Somewhere opposite the Hilton Hotel in an alcove of a closed shop sat an Asian man with a very strange, two-stringed violin. It’s base was rectangular and it a distinct sculptured head of the horse at the top. I found out later this instrument is called Morin Khur and originates from Mongolia. The horse hair bow produces low timbered sounds, resembling at points human voice. The musician was singing a low base chant which seemed to come from somewhere deep within in him. It resembled some of the chants I have heard in Buddhist monasteries. The notes were prolonged, somehow monotonous and yet they generated interesting harmony with the Morin Khur violin. It was an unusual, rewarding experience to listen to this music. Certainly breaks the mold from the usual street musicians we see here in Sydney.

I found a clip on YouTube, where a Mongolian virtuoso is showing how beautifully Morin Khur can sound. This is beautiful music no matter what your cultural background may be. Enjoy!

And here is an example of Morin Khur combined with throat singing.

• Tags:
• black and white
• chant
• human voice
• mongolia
• Morin Khur
• Photography
• street musicians
• street photoraphy
• violin

If you visit this blog from outside of Australia you may find it surprising but technically there are no beaches in Sydney. Sydney is a very small district mostly reserved for office buildings, few entertainment venues and restaurants. The famous surfing beaches like Bondi and Manly are cities on their own right and are not part of Sydney City council. The city is not a good place to buy a surfboard either. Usually you will get a better deal in your local surf shop.

So, here I am walking back to the office on a very hot day when I almost walked straight to the surfboard carried but the girl in the photograph. She was dressed in an unusual pants and a top, which looked like a singlet. An attire more suitable for the beach. She did not seem to know the city well and was checking her directions on every street corner she passed. I wondered if she exited a wrong train station or simply snapped a bargain on some sale. The board certainly looked like new.

• Tags:
• city
• girl
• hot day
• Photography
• street photography
• surf shop
• surfboard

I write a lot of letters. Having friends all over the world means e-mail is an easy way for us to communicate. I guess most people have almost forgotten what it is like to use old fashioned postal letters. You know the one hand written on white paper, in nice envelope and a colourful stamp. The one the other person will wait for a week or two to receive if they live somewhere in Europe or USA. And yet some people still do write letter like that. This older lady is one of them. She was sitting on a bench in Sydney’s Martin place and was writing a letter.

When was the last time you wrote a letter with a pen?

• Tags:
• bench
• black and white
• martin place
• older lady
• Photography
• street photography
• sydney
• woman
• writing a letter

Today, again was a very hot day in Sydney. I opted for a short walk through Martin Place. I was about to turn around and find a shady path to the office when I spotted this older man sitting at one of the stair openings of Sydney Post Office building. It was hard to see if he was asleep, was he just deep in thoughts or perhaps he was worrying about something. I took a quick photograph and walked away.

• Tags:
• black and white
• hot day
• older man
• Photography
• post office
• street photography
• sydney

There are numerous construction sites through out Sydney city at the moment. Actually that is an understatement – it looks like most of the city is being under construction. Safety fences, road closures, restricted pedestrian strips are to be seen everywhere. This also means there are many builders and tradesman visible everywhere. Pitt Street Mall at lunch has a particularly high number of builders. I was lucky to photograph this man today as he emerged from the shadow, where he was resting during lunch with his mates. Caring a chair above his head he displayed his quite impressive physique.

• Tags:
• black and white
• builder
• construction sites
• lunch
• man
• Photography
• physique
• Pitt Street Mall
• street photography
• Sydney City

Last few days brought a very hot weather to South East Australia, with temperatures in high 30C and low 40C all the way from Adelaide to Brisbane. Some people like the girl in the photograph like the heat and one could see a lot of people sitting in full sun at popular lunch location at Martin place.

• Tags:
• girl
• hot weather
• Photography
• sun
• sunbaking
• temperatures

I have seen many people in “unique” attire on my walks through Sydney. Today, as I was passing an international hotel and a major office building two women walked out of the door dressed in bathrobes. It was their cigarette break.

• Tags:
• bathrobes
• black and white
• cigarette break
• Photography
• street photography
• two women

Martin place was very busy today as it was hosting the annual corporate event. Although very colourful and possibly interesting to a photographer, the even was effectively fenced off from the very public it meant to attract. I think some public event organisers need their heads examined for basic logic.

I turned into Castlereagh Street and walked into the scene you see on the photograph. A man and a woman embracing each other. There was some genuine warm feeling about this scene emphasized by woman’s closed eye and a big smile on her face. This is a peculiar location for photography as this stretch of Castlereagh Street’s pedestrian strip is under semi transparent awning, which diffuses light very nicely.

• Tags:
• awning
• black and white
• embrace
• hub
• man and a woman
• pedestrian strip
• Photography
• smile on her face
• street photography

As I was returning from my daily walk today I came across this old man asleep in the bus shelter. He had no shirt on and his torso was exposed to the sun. It is worth mentioning it was well over 30C today. There was a beer bottle next to man and his rather poor state may indicate he was homeless. Usually in cases like that I ask a city ranger to intervene, to check on the man. Sun stroke is not something I wish upon anyone. There were no city rangers near by and after getting some verbal abuse from the man after asking if he is OK I walked away.

• Tags:
• beer bottle
• bus shelter
• bus stop
• old man
• Photography
• street photography

While we were at Byron Bay we got caught by a torrential downpour, while searching for a place to have lunch. We found shelter in a passage way between some shops. The girls used the opportunity to explore one of the boutiques, while I decided to wait outside. On the other side of the passage way an older woman sat at a timber table with a massive plastic bag. I am not sure if she sat there just for a cigarette break or like us to hide form the rain. She was sitting on an angle to the entry and thus had all her facial features highlighted by the light. I found her pose with seemingly vacant stare interesting and you can see the resulting photograph. In post processing I have selected sepia tone as it suited the overall feel of the photograph.

• Tags:
• black and white
• byron bay
• cigarette
• facial features
• older woman
• passage way
• Photography
• sepia tone
• street photography
• vacant stare