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John Arthur Nichol

  • A girl of 8 or 9, floppy school hat and uniform tunic, idles in the arcade as her mother browses fruit and vegetables. The girl moves her hands, and sways a couple of steps as if she needs to dance. Finding herself in a clear space, she lifts her arms and turns an easy cartwheel, spinning out of sight beyond the door.

  • A very old man sits crumbling at a cafe table with his far less crumbly wife. He wears a red cap, and a t-shirt saying: ‘Something, somewhere, went terribly wrong.’

  • A man and a woman are standing in the road, risking everything to point at the club’s facade. The man wears club regalia and the woman is dressed as businesswoman-on-holiday. She has long blonde hair, sunglasses and a confident smile.

    They climb to the footpath and point more pointedly, then return to the road to refine the big pig picture.

    Back on the footpath, they advance from the club’s domain to the edge of the white louvre shutters of the establishment-next-door, where the man’s robust voice drops to an extended whisper. The woman nods her head, and the man nods back.

    They retreat from the shutters and vanish into the club.

  • A woman at Collaroy, trying to walk while surrounded by jumping children: ‘Stop talking and yelling at me! Stop yelling at me!’

  • Tiny

    Behold: the Tiny Head and Beady Little Eyes of Thoth

    A white ibis bird stands on grass with its head turned to face the camera. Its body is similar in size and shape to a chicken’s, but its legs are longer and its head is smaller. Its beak is as long as its legs but very thin, curving downwards and tapering to a point. Its head, beak, legs and tail are black, the head looking smooth and bald. The bird’s bright, dark eyes are on either side of its head.

    March Photoblog Challenge Day 21

  • Three Noisy Miners are on the ground beneath my window, pecking at buns the demolishers have left behind. They are two parents, I think, and a nagging adolescent. One of the parents flies up in a huff. It’s just on the other side of the glass and seems to rise in slow motion, as if its beating wings can find no traction in the air.

  • At Wynyard Station, a blonde toddler grins as she leads her grandfather on a merry chase along the platform.

  • At Neutral bay a small girl whacks her mother over and over, arms out, palms open, swinging back and forth. The mother seems oblivious.

  • The bus stops. The emergency exit hatch is a shadow-play of leaves.

  • The steep decline of Parriwi Road is filled with pedestrians tumbling down towards the Spit.

  • A girl boards the bus with black hair in a topknot, a yellow-ochre t-shirt and blue shorts. Her backpack hangs in front, and a cat tag hangs from that.

  • Two women on bikes wait to cross the road. Their heads are turned to each other, and each has an opposite foot down on the path. One uses complicated hand twists to illustrate her words and the other nods.

  • Houseplant

    Schrödinger’s Houseplant

    High up in the sunlit white facade of a high-rise building, a big window is boxed with a black timber surround that protrudes from the wall. Several baskets sit on the base of this surround. In a basket at one end, succulent plants are green and thriving. In a basket at the other end, a dead plant displays brown, drooping branches.

    March Photoblog Challenge Day 20

  • A man in pink shorts walks on the far side of the road. I can’t be sure if he’s wearing a t-shirt that looks like tattoos, or tattoos that look like a t-shirt.

  • The dormant single-deckers form a glacier at Brookvale Depot, their white roofs and lumpy air-conditioners sparkling in the sun.

  • An old man, big and shaggy, dressed in a grey t-shirt and black trousers, shuffles down a long, steep driveway. Step by step, tap by tap, one foot in front of the other, but only just.

  • A balcony lies discarded on a footpath in Mosman, brown-framed with rich yellow uprights.

  • Four blonde women are milling on the platform, wheelie-suitcases in hand and Ed Sheeran’s tour locations on their backs.

  • On Platform 5 at Wynyard, a smallish girl jumps and jumps. Hair up, white sleeveless dress with a heart on the front and frills, pink hat with red stripes, blue socks with white rabbits, and shoes of faded apricot. She palms both cheeks and drags them down in epic distortion, then releases with a grin. Her eyes are bright.

  • Portal to Another World

    A wide rectangular space in a wall opens through to a shadowy realm of plants, pillars, cars, fluorescent lights and a walkway passing glass doors. Before the wall is a shopfront on the left and a floor of square tiles. The tiles closest to the wall are wet and shiny. A wide steel gate folds back against the wall, next to a tall potted plant.

    The Lost Arcade, Collaroy

  • The Magic Blanket

    A sunny beach with a man in the foreground, a board marked ‘Lifeguard’ on its stand in the middle ground, and a surf in the background with seagulls at the edge, in the shallows, and flying. The man is bent over to spread a blanket on the sand, but the wind has filled it so that it puffs up like a solid thing hanging in the air. The man wears a black t-shirt and cap, and grey cargo shorts.

    Manly Beach, Sydney

  • Analog (Analogue)

    A Feat of Feet as Handy Analog Saying 22 Minutes Past Six

    A man half-sits on a bench with one leg bent at the knee and the other straight, his calves forming an analogue of an analogue clock’s hands at about 22 minutes past six.

    March Photoblog Challenge Day 19

  • A red kayak glides on morning-blue water at the Spit.

  • A woman walks into the lane, wearing a long apron and carrying a tray. She turns aside, climbing the stairs to a back door.

  • A girl at the bus stop wears a floppy hat, long dress, black and white sandals. She sits with her mum and clutches a big, thick book called ‘Warrior Cats’.