front burner

a catalogue of what’s front of mind…

1. the power of food as a vehicle for change // i love me a recipe and particularly adore Asian flavours, so i am 100% applauding and supporting this initiative … “Recipes Against Racism is a downloadable charity cookbook that brings together 20 recipes from the best of London’s Asian and Asian-influenced restaurants and supperclubs. The cookbook highlights the culinary and cultural diversity across Asia, and is a call to not just love Asian food, but also to support Asian minorities in the fight for racial equity.” The 94 page pdf includes recipes like the Chinese Laundry‘s Kung Pao chicken, Lucky & Joy’s pineapple fried rice and Newgate Studio’s Fermented black bean stew with butternut squash. buy / donate here with all proceeds (less transaction fees) donated to Stop Hate UK (50%) and End the Virus of Racism (50%).
2. protecting my camera gear // over the years i’ve had various cameras and stored them in many different ways. in london, there was a bookshelf in our living space where all my favourites were on display. here, no such shelving exists and the cameras live in bags and boxes in our bedroom and studio. but this house is damp in the winter, and i’ve had more than one lens afflicted with fungus. my current kit is new(ish) and fungus free and i’d like to keep it that way, so i’ve just bought a couple of hard shelled, waterproof explorer cases. cheaper to buy these than replace expensive lenses!
3. women authors of new zealand // on my currently reading list
   + this pākeha life. an unsettled memoir
   + auē by becky manawatu
4. this quote, from the painted drum, by louise erdrich // Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and being alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You have to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes too near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.
5. the female gaze // this talk, by Jill Soloway, on The Female Gaze (video, 1hr) made me laugh, made me think. highly recommended viewing. via photoforum-nz