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History War

Jason Benz — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 11:46:42 +0000

History has been written by the victors. This is changing with widespread access to information and the ability to become a publisher online.

One benefit of the Black Lives Matter movement has been to shine a light on parts of history not taught in school. The toppling of statues has done more to teach history in 2020 than anyone gained by staring at them.

My English education never mentioned the crimes of the Empire. Even fictional narratives reinforced a certain view of the world. As a child, I did not question a story which was designed to make me feel lucky to be a white male.

When I moved to Australia I got a different perspective. Churchill was not held up as a hero by all. Dig a little deeper and you will find his words and actions are uncomfortably close to the evil he so famously fought.

Last Pedestrians

Jason Benz — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 03:38:53 +0000

This is Nottingham pub band The Last Pedestrians playing at the Lincolnshire Poacher on Sunday night. Their music is a potent mix of junkyard grooves and gruff vocals supplied by the legendary Harry Stephenson.

The gig was packed so I ditched the usual DSLR in favour of a LG G4 camera phone.

This shot was taken on a busy 6 week trip to the UK. It was great to catch up with friends and family all over the country. Thanks for the hospitality from everyone.

Forgotten Oceans

Jason Benz — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 22:40:01 +0000

This is a composite of seven images blended in Photoshop. The ocean photography is from parts of the Caribbean in the Global Reef Record. Most of the work I do at Panedia is aimed at helping The Ocean Agency raise awareness of what is happening underwater. One of the challenges is the seas are easily forgotten. People generally don’t spend much time down there. It is out of sight and out of mind, so weeks, months and years can go by without considering the impact modern life has on this worlds oceans.

In 2012 Australia took a big step forward in creating the worlds largest marine park. Unfortunately this protection is under threat. In 2017 the federal government announced draft plans to allow long-line fishing and damaging seafloor trawling to take place in large areas of Queenslands Coral Sea and the waters off the coast of Western Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

The director of the Centre for Marine Futures at the University of WA said “The proposed protection zones for the Coral sea ignores all the science about what is needed to ensure we have healthy oceans and also ignores the government’s own risk assessments on what activities are compatible with conservation,”

Mango Biscuit

Jason Benz — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 10:36:24 +0000

One morning in 2015 I woke to the sound of my neighbours’ mango tree being cut down. I asked the team cutting up the tree where the wood would go? When they said landfill, I asked for some. This is part of what they called a biscuit. It has been drying for 2 years and is ready to be shaped into a table for the van. Last weekend I used a wood router to make the outline of Australia so you can run your finger around and feel the coastline. In keeping with the egalitarian nation, I positioned the centre between three states, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales.

500th Photoblog

Jason Benz — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 21:07:06 +0000

This is the 500th post since switching to reflection and wordpress in 2009. Thanks to Alex for hosting the site and everyone for leaving comments, sharing posts and likes. All the feedback has been very positive.

I love experimenting with photography in Photoshop and Camera RAW and plan to continue doing at least one post a week and daily posts at festivals such as Bluesfest.

The van’s electrical system has been upgraded. It can now be used to produce Fossil Free Photos where the power to shoot, process and upload images is 100% solar. In Queensland, grid electricity is 98% Coal & Gas.

Dragonfly Rider

Jason Benz — Sat, 17 Jun 2017 13:06:18 +0000

This is a composite of two photographs blended in Photoshop. The rider is a barrel racer from 2013 and the dragonfly was last year at Judd’s Lagoon in Queensland, Australia.

Cane Toad

Jason Benz — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 22:20:03 +0000

This amphibian was photographed at Judd’s Lagoon in Queensland. It has been identified as a juvenile cane toad on Frogs.org.au. I suspect it marks the front line in their colonization of Australia. The story of how cane toads got here is an object lesson in the unintended consequences of introduced species. They arrived in 1935 following the apparent success of these toads saving sugar crops from beetles in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Australia proved to be paradise for the cane toad, and they set about eating rodents, reptiles, other amphibians, birds, bats, invertebrates, plants, dog food and even ping pong balls. In fact anything they could fit in their mouth apart from the cane beetle that they were introduced to control. A single toad can produce 500,000 tadpoles in her lifetime. Native animals suffered a triple whammy. If they could avoid being eaten by the toads they would find their own food supply depleted by them. They die if they eat the toads because the skin is toxic and glands behind the eyes secrete a milky white poison which is strong enough to kill a human.

Silverton Hotel

Jason Benz — Mon, 09 May 2016 08:36:30 +0000

This is the Silverton Hotel in outback New South Wales, Australia. There cannot be many pubs which have been in so many films they can build an awning out of its own alternate name signs. Mad Max II, Razorback, A Town Like Alice, Dirty Deeds, The Craic and more beer ads than a cane toads grandkids.

Bomb Squad

Jason Benz — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 09:20:20 +0000

This monster truck, called Bomb Squad, was offering rides this weekend at the Southport Broadwater Parklands, Queensland, Australia. Due to recent rain it did not take long for it to tear up the grass. Although the council restricted the hours on both days, organizers did well to keeep everyone informed via the facebook event.

Keppel Konnections

Jason Benz — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 09:01:57 +0000

This is the ferry we took to Keppel Island recently. It is a new service which started a few months ago. Last year we took the more expensive Freedom Fast Cats which had a monopoly at the time. Either way at around $50 return it is the cheapest way we know of to see the Great Barrier Reef. The bloke with the boxes is Geoff Mercer who was our host at the GKI Holiday Village. He then became our boss when we decided to spend an extra week on the island working for our accommodation.