The Gap

‘Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.’ —Ira Glass

I think I probably need to read this every day. And then read it again. And again.

Photo of Hannah & Johnny. 

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A portrait a week, every week, in 2013

—Hannah

To say I am thankful for this girl’s friendship is an understatement. Hannah and I met in junior infants, she had a little blond bob and I had curls that were so short they stuck to my little head. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I first went to her house to play. We bonded over chocolate biscuit cake (her dad’s family recipe which I count myself lucky to now have) and polly pockets. I used to pull her hair into a high pony tail quoting ‘beauty is pain’ while she winced. She had a dolls house with an ironing board and a happy family.
We spent our teenage years chatting on the phone and hanging out by each others lockers in school. We have bitched about teachers, boyfriends and parents. And now we talk about life, marriage, travel, babies and the people we hope we will become. We spend time together in silence without it ever being awkward and are able to fight and make up like sisters. Thank you Hannah for being my best friend for almost 15 years. Let’s make sure we are still drinking champagne, watching watching trash TV and reading good books for the next 15 too. xo

*this post is part of Jodi’s 52 Project.

My friends have the best jumpers ever.

Happy NYE friends! Only 25 days late! Ha! I don’t any excuse other than that I am a lazy scanner.


Also, don’t my friends have the loveliest jumpers?

xoxo


PS This is my 300th post. And with it has come with an influx of spam comments (which don’t appear anywhere but send me email notifications anyway…weeeird). 

Friends

Dancing like fools, playing silly games, taking blurry photos, chatting in the smoking area, wearing dark lipstick and shiny collars, eating fast food at 3 am hugging, singing, posing: that’s what friends are for. I love you guys. xo

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A portrait a week, every week, in 2013

—Johnny

We’ve been friends for a long time, almost ten years actually. Realisations like that, about how seemingly quickly time has been passing as I have been living and breathing and growing, make me suddenly feel old. Yet I know that in fact the contrary is true, I know that we have youth in our bones and adventure on our minds. J is definitely one of the good ones and I am grateful to count him as a friend. 


*this post is part of Jodi’s 52 Project. 

Some college work (I’m actually proud of)

I don’t normally post my college work here because, to be honest, I am normally not that happy with it. The projects we get are often less than inspiring and the critique from my tutors can be out-dated and confusing. Sometimes it’s not fun at all.
I have been struggling with a lack of confidence in myself and my work a lot this year but as I rang out 2012 and welcomed 2013 I vowed to myself that I would quietly and secretly begin to quell the voices that tell me I am not good enough. To make decisions and stand by them. Acting more confidently will make me feel for confident, yeah? I hope so!

 Thank you so much to my lovely friends and beautiful boyfriend for posing for these pictures (and many more…seriously expect a few posts and portraits from these rolls!). I hope Trócaire like them as much as I do aaaaand they end up everywhere, ha!

Happy weekend friends! xo




PS I am sitting on my sofa in angora socks watching SNOW (well, sleet) tumbling and blustering about the garden. Eeeep! 

Film & Friends // 8

 This week’s film & friends column features Rhianne (of photoswap fame) and these beautiful shots from near Kirkstall Abbey in England.

Those last two shots are my favourite. I will always love big skies.


Everytime someone asks me about why I shoot film, I often give a different answer... there are so many reasons why I love film - the film grain, the capturing of the light, the challenge of getting that one chance to get the perfect shot, the element of surprise. But the more film that I use, the more I realise that I love film so much because it shows a truer version of what I see than any other format I've tried, I don't have to worry about tweaking photos at any point because the results are more than often exactly what I wanted straight away, surprises and all. I also love the process of taking photos with film, the challenge of each shot, considering all the possibilities and options that you have before you press that shutter button and then letting all of it go and leaving the light and the film do its work, its the best feeling. 

—Rhianne




As always if you shoot film and would like to be featured give me a shout! meldonc at gmail dot com. 
I’d LOVE to see your photos and hear a bit about why you choose to use film. xo

Food for thought

Richard and I argue about photography sometimes (like, you know, ten minutes ago). It’s weird and unnecessary but it always gets our backs up. He thinks that I think he’s a snob. I don’t, for the record.

