Glen aged 76, my father and artist
I'm in Melbourne for the weekend. Don't get here that much these days but made the trip for my brothers fortieth and to catch up mum and dad. It's been a good trip, spent Friday with dad at the Monash Gallery of Art which has one of the nation's most significant collections of photography and also the National Gallery of Victoria trying to absorb everything. Two days just aren't enough.
My interest in art and photography comes from my father. Dad is a keen artist, but at 76 his health is starting to fail. Surgery and all the usual ailments of getting old. Recently he was diagnosed as having Parkinsons disease and is concerned that his trembling hand is going to impact his ability to sketch, but he still seems to be doing alright to me. Part of his therapy for the Parkinsons is to maintain his practice, but like me he finds all sorts of distractions and reasons not to create.
And one of my plans has been to shoot a portrait of him, but portraiture not being my strong point ... and me always finding other things to do, when I am here, has meant that I have never got around to it. But today, as he was sketching, I saw this starting to take shape and quickly grabbed the point & shoot.
Not sure that it would make the shortlist for the Head On prize for portraiture (the deadline is March 13th btw) but it's a pic that resonates with me and one of the few portraits that I've done that I'm really happy with.
