Photowalking in Dullsville

Well, it turned out that there are so much more about "Dullsville" that I have never known. I've lived in this beautiful city for some 20 years now and I often discovered "new places" that fascinate me.

This is an interesting month for me "photographically" speaking. 2 photowalks in 2 weeks. This is definitely the first time where I have done photowalking on consecutive weeks.

On the 15th Feb this month, a bunch of us went to the "historical" suburb of Guildford. Guildford is the only town in the Perth metropolitan area classified by the National Trust of Australia. Close to the Swan River and just 25 minutes drive east of Perth, Guildford is the gateway to the Swan Valley's new food and wine trail.

Here is an interesting read about Guildford from http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/WAGuildford.shtml:

"Given that it is now part of Greater Perth it is hard to imagine that its origins lie in Captain Stirling's determination to establish three settlements in the Swan River area - a port at Fremantle, an administrative centre at Perth, and a rural centre at Guildford. Thus the market town and inland port of Guildford is as old as Perth and Fremantle. There is even some evidence to support the idea that Guildford would have been Stirling's first choice for a settlement and certainly, when the Government established the first schools in the area in 1834 they appointed three teachers - one for Fremantle, one for Guildford and one for Perth."

No wonder so many historical buildings are being preserved in Guildford.

Here are some of the photos I took at the photowalking session:

Perth Skyshow 2008

The Skyworks is a fireworks show that is held over the Swan River in Perth city in Western Australia. It is held every Australia Day on the 26th of January. This year, I went to the Jeff Joseph Reserve with my family and shot some photos of the skyshow from there.

It had been quite an experience shooting the skyshow. It was difficult enough trying to setup my camera in the dark, and having to frame my shot at the start of the firework and in the process got some people annoyed apparently because I was blocking their view. It was good thing that I got it done relatively quickly was able to shoot most of the time using a remote shutter release button.

I shot approximately 40 over shots and here are some of the pictures I took:

Project Dullsville Update - East Perth Powerstation

I went to the old East Perth Power Station to take some photos with a group of photography friends from Flickr. The photowalking was great. The weather was a little warmer than I would have liked but nevertheless, the exploring and the adventure of getting into the power station compound made up for any discomfort. It was an interesting photowalk.

Here's a bit of the history of the power station:
"The East Perth Power Station consists of two buildings containing three power stations each of which retain their equipment and fittings. The buildings themselves are large, economical and stylistically of their time, the second building still embellished with its ‘art deco’ stylistic features. The three power stations, ‘A’ ‘B’ and then ‘C’ stations, were established over a 40 year period from World War One to the mid 1950s so they represent an extraordinarily complete sequence of technological development and provide the opportunity to tell the story of the provision of power to Perth through most of the 20th century. This remarkable heritage will be severely compromised unless arrangements are made for adaptive re-use of the complex that requires the retention and conservation of the machinery and associated fittings within the building. The power station complex represents the pioneering phase of the Western Australian electicity system, and dates from the era when the industry world-wide was in a formative stage. It has historic value for its role in the development of WA and the metropolitan area in particular, for its influence on the standard of living enjoyed by the community throughout the greater part of this centry as the only public power station supplying the metropolitan area from1916-1951, its role as part of the interconnected south-west electricity system. Vacant since 1981, current proposals would ‘gut’ the main power station building, removing plant and equipment, thereby reducing the heritage significance of the plant, and destroying the opportunity to interpret the whole site. Despite the expenditure of over $ 500,000, there has been an alarming lack of public consultation by the East Perth Redevelopment Authority and the site remains unoccupied, its fabric and contents deteriorating, and its future uncertain. The delay by the government in developing solutions for this significant place is inexcusable and has led to its continued decay through exposure to the elements and to vandalism."
Ref: heritage WA, East Perth Powerstation.

Project Dullsville

Perth has been labeled by some local and inter states journalists as dull or boring. After having stayed here for 18 years and being a migrant from the ever busy city state of Singapore, I have to disagree with these kind of labellings. Perth may not have huge number of spots for night lives, but it sure has its share of interesting events and entertainments both in the inner city and in popular hang out areas like Northbridge and Fremantle.

In view of supporting the promoting of Perth city, I have decided to do a project on capturing images of the Perth city and the metropolitan area. I hope to showcase a little bit more of Perth through photography. I've named this personal quest as "Project Dullsville". I welcome anyone who is interested in joining me in show casing our great and most livable city we call home.

I will start the project by showing some famous Perth landmarks and will move on to showcasing events that happen in the Perth area and people in the city.

Matilda Bay Boatshed:



Matilda Bay Boatshed at dusk:


Closeup of the Boatshed's door sign: