“Is it so nice as all that?” asked the Mole shyly, though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions, the oars, the rowlocks, and all the fascinating fittings, and felt the boat sway lightly under him. “Nice? It’s the only thing,” said the Water Rat solemnly as he leant forward for his stroke. “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Kenneth Grahame, The Wind In The Willows Like “dear … old Ratty”, I … Continue reading Sea Dogs And Maritime Memories: Danielle Berryman

Fremantle’s Blessing of the Fleet procession was cancelled this year because of poor weather. It is the city’s oldest cultural event and it is thought to be only the third time since the inaugural festival was held in 1948 the procession has been abandoned. However the actual Blessing of the Fleet did proceed without the carnival atmosphere of the colourful street parade. Here is a random selection of images taken over the previous 45 years. #blessingofthefleet #fremantle #fishingindustry #religiousceremonies #religiousceremony #streetphotography #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitestreetphotography #photojournalism #Leica #filmphotography #photoreportage #rogergarwoodphotojournalist Story and photographs © Roger Garwood 2022 Continue reading Rain Stopped P’rade: Roger Garwood

There’s been a temple ceremony in Padang Bai, a small ferry port in Bali, for the past couple of weeks. It is held once very twenty or thirty years to clear any bad spirits away. Today is the final day so we’re probably safe now. These kids, dressed as guards, spotted me with a camera and asked for pictures to be taken. As they were heavily armed I couldn’t refuse. #Bali #indonesia #temples #hindutemple #buddhism #photojournalism #photoreportage #flaneurmagazine #rogergarwoodphotojournalist Story and photographs © Roger Garwood 2022 Continue reading Defending the Temple: Roger Garwood

“That was Eddie’s place there,” she says, pointing to small hollow set back from the beach. It is overgrown with bamboo, and at this hour of the morning is sitting in the shade of a hill rising steeply behind it. Vines run across the yellow sand and down to the beach like cargo cultists. All around, the beach is littered with round, black, basaltic rocks, a kind of volcanic bowling alley. Some have been gathered together into a circle, a rough wire grate above them, cold black ash below, and are surrounded with translucent yellow shapes of turtle shell. “He … Continue reading The Drum On Murray Island: Mark Roy

Creamy was named at birth because she was almost completely white, like froth on a cappuccino. It’s not immediately noticeable but she only has one ear. Before her eyes were open she wandered off from her birth mother who pulled her back by grabbing her ear which became a casualty of the rescue. Her hair is impeccably silky. She is groomed daily and showered once a week. Energetic and inquisitive, Creamy is a delight to onlookers but an occasional trial to her doting human. “She only eats the best food; when I eat steak she eats steak, when I eat … Continue reading Lady And The Trash

In troubled times it’s comforting to think there may be a simple solution – and for one evening in Perth’s Forrest Place, there was. In a city where suffering had descended, a giant spider – Aranea “a kind and compassionate creature of the night” built a web capable of catching and collecting all the woes of the people, the “fear, grief, anxiety, doubt, stress, anger, loss, sadness … all the darkness we seek to let go”. Her web was then set ablaze after a ritual of fire-twirling dance, relieving burdens and lightening hearts. Cor Novis The Feast – a combination … Continue reading Aranea’s Blaze

Whose idea was it to have the brave and the foolhardy leap off Dyoondalup Point Walter jetty into the Swan River in the dark of night three weeks into winter? I’d like to give them a hug. It’s difficult for mums and teenage sons to find mutual interests so when I told my boys Rio and Hunter about the swim and Rio immediately wanted to join in I didn’t think twice about committing – at least until we were shivering on the jetty in our bathers, flanked by an encouraging crowd of Antarctic-style explorers dressed in heavy duty coats, parkas, … Continue reading One, Two, Three … GO!

Brett Leigh Dicks’s favourite photograph in his Lunch Bars of Perth exhibition makes him homesick for California and the Mojave Desert. It’s the quality of the Great Victoria Desert light framing the Hay Street, Kalgoorlie lunch bar that creates the feeling. Brett’s exhibition of over 40 images evokes a sense of delight alongside an appetite for Aussie burgers, meat pies, chips and international fare. Each lunch bar’s character is unique, shaped by owners and staff, menus, locations, signwriters … and local customers. Brett’s photographs illustrate colourful sparks of life in bland urban landscapes, serving up humour, whimsy and intrigue amongst … Continue reading Brett’s Lunch Bar Adventure

On a small beach beneath the Swan River’s Stirling Bridge on a Sunday afternoon a couple are working with a vintage camera, a portable darkroom and a row of developing trays that bring to mind ‘everything including the kitchen sink’. Photographer Kristian Roosmalen and stained glass artist Hannah Maling are producing images for a project which integrates their artforms. “It was a natural progression to begin combining these passions,” Hannah said.  “As far as the photography aspect of this project goes, it is very much Kris’s domain.  “When we start getting into the combination of his [photo] plates with stained … Continue reading Snap!

After two years of observing Anzac Day Dawn Services from their front gates, restricted by Covid, an estimated 2000 people attended this year’s service at the Fremantle War Memorial on Monument Hill. Photograph by Roger Garwood. Military personnel, veterans, emergency services members and cadets joined families, pyjama-clad children, numerous dogs and teddy bears for the service, which included a reminder that Anzac Day is not about glorifying war. Like Albany, Fremantle was the last part of Australia servicemen saw when they sailed to World War I. Many of them didn’t return. Later in the morning, Fremantle’s Anzac Day March assembled at … Continue reading Fremantle’s Anzac Day