The more time I spend taking photos and looking at blogs and researching and getting inspired the more I begin to realise that a photograph is a photograph is a photograph. It doesn’t matter how you take it. It doesn’t matter what you do it before, during or after (although I do definitely fall on the side of favouring pre-production rather than post). It is really about how it makes you feel, if it reaches inside of you and makes you warm and happy and nostalgic or if it—serious cliché imminent—takes your breath away or not. Lots of photos do that for me and I honestly don’t care what medium they were shot on. I would love a DSLR because I would really love to shoot video…and one day I will buy one. Right now I am glad and so so thankful for being introduced to film and all of the wonderful things it has taught me and the lovely people I have connected with through this medium.

Good photos are good photos and bad photos are bad photos.

All I want to do is improve, however and whatever way I can. 

Frost

We haven’t had much winter weather this year with temperatures hanging around 10 degrees most days but last week there was a surprise frost. I happened to have my camera with me as I walked to college and took these shots before the sun was truly up and the crispness melted away.

How have your winters been treating you? 

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A portrait a week, every week, in 2013

Mica 

I sometimes feel that I am constantly chasing moments. Moments of life in which I am inexplicably whole-heartedly happy. Moments that I will tell my children about, moments that I will look back on with reverence and rose-tinted romanticism.  These are the evenings that are almost tainted by the fact that I suddenly realise, amidst the laughter and tomfoolery that this is what I have been chasing. This is the moment. 

 The evening where I drank wine and ate (fish) burgers with my college friends and posed for black and white photo strips in a photobooth which were torn apart and taped to my mirror is all just one big moment I never want to forget. I will string it like a bead onto my lace and hold it dear. Good friends are hard to find and though mine probably don’t know it they are good and they are kind and they are loved. 

*This is an attempt at being more open, more honest and more myself. And writing. What do you think? 

*this post is part of Jodi’s 52 Project. 

A black and white Christmas

Richard and I always give each other our presents on Christmas Eve. And it aaalways makes me nervous. Nervous that his presents will be better than mine or vice versa. I don’t have a very good history of reacting well to things I don’t like (or even things that I do) and I always feel the pressure to say or act the right way. I definitely much prefer giving than getting.

All that said R totally outdid himself this year, I was deeeee-lighted with my presents. He knows me well that boy.

{I bought Richard the XX on vinyl, a shirt and some other bits & pieces}

{yes that is a Denise Nestor print and yes I was VERY excited!!}

On Christmas morning after stockings and cereal we went to church. After a proper breakfast we gave each other our presents and opened them. I love Christmas. 

The turkey and ham took forever (and as vegetarians my mum, sister and I grew somewhat impatient!) but when we finally sat down to eat at half past 7 that evening it was so worth it.

Then we all crashed out. Ha!

I hope you had a merry Christmas and that your New Year is off to a good start. xo

Photobooth

Before Christmas my class went out for dinner. It was delicious. And then we went for drinks. It was lovely. There was a photobooth. It was AMAZING.

I am like a silly school girl sap for photobooths like this. Richard and I found one in Berlin and took some of my favourite photos of us together (there aren’t many I must admit) and the photos from Pyg were equally beautiful. I think the lack of a photographer coupled with the inky black and white tones make for deeply flattering and timeless shots. I am in love, enough said.

That’s Lauri in the booth and himself and Niamh’s strip on the right.

xo 

1/52

A portrait a week, every week, in 2013

I am participating in Jodi’s project 52 and am very excited to photograph someone new every week* this year. Technically this photo of Lee was actually taken in December…but I just couldn’t start this project on week 2, it would feel wrong and I’d rather cheat a little to get going. 

*I am a little nervous about finding 52 different people (I don’t think I have that many friends!) to photograph but I am also looking forward to the challenge. 

*this post is part of Jodi’s 52 Project. 

2012

January / Change 

  February / Pining

March / Growth

April / Travel

May / Stretch

June / Independance

July / Love

August / Kin

September / Ageing

October / Togetherness

November / Exploration

December / Adventure

It’s been a good year friends, but I just know that this one is going to be even better. xo

2013

The end of 2012 left me uninspired and often bored. I think I was exhausted and burnt out from a busy first semester and was feeling restless and dissatisfied as a result. In 2013 I am going to focus my attention more creatively. Which means spending more money on film then I do on clothes or stuff. Drawing and reading more instead of browsing the internet. Using the library in college. Pushing myself harder. Not letting fear be a factor in my work (fear of doing the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing, getting in the way or making mistakes). 2013 is going to be fun and adventurful.

Have you got any resolutions or plans yet?




Image from Seasons by French illustator Blexbolex, one of my favourite Christmas presents.
Photos from Christmas & NYE coming soon.