Peace Fair

The International Day of Peace - Peace Fair celebrations, held in the Brisbane Square on the 21st September 2007 included a number of multicultural dancing and singing activities. Unfortunately I missed the introduction to this performance, however the kimono and fans suggest something Japanese. The movements were slow but stately, full of grace and I suspect extremely meaningful from a cultural perspective.

Music Lesson

Music Lesson, originally uploaded by Martin~.

Wandering up to Brisbane Square, as I often do most lunch hours, I came across these gentlemen with what appeared to be an end blown flute. Having dabbled with Irish penny whistles and and an old school fife (circa 1970), curiosity got the better of me and I was politely informed that the instrument is a Turkish ney. Kindly consenting to be photographed during their music lesson I learned that the gentleman on the right was responsible for both crafting the instrument and was also providing his pupil (on the left) with instruction on its use. From what I could hear of the sound it reminded me of the lower range of notes my daughter produces on her traditional flute, low, haunting, but beautifully melodic.

At the time I thought this would be a tricky exposure given the dark coat worn by the subject in the foreground and the back lighting from the sky, thus the image was exposed by spot metering the subjects' hands. The original image has been mildly sharpened and converted to monochrome using a third party pseudo channels plug-in compatible with Photoshop Elements.

Tympani

Tympani, originally uploaded by Martin~.

The Warwick State High School band performed in the Queen Street mall today, and a highly polished performance it was too. Of all the instruments, on hand, I have to say that these beautiful kettle drums were the most impressive.

US Seventh Fleet Band

A military invasion of a peaceful kind, the US Seventh Fleet Band performing live in the Queen Street Mall. The music (at least whilst I was listening) was I think a mixture of jazz and swing and was beautifully accompanied by their very capable vocalist.

Alternative Music

This image is so called because of the young man's expression of interest in creating a Brisbane based alternative music magazine focusing on local bands and trends. No stranger to photography himself, he showed me his new Pentax *istDS that he had recently purchased to take images for his new rag.