Wednesday

Too Late for the 1980s

My gorgeous nephew Ethan has hit that age where he’s too cool to be photographed. Turning six and in pre-primary, he only let me take shots in May if he could strike poses that would do Kim Wilde or vintage George Michael proud. Not that he would know these moves are straight from his aunt’s youth.

Ah, the memories — fluorescent colours, men in eye-shadow, leg warmers, rubber bracelets, Swatch watches, baggy t-shirts and what Australians call vegemite roots (bleached hair with re-growth showing through).

Even Ethan’s parents are too young to remember the hey-day of 1980s fashion.

I took this shot with my Holga, using the 6 x 4.5 insert for the first time. I much prefer the 6 x 6 insert — without it, images lack that characteristic fall-out at the corners and look like a standard effort from any happy snap camera.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the photo of Ethan! What a silly kid!

Calling the dark roots "vegemite roots" is hilarious. I'm not sure what we call them in the States.

I agree with you about the 6x4.5 insert. I've never used it. It kind of defeats the purpose of photographing with a Holga.

Kirralee Fisher said...

Cool photo of Ethan. He is such a crack-up. Next time I come to canberra you are going to have to show me all these different types of cameras. Holga sounds like a swedish girl... :)

Anonymous said...

I saw Ethan on Sunday. I said, "Hi Ethan" and he said, "How do you know my name?" Good to see his parents have taught him about stranger danger :)