Tears and smiles at the marathon

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Hi there! Thanks for clicking, opening, reading, and viewing. I hope you’re well wherever you are in the world.

The days are getting longer here in the Southern Hemisphere. For me, this means more time with friends and a special time of year to make photographs. It’s the longer shadows and the lingering warmer colors that get me. The sun is in a different part of the sky, and so objects and spaces that were hidden all winter long are now revealed—I love it!

The Melbourne Marathon was on the other weekend. I’ve been attending with my running crew, AM:PM.RC, for the last ten years. We’ve hung out at the same spot for our cheer zone every year. It’s a section of the nature strip in the middle of the road where runners pass at least three times throughout the event. A great vantage point for us to cheer on our mates and other runners. And for those who are running, it’s a good place to get a boost of some much-needed energy or take a pit stop.

This year, like every other year, there were plenty of tears and smiles from personal bests or blowouts, the tears and smiles interchangeable for either.

I take a camera with me every year, usually with no aim or purpose apart from getting a flick of my mates so they can remember the day. But there’s so much I like to look at, even from standing in one spot all morning. Naturally, there are all the other bits I notice too.

I guess what I’ve always felt is that images help wrestle with meaning and the way photography conveys ideas—in its immediacy, its nowness—not just in the particular look (although color, framing, and all that are big parts of it).

So here’s a mishmash from the Melbourne Marathon. After spending the majority of this year traveling for commercial jobs, it’s refreshing to have no brief, time constraints, or deliverables (although I love all those things too).

Enjoy.