I have been keeping an eye  Mark Kimber's  intriguing  Instagram stream with increasing interest. It includes his own work as well as that other photographers --current and past---from diverse sources. Kimber  must spend hours scouring the internet for material as it  ranges from  daguerreotypes from the 1840s to contemporary art photographers.   

Many of these references are to the work of photographers that I've never heard of:--two examples  from the recent  posts are  David Battel who photographs the streets of New York  ---- and Andrea Monica ----a Professor of Photography at Drexel University who   makes photographs  with an 8x10 inch view camera and  prints using the platinum process.

Seeing this work made me realise  that connections with the work of others are important  for me living in Victor Harbor  in South Australia.   They take me out of the provincalness of  a coastal town in  the Fleurieu Peninsula,  and a  photographic culture  that is overdetermined by most of the photographers  in Adelaide being commercial in orientation.  The result is  isolation and that means that I tend to work alone. 

Connections is not just seeing the work of other photographers online.  Connections also means  goingon photo trips,  connecting up with other photographers and photographing with them.  Traditionally,  this has meant  going to Melbourne to photograph in the CBD,  or the streets in Richmond as I did on my last trip:   

It also meant connecting up with Stuart Murdoch, and doing a topographical photography together around Melbourne's suburbs such as Merri Creek.  I've started to diversify or broaden these  kind of road trips to other places and connecting with other photographers  who work as art photographers. 

Two recent examples  from this year. One was my trip to Canberra in August, where I  connected up with Judith Crispin and  we went photographing the Cotter River together. 

The other is  the trip to Ballarat in  September where I photographed in a forest near Ballan  with Judith and Jason Blake whilst having a look at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale 15 (BIFB15). 

Going on road trips and photogprahjng with other people loosens my photography up. It makes me more open as  it takes me outside  the narrow confines of photographing the coast and scrub  in and around the Victor Harbor area of the   Fleurieu Peninsula.