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Sydney: sunsets from west and east

It can be a little unusual to view a sunset from both west and east.

From the west looking east, the sun is behind the viewer, and the setting sun illuminates everything in front of the viewer; that’s a way to describe “front illumination.” From the east looking west, the sun is in front of the viewer, and anything in between the sun and the viewer will appear (mostly) in silhouette; this is an example of “back illumination”.

That’s all very wordy to be sure, but I have above photos of two sunsets in Sydney, one sunset seen from the west and another sunset seen from the east.

In the first case, I boarded the Parramatta River ferry and headed east towards the City as the sun set behind us on the boat. In the second case, I wandered over to Dover Heights in the eastern suburbs to watch the sunset directly in front of me.

In both cases, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the centrepiece for the setting sun.

Addendum: this photographic experiment became a complete success two weeks after the first photo I made on 14 April …

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Toronto: finding religion in the Hockey Hall of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame is the “Cathedral of Hockey”, a place where fans and followers pay their respects to the “Holy Grail”, one of the most beautiful and storied trophies in North American professional sports – the Stanley Cup.

Since 1993, the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) has resided in an old Bank of Montreal building at the northwest corner of Front Street and Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Canada. To the uninitiated observer, it might be easy to dismiss the Hall of Fame as no more than a bunch of keepsakes collecting dust in an old building.

The HHOF is more, so much more.

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My Berlin: Shalekhet (Fallen Leaves), Jewish Museum

Above: Photo, 23 Jun 2025 (X70).

The Jüdisches Museum (Jewish Museum) in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district is one of the most visited museums in the German capital. Millions from around the world have visited the museum since its opening in late-2001. With the unique architectural vision and building design by Daniel Libeskind, the museum does not set aside the history of the Jewish community within Germany as being separate from the history of the country as a whole. Instead, there is conscious effort by Libeskind and the Museum to have visitors consider how the historical, cultural, art, literature, music, intellectual, scientific, and economic contributions from the Jewish community are tied inextricably with the history of Germany over the span of two millennia. These very issues and questions are now also driving discussions about the present state and evolution of the Turkish and other expatriate communities within Germany.

One sculpture in the museum is both poignant and disturbing.

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Royal Easter Show, Olympic Park, Sydney, Australia

Sydney: Royal Easter Show, 190th edition (2013)

Friends here in Sydney asked if I wanted to go to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, one of the largest agricultural exhibitions and one of the largest annual events in Australia. As memories surfaced of years past spending warm days and cool evenings at the late-summer’s Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver, Canada, I replied with a big “yes”!

The Sydney Royal Easter Show celebrates the 190th edition in 2013. The show began in 1823 at Parramatta Park and sponsored as a meeting of then Agricultural Society of New South Wales, now the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales. To help support the struggling population in what was then the agricultural centre of the New South Wales colony, the main intent was to find ways to improve farming methods for both animals and crops.

Now, at the site of Sydney Olympic Park, the Royal Easter Show has many visitors of all ages and sizes; numerous animals (prize-winners, too) from bovines to canines and equines to porcines; carnival rides and amusement games; and the smells and tastes of “food at the fair”.

It’s an entertaining way to spend a warm and sunny early-autumn afternoon. The 2013 edition of the exhibition runs from 21 March to 3 April inclusive.

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The Coathanger, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney, Australia

Sydney: happy 94 to the Harbour Bridge (2026)

March 19 marks the anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the key landmarks in Sydney, Australia.

Known informally as “The Coathanger”, the steel through-type arch bridge opened on 19 March 1932, joining the harbour’s northern “Kiarabilli” (Milsons Point) with southern “Tarra” (Dawes Point) to vehicular traffic for the first time. The project took eight years to complete the 1.2-kilometre span over the Parramatta River as its waters empty into Sydney Harbour.

It’s easy to forget Sydney is a city of bridges, as Elizabeth Farrelly wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald on 3 January 2013:

Sydney: five bells, one harbour, seven bridges. A bridge is the ultimate romantic symbol, crystallising in steel and concrete the yearning to connect disparate worlds – and Sydney, city of baroque waterways, is as fully (if not as glamorously) bridged as London, Stockholm or Prague.

It’s big, it’s functional, even as some call it “old and ugly.” Today, the bridge provides an important link between the city’s northern suburbs and the Central Business District.

The smooth shiny metallic curves of the Harbour Bridge and the sail-like spherical-shells on the roof of the nearby Opera House form a visually powerful combination which has not only helped to define Sydney but Australia as well on the world stage.

I cannot disentangle memories of Sydney or Australia without thinking about The Bridge. I know when I finally see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, I know I’ve arrived and I’m back in Sydney.

Sunrise from Mrs. Macquarie’s Point

Under the central arch

Northbound, through the south pylons

“THIS … is Sydney!”

Down to the right, up to the left

Swarming ships on a summer Saturday, at Circular Quay

Parramatta River Ferry (east to Circular Quay), Sydney, Australia

Parramatta River, towards Birchgrove

Parramatta River, Sydney Ferries, near Cockatoo Island, Sydney, Australia, fotoeins.com

Parramatta River, near Cockatoo Island

Moonset in front and sunrise behind, from Dover Heights

Morning light on the City skyline, from Dover Heights

West view from Gap Park, Watsons Bay

Setting sun, from Dover Heights

“Crowning the Coathanger,” 28 Apr 2013.

VIVID Sydney 2013

Full moon over Harbour Bridge, VIVID Sydney 2013, from Blues Point Reserve

I made all of the photos above between 2007 and 2013. I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the land called Australia, and the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as traditional custodians of the place called Sydney. References to Aboriginal placenames: ANU, Australian Museum, Creative Spirits, and Pocket Oz. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-38e.