RXA

A big thank you goes to the houses on the following streets for their unsecured wireless access points that I hopped on board at some point today.

Maidstone Street, Ringwood East and Ringwood-Warrandyte Road, Warrandyte South.

As I type this I am on the side of the road, killing time online thanks to the above mentioned second unsecured wireless access point. I just looked up into the eyes of a cow. Yes a real cow.

My drums are all set up at tonights location (and the band isn’t even supposed to arrive for an hour) so I thought I’d touch base with you guys.

My tomorrow just got a little worse. As well as playing two separate concerts in three different uniforms, any downtime I had during the day is now being taken up with photography duties for the regiment.

A fellow member of the defense force saw my photo for the day and was offended by it. Having given their reasons (no I’m not going to say whom it is as everyone has the right not to appreciate something) we embarked on a longish discussion via email.

Let me say in writing that I have much respect for this person for speaking up directly to me.

My email reads as follows (edited to protect the identity) :

“I doubt you feel any more strongly about the slouch hat than I do.

I own two of them, paid for them myself … all fully kitted out because they mean something to me. I respect every single person who has ever donned one and whom ever will. Being a digger means a lot to me and no one will ever take that from me.

The photo was taken as part of my 365 day self portrait project that I am doing on flickr. It is all about self discovery and and improvement, both photographically and personally. You might want to look through my photos one day. I can see a growth in artistic interpretation and photographic skill. I seriously encourage you to take a look (use the link below) you might learn something about me … I have.

That shot was planned very carefully, exactly how much skin do I show? the angle of the hat? It was not a ‘Click, yeah that will do’ kind of shot. I ummed and ahhhed before posting it to flickr going through the pros and the cons but decided that people would understand where I was coming from and my intentions.

If you in anyway thought I meant to be disrespectful then you really have no clue who I am and maybe we shouldn’t communicate in any way from here on in.

I meant no disrespect to the uniform or to those who have served in the past, and I have seen similar shots before ENDORSED by the army in calendars used to raise funds for veterans affairs.

In short I am damn proud of the shot and my own bravery it took to post it.

But to respect your views it has been removed from Facebook. It will remain on flickr as it is part of my project and others appreciate it for what it is. A very respectful photo.”

The given reasons were that it could be seen as disrespectful for those who have died wearing the slouch hat. Disrespectful to the uniform.

Let me continue my venting when I say that I am a lousy soldier. Sure I can put on the uniform and do the discipline stuff when I have to … but I am a lousy soldier. But you will be hard pressed to find someone who respects the army, it’s uniform and it’s values more than me. I am damn proud to be in the defense force and will remain there until they kick me out.

My photo and accompanying text was in no way meant to offend or disrespect our veterans. I do not see it as pornographic (I mean come on, have you seen my body??? Not pretty!) or offensive. The subject matter is the hat and the respect I have for those who have, do and will continue to wear it. I just happen to be holding it. In my mind there is no difference to the photo of me wearing the hat I took days earlier. One could argue my unshaven face was more disrespectful.

It would have been much worse if I wasn’t using my hand to hold it.

Vent over … go on back to what you were doing.

I feel better now.

72/365 – Covering Fire

Originally uploaded by RXAphotos

Tuesday means Army day in the RXAphotos household. I woke up and saw my slouch hat (one of my favourite possessions) and instantly visualized this photograph.

It will be interesting to see what comments if any I get on this photograph. I’m hoping people will refrain from the typical “I’m going to say something funny to cover up my embarrassment” comments as to me this is a serious photograph.

It says to me that you do not need to wear a uniform to have the mind and spirit of a ‘digger’, an Australian soldier. And although my role in the defense force is that of a musician, I am still none-the-less an Australian soldier and damn proud of it.

This type of photograph is something I would normally not do but once again I undertook the 365days project to open my eyes to new photographic styles and compositions. Plus I have found that recently I am doing a lot of things I wouldn’t have never done before and it is all been good experiences so far.

Stepping out of my comfort zone has almost been a mantra for the past week and I am glad to do so. It does scare me a little but the benefits will be long remembered I’m sure.

My photo editor hasn’t seen nor approved this and I would love to see her face when she logs on to my flickr account from New Zealand today. I’m sure (I hope) I will get an email shortly about it.

Just be glad I’m using my hand to hold the hat up.

You know? … If it wasn’t for the ridiculous pay rise we got at army, sometimes I wouldn’t bother.

Don’t get me wrong, ninety percent of the time rehearsals are fun and we all get on like a house on fire. And then there is the ten percent like last night. I’m not going to go into details as I just needed to vent. It wasn’t as if the whole night was a waste of time, I learned that I imparted great wisdom to a friend of mine many years ago that he still remembers to this day.

Might rant more on this later … off to the zoo with David and our cameras.

Last night’s army rehearsal was a challenging one as I conducted for most of the evening. The bosses were off doing boss type things so I offered to warm up the band which lead to me taking the band through about five or six items.

I’m much more comfortable behind the drums but this was a good experience as well. There were some good noises coming out of the band so I couldn’t have done too badly.