A Life Worth Living

who would have thought numbers for one street would begin at both ends of the street?

I'm talking about Oxford Street, the gay and lesbian street of Sydney packed with cafes, bars and nightclubs. Incidentally, also the street with the cinema that Reportage would be screened.

What I mean by the numbering is the fact that I can easily find 1 Oxford Street at one end of the street as I can on the other.

Kristin and I went to catch Reportage yesterday evening, a film screening of the best in photojournalism. The cinema was located on 3a Oxford Street, which according to my map, was at the end closest to the Museum train station.

So that was what we did. We got off at Museum, and went looking for 3a Oxford Street. Except that 3a Oxford Street housed a 7-Eleven, and instincts told us it couldn't also happen to be a cinema, unless it was one of those Doctor Who-Tardis contraption where the outside looks smaller than the inside.

I went into a shop to ask for directions and was told that I had to walk about 15 minutes down Oxford Street, which totally threw us off-balance, considering that if we did that, we would be walking towards 113 Oxford Street.

It didn't help that nobody else we asked after that actually knew where the cinema was. (These are people who either work or own the shops along Oxford Street, and they have no idea what else is on their street. Says a lot about human nature doesn't it? Where we often don't take notice of what is in our own backyard.)

Anyway, we eventually found the cinema, after getting thoroughly confused and unsure of ourselves, not to mention being about 15 minutes late, at the other end of Oxford Street. 1 Oxford Street started on both ends of Oxford Street. How confusing is that?

The good thing though, was the fact that we arrived about 2 minutes just before it started. And boy was it amazing.

There were some really amazing news photos covering things from miners in Australia and China, the occupation of Fallujah, the conflict along the Thailand-Burma border to the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004.

They were newsworthy. They were interesting. They told so many stories in just one shot alone. And best of all, these were good photos. Photos with amazing composition, framing and angles. Photos that captured the moment. Photos that wrenched your heart. Photos that made you smile. Photos that actually made you feel.

Photos that made me wonder why I chose not to take up a module in photojournalism while in college.

For those of you in Sydney, tonight's the last screening, although it'll most likely come back next year.

But for those in Melbourne, it opens on August 30 and will continue on to September 3.

If you have any interest in photography, news, media, or even the world around you at all, I strongly urge you to catch it.

Considering I'm going to be in Melbourne during those dates, I'm contemplating catching it again. Provided I can actually get away from work...