FAMOUS!
Last week the State Library launched its new exhibition. I went along for the staff preview and was suitably impressed, then the next day I took the guided tour with the curator and the photographer and was even more impressed. It is an exhibition of photo portraits of movie and TV stars, musicians, designers, politians, and one religious leader all taken by Newcastle girl (originally from New Lambton!), Karin Catt. Many of the images were taken for magazines like Rolling Stone, Vogue, and Harpers Bazaar, but some were taken just for the exhibition. The subjects include Australian as well as international celebrities.
The tour was very interesting, filled with anecdotes from when the portraits were taken, talk of people Karin knew personally as well as photographing them, a bit about her history as well as some technical information on how the photos were set up and taken.
Many of the images are very striking, some are beautiful, some give an insight into the subject and some are just fun. My favourite is the portrait of Lucy Lawless dressed up like a 1940's pin-up girl. It's very simple and very cheeky.
Here's the library's web page on the exhibition for those who'd like to learn more. It is a travelling exhibition that will reach most major cities in Australia. It's already done Canberra and Newcastle.
Kinda cool that I got paid to go see it. Hehe. The benefits of my job go beyond working in a beautiful building surrounded by books (me, not the building).
Speaking of books... Bought a new young adult fantasy short story collection today. I wandered into Reader's Feast (Almost, but not quite, as good as Abbeys and Galaxy in Sydney) to buy Ock von Fiend by Luke Edwards, a delightful little picture book about a vampire living in suburbia and not liking it very much. On a nearby shelf, this collection set off my Neil-Gaiman-Proximity-Alert, which is an even stronger than my ooh-shiny-reflex. Dark Alchemy is the title. Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy, with Neil, Garth Nix and Eoin Colfer billed on the cover. I'll enjoy getting stuck into that when I've finished reading Deathly Hallows.
Can't wait!
Biding my time for Deathly Hallows (three more sleeps!) I am reading a very old collection of the fairy tales from Arabian Nights. Aladdin does not deserve the lamp or the princess. Sinbad is a fool with unbelievable luck. The next tale in the collection is not so well known, so I won't have any disney rubbish in my head to ruin it for me.
I watched The Godfather with Godot and Readis last weekend. It was the first time I'd watched it, but I'd already seen about a quarter of it from other movies and TV shows ripping it off. (Harvey Birdman, the Simpsons, Robin Hood Men in Tights being the main offenders). I really liked it.
I've been singing that tune in my head ever since. I used to have a jewelery box that played it.
The tour was very interesting, filled with anecdotes from when the portraits were taken, talk of people Karin knew personally as well as photographing them, a bit about her history as well as some technical information on how the photos were set up and taken.
Many of the images are very striking, some are beautiful, some give an insight into the subject and some are just fun. My favourite is the portrait of Lucy Lawless dressed up like a 1940's pin-up girl. It's very simple and very cheeky.
Here's the library's web page on the exhibition for those who'd like to learn more. It is a travelling exhibition that will reach most major cities in Australia. It's already done Canberra and Newcastle.
Kinda cool that I got paid to go see it. Hehe. The benefits of my job go beyond working in a beautiful building surrounded by books (me, not the building).
Speaking of books... Bought a new young adult fantasy short story collection today. I wandered into Reader's Feast (Almost, but not quite, as good as Abbeys and Galaxy in Sydney) to buy Ock von Fiend by Luke Edwards, a delightful little picture book about a vampire living in suburbia and not liking it very much. On a nearby shelf, this collection set off my Neil-Gaiman-Proximity-Alert, which is an even stronger than my ooh-shiny-reflex. Dark Alchemy is the title. Magical Tales from Masters of Modern Fantasy, with Neil, Garth Nix and Eoin Colfer billed on the cover. I'll enjoy getting stuck into that when I've finished reading Deathly Hallows.
Can't wait!
Biding my time for Deathly Hallows (three more sleeps!) I am reading a very old collection of the fairy tales from Arabian Nights. Aladdin does not deserve the lamp or the princess. Sinbad is a fool with unbelievable luck. The next tale in the collection is not so well known, so I won't have any disney rubbish in my head to ruin it for me.
I watched The Godfather with Godot and Readis last weekend. It was the first time I'd watched it, but I'd already seen about a quarter of it from other movies and TV shows ripping it off. (Harvey Birdman, the Simpsons, Robin Hood Men in Tights being the main offenders). I really liked it.
I've been singing that tune in my head ever since. I used to have a jewelery box that played it.