NEW WEBSITE!

Hey there! I have moved this blog to my new website: www.daletidy.com

All new work will be posted there so hit the link and enjoy :)

Cheers,

Dale

Meet LJ – Street Artist

I met LJ out one night while I was in downtown Vancouver checking out my friends band. LJ is a homeless man who survives on the street by selling his artwork to passers by. Finding materials in back alleys and dumpsters provides him with a new blank canvas everyday on with which he can express himself. During breaks in the concert I came outside and we got to spend about three 10 minutes sessions chatting away getting to know each other while he continued to work on his latest piece. He kindly allowed me to document with my camera his progress and in essence his way of life. Here are some of the shots;

Cheers LJ for letting me share your story

Inspiration in existence

For billions of years since the outset of time
Every single one of your ancestors has survived
Every single person on your mum and dad’s side
Successfully looked after and passed on to you life.
What are the chances of that, like?

-Mike Skinner

Le Movember Show! Exhibition

Le Movember Show is a fundrasing exhibition I am involved in to support Prostate Cancer Canada. Here is the background story behind the mo month;

The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia.  The plan was simple – to bring the moustache back as a bit of a joke and do something for men’s health. No money was raised in 2003, but the guys behind the Mo realized the potential a moustache had in generating conversations about men’s health.  Inspired by the women around them and all they had done for breast cancer, the Mo Bros set themselves on a course to create a global men’s health movement.

In 2004 the campaign evolved and focused on raising awareness and funds for the number one cancer affecting men – prostate cancer. 432 Mo Bros joined the movement that year, raising $55,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia – representing the single largest donation they had ever received.

The Movember moustache has continued to grow year after year, expanding to Canada, the US, UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands and Finland. In 2009, global participation of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas climbed to 255,755, with over one million donors raising $47 Million for Movember’s global beneficiary partners.

- Movember Canada

So come down and check out the incredible art work on show if you are in Van City :) It’s at the Ayden Gallery in Tinseltown until the 12th of December.

Cheers dt.

The Old Italian Streets

A few more from around Siena town :)

Cheers, dt.

Day 3 – Market at La Lizza

The most important market held in Siena is the one held every Wednesday at La Lizza from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm. It fills the streets around the Fortezza with stalls and street vendors. Selling goods from all around Tuscany such as clothes, shoes, bags, household goods, flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables. Jeremy and I were lucky enough to have this day off to walk around and photograph everything that was going on and pick up a few items ourselves. Highly recommended if you are lucky enough to be in town on a Wednesday!

Cheers, dt.

Day 2 – Siena Streets

In Siena; a story lies around every corner, down every alley, on every door and in every locals eyes.

This is probably the most successful day of image making I have ever had in my life. For that I have Siena and it’s people to thank. Salute

Day 1 – Italian Adventures!

Ahhhhh Italy… oh how I miss you!

It was April this year that my good friend Jeremy Beasley (an incredible wedding photographer from Australia) asked me if I wanted to be a second shooter for him at a wedding in Tuscany. I actually had to think about it for a second. On one hand I had only just arrived in Vancouver and all I wanted to do was get settled in, find a job and live the simple life for a few months. But on the other hand I had Italy, Tuscany, and the thought of 2 best mates photographing a wedding together in a food and wine paradise. A new adventure was clearly calling. This one I knew I couldn’t pass up. It has been my dream to travel the world taking photographs, and here was another chance to do so. I decided to go.

Before I knew it June had reared it’s head and I found myself climbing out of a plane and stepping foot on sunny Italian soil. Even though I had been to Italy before I always try to travel with zero expectations. So when I arrived in this new country my heart began to pound like a kid on their first trip to Disneyland. So many new experiences to be had, so much pasta to eat, and oh so much wine to drink! Not to mention the people you meet! In Italy I found it has some of the kindest, gentlest, most hospitable people you are ever likely to come across. Their faces are filled with character, their hearts are full of soul.

Below are a few snap shots from Day 1 of my 15 day journey.

Stay tuned, more photos coming soon to get your Italian travel bug grumbling!

A life in transit – Taipei

There aren’t too many things in life that I enjoy more than a flight layover in a new city or country where you have enough time to head downtown. This time I found myself with 20 hours in Taipei, Taiwan. If you ever get the chance to go here, hit up Taipei 101 (2nd tallest building in the world) and a book store down the road called Eslite. It’s open 24 hours a day and is the largest bookstore in Taiwan. It also has incredible boutique shops where items are sold that you will not find anywhere else in the world. So bring your wallet.

The streets in and around Taipei 101 are clean cut and very international. You have to wander a little further to find the real street level where English isn’t on every billboard. It’s worth the trek, you will be rewarded with more traditional food and even cheaper clothing.

I will be flying back through here twice in October this year. So more photos to come from the exciting land of Taipei :)

Dream, Life & Summer Days

It’s funny how things turn out, we can go over in our minds a hundred times how we think a situation will play out, but in reality there are far to many variables for us to accurately predict an outcome.

Before I left Australia I had plans of what I was going to accomplish during my time in Vancouver. Where I would to travel to, what I would be photographing and the sorts of people I would be meeting. Then reality hit, and not in a bad way, just in a way that I hadn’t predicted. I was faced with either trying to hang onto the plans I had predetermined in my head or just to go with the flow and see where it led me. I chose the latter, either out of laziness or perhaps I was just looking for excitement in the fact that I didn’t know where I would end up. Whatever the case I occasionally ended up questioning myself on the decision. I wondered if I had wasted opportunities. Opportunities that would take me months of saving up capital to get back again. But I know that sort of thinking only leads to negative ends, and ultimately regrets.

I think when we are faced with that uncertainty all we have to do is look at ourselves and ask a simple question. Am I happy?

Who knows, what if back in the day you had taken a different path to the one your on now, you might have ended up in a better financial situation, by chance became famous or even found a new love. What you should really think is who gives a shit. That path could have just as easily led you down a road where you got hit by a bus. Over the top perhaps, but life is unpredictable. Just be happy for what you have right now, if your alive, if you have friends and family who care for you, if you have enough money for a roof over your head and some food on the table then life is good.

For me, even though I am not on my chartered course right now, I know I have always been sailing in the right direction. These last 5 months… this incredible summer… has been unforgettable and simply beautiful. I want to thank every person that played a part, you made it special. From the homeless guy that collected empty beer bottles from my bedroom window when I was hungover and cheered me up, to my mate who dragged me across the Atlantic to photograph a wedding in Italy and everyone in between. You made it magical. So am I happy? A resounding fuck yes would be the answer.

With Van City’s sun shining bright, I’ve been living the dream life.

Here’s to the people:

The homeless guy who collected empty bottles from my bedroom window

The mate who dragged me to Italy

A beautiful girl who showed us around Siena

A guy whose about to have a baby at a friends Bucks Party in Montreal

A group of friends camping at a lake in BC

Two nice guys I met at the beach

A good looking dude

Two kids playing rock and roll

A Granville Street local

The Main Street Possy

Broadway Street – Fairview Pub Local

A Main Street Local

Ray.

The Alaskan’s Tofino escape

A man writing in Venice

And here’s to the place:

Granville St. Sunset

Some drinks at a backyard barbecue

Shoes hanging on the wire

Kits Beach

The sun setting into the ocean

Solitude on a busy beach

Absolute bliss

Cheers and thank you

No regrets