At Our Last Picnic. It took me until 1998 to find this place again, in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

Oh, he could be downright undignified if he wanted to, Morwen. It was all part of his bringing us up by challenging our wits and cunning. We (my sister and I) still talk about him as if he were alive. We have actually both admitted (privately, after a few scotches) to talking TO him.

 

I had some rather painful and traumatic root-canal therapy the other day (painful until my torturer used up his third syringe full of novocaine, traumatic throughout). It was somewhat successful in that the tooth was deadened permanently, but there were some sharp edges left from the orthodontic brace that Tim the Dentist put in as a temporary measure. I went back and (to my horror) found that they proposed to amend the imperfection without anaesthetic i.e. by drilling directly into the tooth and grinding down the burrs. This was one of those times when I asked Bill what to do: put up with the pain and lacerations to my tongue, submit to unanaesthetised oral vandalism, or fix it myself? Bill advised self-help.

 

So I did what I saw him do once: went home and found some wet-and-dry emery paper from under the house and sanded the burrs away in the privacy of my bathroom. No pain, lots of gain (my tongue is healing nicely, thank you), some grit in my mouth (washed down with a soothing ale afterwards) and the fond rememberance that Bill was indeed a practical person who trusted his own judgement, that he was almost totally unafraid of pain or, perhaps more accurately: reticent to show any fear he may have had.

Superb evocative portrait - it makes me feel nostalgic and I wasn't even there!

 

I like the dental story, I've done just that myself and it worked fine for me too.

I almost laughed when i realized he was scruffing the pooch. Your pop?

A wonderful folder of 3 pictures. I am not sure, may be this one is my favourite. because of the dog? because of your father looking up and dog down? because the dentist story? I cant say but definitely a lot of feeling and humanity in those 3. I would just say the framing, with titles systematically topping your father head are a bit bothering. But that is detail and anyway outside the picture

I really like the texture of this one. It is obviously a well designed image graphically. There is a pleasing balance of the shoulders and right arm sloping up to the upper right and the leg/ wrist sloping down to the lower right with the "negative space" of the white shirt being a symmetrical triangle inbetween. It is not an overpowering gesture but a very pleasing one that sticks with you in your mind' eye. I also love the dog. It adds an aspect of leisure and relaxation to the photo that helps tell the story behind the image.

Superb!

a series that can strike an emotional chord with a very large audience. "At our last picnic.." and then he is gazing up. powerful notion. very personal. I think the aesthetics are perhaps secondary: and slightly better on this one. What I like about the other one is storytelling aspect of his pose and gesture. regards.