Week 14/2024: More photowalking

Week of 1 April 2024

This was week 2 of the Easter break.

Photowalking in the city

Macquarie Street

On Monday I set out early in the morning to take advantage of the public holiday and make some photos in Macquarie Street without the traffic.

My main goal was the former Motors showroom and service centre, which is proposed to be turned into an apartment complex. (Spoiler: At the date of writing this, the council had just approved the application.)

It was good timing and a good morning for photography.

I took my 10-22 mm lens.

And my 55-250.

And I wandered round for a couple of hours.

Sandy Bay

After I’d finished wandering Macquarie Street I went back to Sandy Bay.

I was looking for the 1957 Fisher House at 540 Churchill Avenue, which I went to during Open House Hobart last year and wanted to get a better look at the front of. But there’s too much vegetation to get a good view of it and there was a car parked out the front so my photos didn’t turn out well.

I found this house from the same era instead.

Week 14 summary

Habit tracker

• 9.30 shutdown: 6/7 days
• 8,000 steps: 6/7 days

What was the best thing about this week?

A very cool thing! I was in the library picking up a book they were holding for me and while I was waiting to check out, I glanced at the shelf of books for sale.

Look at this!

100 Canberra Houses is a book I’ve always thought should be sitting on my bookshelf and now it is, for the grand price of $2.00. Thank you, Hobart Library!

What did I notice this week?

I guess time is up for this cute little building in Montpelier Retreat.

I don’t know much about its history. It was built in the 1970s and it was, before it was abandoned for this development, a second hand store specialising in 20th century antiques. As far as I can find out, there have been plans to build on this site since 2016. The council has rejected several rounds of planning because of the proposed scale, the effects on Preachers beer garden next door and the general “out of character” with the heritage of the area arguments.

The new development was approved in September last year, and now these hoardings have gone up, my opportunities to photograph this site are over.

What did I learn this week?

A quote I liked:

“It has become clear to me that aging itself does not bring wisdom. It often brings regression to childishness, dependency, and bitterness over lost opportunities. Only those who are still intellectually, emotionally, spiritually growing inherit the richness of aging.”—Dr James Hollis, author and psychologist, from his book What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life (2008)

I also learned about the Australian painter Ralph Balson (1890-1964), who was in the news this week because of a discovery of one of his paintings. NGV Curator Raye Collins noticed that the backing board of a painting by Grace Crowley, Balson’s friend and mentor, had been painted over. On looking more closely, she realised it was a painting, which she was able to identify as one of Balson’s works.

This is very cool! The Art Gallery of NSW has one of his works on display. I’m not sure if I saw it on my visit there last year, but I would have looked out for it if I’d known this story.

Ralph Balson was a house painter born in Dorset and didn’t actually start painting as art until he was in his 30s and living in Australia. He’s credited with holding the first solo exhibition of purely abstract work in Australia. He retired from house painting in 1955 to focus on his art.

What am I reading?

• Fierce Self Compassion by Kristin Neff.