports events or protests; they are a way to temporarily cease being alone and individual and become part of something bigger. No one feels the way we do exactly, but collective experiences make us feel we aren't doomed to always be alone and misunderstood. Just consider Beatlemania or Woodstock.

I'm not sold 100% on Tweedy's comment though. Any art form, especially music, can be manipulative. Big, singalong choruses and epic crescendos can make us feel what we want to feel. Lets also not forget music can be quite a status symbol as well - it can literally change or shape the way we feel about ourselves and how others see us.

In essence though, we are drawn to artists who make something we feel a listenable or viewable experience. Or as an alternative, we find an artist who sees the world and reacts to it in a similar way. Radiohead's themes of alienation and helplessness in Ok Computer resonated with millions of people, but it doesn't mean all their fans are lonely and depressed. It is just a relief to find others who recognise and interpret the world the same way we do. Shared understanding can be all too rare.

Like other art forms, photography acts the same way. People are attracted to visionary photographers who have managed to interpret the world in the way the viewer sees it, wants to see it, never saw it before, or wants it to be. Photographers who reinterpret the banal, or capture moments of extreme beauty or extreme sadness resonate with those who feel deeply about the subject. Sometimes a photo perfectly captures or reveal a personality and for a moment we can feel something is all ours, all summed up in that one photograph. I have seen people break down and cry when they see a photo of a loved one that mirrors how they see that person or animal and that photo becomes a tangible representation of both the person and their idea of the person. It makes it real.

I think this is why a lot of my zoo photography focuses on portraiture that captures personality, rather than an 'environmental' shot of a "lion resting" or similar. I have always been very aware of each animal as an individual and I'm always patting sheep or cows or other animals that do not get the same kind of attention or thought as dogs or cats, or the respect of lions and gorillas.

Here's a photo I have taken of a male silverback. Some people will comment on how "human" the expression or behaviour is, but I try to show we aren't the only species on the earth who are intelligent and emotional.





(Buy this photo here )

Hello!

What the heck is phomusic?

Well, I love photography and music. In this age of bastardising the English language, I figured I would join in and literally combine the two.

So this blog has two focuses that may sometimes clash or sometimes merge - my Photography, and the music I love.

Of course, photography and music has more in common than just me. Both are art forms, both a product of someone's creativity and then delivered to the world for you to enjoy, think about, internalise and then form an emotional reaction to. Sometimes both transcend what the artist thought they were capable of, and sometimes they are both downright crap.

Now my photography is kind of eclectic but generally I love take photos of animals. Not run of the mill "my cat on the sofa" shots - I try to show that each animal is an individual. Just like us, and also very different for us.

But pictures speak louder than words right?





This is what I want photography to do - capture SOMETHING. Mean something. Make you think and wonder.

The female Gorilla above is a beautiful, intelligent individual and if her eyes don't show you she's a sentient being worthy of respect, then you should just leave my blog now....gottit?

Now if you want to purchase the above photo, click below. It is available to buy as a framed print, laminated print or mounted print. If you want a simple matte print, email me at durberville AT optushome . com . au

Click here to buy: http://www.redbubble.com/works/show/12069

I'm also available in Melbourne, Australia for dog photography sessions, but more of that will come later.

If you're impatient (hopefully someone is), you can go here:

http://www.durbervillephotography.com.au

Enjoy.