Reflections Off a Mirror

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Category: Sports

Portraiture – Week #6

As mentioned in my previous post I recently taken up Photography 101 as a school elective and the following pictures are for a class assignment. They are basically portraitures of my mates at the Carlton Gardens Tennis Club and we were required to take 3 portraitures of any theme or series or not even have to be related. My approach was leaning towards sports photography taking after one of the most well known sports photographer, Clive Brunskill. We all know that I’m a tennis player myself and I my love for the sport began at the age of 6, and my interest in photography has always been a topic that I have not find the time or opportunity to scratch this itch until uni. Therefore, what more combining the 2 things I enjoy into pictures and portraits, and of course, the opportunity of socialising with people at a level of comfort for them to display their potential for the camera lens.

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Home vs. Away – Week #2

Carlton Gardens Tennis Club Synthetic Grass

Had my first go with tennis in Melbourne on Friday. No wait, actually, had my very first go with tennis in Melbourne on Wednesday, however, I didn’t really count that as a “proper” experience, as the main outcome of that day was to socialise with the people from the RMIT Tennis Club and not so much on actually playing the sport.

After meeting some mates from the RMIT Tennis Club, a couple of them recommended me to head down to the Carlton Gardens Tennis Club on Friday nights to enjoy hitting, aside from the usual RMIT Tennis Club sessions held every Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Powelett Reserve Tennis Club. Having an itch that I have not scratch for more than 3 weeks, I couldn’t say no.

Friday came and I made my way to the courts at Carlton Gardens. Could not believe what I was seeing for the first few moments. Though it is nothing fancy, just your typical public tennis courts located in the middle of the park, it just made me feel so much at home. Thinking back to the first few hits of the tennis ball, comforts me like how a you would feel when you tug under your blanket into bed after a long long day of endless work. Yes, it may sound weird, but that is just how I felt. Although it was my first time playing at the venue, it didn’t feel all too foreign to me. I was still on the same court size as I was back home in Singapore, though the surface of the court may be different, it held the same dimensions, net, maybe even the size of the ball? All these just adds up to an experience that I would not be able to achieve else where. And in some ways, it almost felt like I was “coming home”. People with common interests, but different backgrounds, speak the same language. For once, I felt not so foreign, in a foreign land.

I was mentioned by one of the players that I am one of the few, if not, the only Singaporean he knows who doesn’t speak with a “la” in my sentences. Which made me laughed at first, but I never really noticed that until he said it to me. I guess through growing up with watching many American or international TV programmes and movies, exposed me to certain kind of accents and feel towards speaking to someone who isn’t the same nationality as you. I can guarantee that if I were to speak with my Singaporean friends back home, every single “la”, “leh”, “lor”, would appear in my sentences and phrases. Not forgetting local lingos like, “Shiok!” or “Shag” or “Jialat”… would come into play. (Do ask me in person if you’re interested to find out what are the meanings of those words that I’ve mentioned).

The point I’m trying to raise here is, I guess through TV, radio, films, music and more. We are exposed to so many aspects of the world, we never knew that was possible. It becomes almost second nature when I speak to a local, to turn down all my “la”, “leh”, “lor”, so as to make myself heard properly and not let the person that I’m talking to have a hard time trying to understand what am I saying. On the other hand, I can express myself easily when I’m having a chat over the phone with my friends or family back home with the common expressions and lingo I’ve mentioned above. It’s almost like I’m speaking in 2 languages, although I’m still speaking in English, some might debate, the language that I use back home is actually “Singlish”, but I do not want to go into that.

Language unites us all, and would be the bread and butter of communication. Personally, without having any common language, there’s no way people can communicate even with the latest media producing piece of technology.

Davis Cup Weekend – Initiative Post – Week 1

Tennis fans in Australia were thrilled to see their local tennis stars play at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club here in Melbourne! The tennis club hosted to the Aussie and US tie over the weekend with top players from the respective nations coming down to play at this historic venue where it ones was the location for the Australian Open back in the 70’s and the 80’s.

I, however, was contemplating if I should go have my first experience participating as part of the Davis Cup crowd and atmosphere. There were much to be settled over this weekend and watching live tennis, as big as the event may be, wasn’t really much of a priority for me at the moment. Having just moved in to my apartment only on Friday afternoon from a serviced apartment, bids just having more to do on my list. Therefore, decided to drop the idea of going for the event and probably catching it live on TV.

There’s just something very different from watching a sports event or any event, for that matter, live or through the television. Be it your favourite rock band playing at Wembley Stadium or the tennis mens’ singles finals at Wimbledon. There is always going to be that difference in atmosphere and environment. Having to go through huge masses of people just to get to the venue, queuing up to get tickets and entering the venue, queuing up to get food and beverages, and if the event is held outdoors, having to deal with the weather conditions (rain or shine), all these compared to sitting on your couch with a bottle of chilled cola in your hand and a bag of chips in the other, just can’t outweigh the perks of actually being there at the stadium, cheering your favourite player or team, shouting the lyrics to your favourite song or just being part of the atmosphere.

From a production point of view, a downside for watching from your TV is, you only watch what the producer wants you to watch, and you only hear what the microphones pick up at the venue. You don’t really have a panoramic view of the venue and not having the freedom to see what you want to see. As a spectator of a tennis match, usually the best seats would be behind the player at the end of the court, this allows you have the view of the entire court and the ball, without having to turn your head left and right while the players are in a rally. You can’t get that at home, however the production team would try to achieve that view, but nothing beats being there in person.

Getting on to the deep attention and hyper attention wagon, being part of a crowd at an event would generally mean having deep attention in order for you to achieve the full experience of being at the event and soaking up the atmosphere. It wouldn’t be so much of just going to the venue to watch a live spectacle, but immersing yourself in the sights and sounds of the whole exhibit. Whereas catching it on TV would sometimes mean you have the tendency of going off to do something else while leaving the TV on, such as checking your email, engaging in social media, or making a sandwich. There’s only so much time one can spend on just watching TV without doing something else, with the addition of commercial breaks in between, just adds on to nudging an individual to do something else.

Anyway, back to Davis Cup action, unfortunately, US moves on to the next round while Australia’s dreams of winning the Davis Cup has to be postponed for at least another year.

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