dark brown muddened bract rain leaves the garden © 2018 Melinda J. Irvine

Australian content writer and SEO. When she’s not pouring over SmallBIZ analytics, keyword data or blogging — she’s watching Disney movies and building lego spacecows with her adopted son.
the poetry of pictures.
dark brown muddened bract rain leaves the garden © 2018 Melinda J. Irvine
bawal = prohibited umihi = urinate diri = here !!!! = please
Wet season in the Philippines and you spend weeks covering the whole room in art cut-outs and arranging brightly coloured stuff for photographs.
These little snaps aren't the best shots in my collection but they do capture the essence of 'road widening' in the Philippines. Since 2014 roads all over the country are being widened 2 metres on either side. And it doesn't…
paying 10 pesos for photographs and a peek into her life Day of the Dead floral tributes hand woven (her own hands) into little bamboo baskets the hands of the poor in every bunch. © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily…
weaved by hands hanging, basket & bauble beautiful © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Prompt: Fluff Weekly Photo Challenge: Rounded I'm part of Post A Day 2017 Location: Iloilo City (Philipppines)
Wandering the historic village of Hartley (just west of the Blue Mountains in NSW), we were thrilled when the men restoring the old Saint Bernard's Catholic Church unlocked the front door. My Uncle Richard, whose interest in sacred music and…
Randwick is awash with spring blossoms! I love the way the white blooms and their dark brown twiggy branches launch the most beatiful layers of little windows to the sky. © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Weekly Photo Challenge: Layered Daily…
Arriving back in Australia for glorious spring. My father is in hospital waiting heart surgery and I'm spending my waiting days photographing blossoms and remembering what it is like to write poetry. © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Prompt: Glorious…
Riding home from the market earlier I spotted these two little girls sitting in a busted-up bicycle rickshaw eating mangos. I'm not sure why the little one in front was wearing half a plastic bottle on her head, but I…
curious me I kinda wish I'd eaten one mmm kind of © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Snack Weekly Photo Challenge: Transient I'm part of Post A Day 2017
WEEK 16: Portrait (Movement) Most portraits are stationary, so this week explore adding some movement. Dancing, twirling, or even hair flips. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or…
WEEK 15: Artistic (Metal) Cold, hard steel. Shiny Aluminum. Or even rusted and broken down. Find your inspiration in metal this week. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme…
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts who I am is not a broken total I am the whole © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Total Weekly Photo Challenge: Focus I'm part of Post A Day…
WEEK 14: Landscape (Zoomed in) Most landscapes are wide sweeping images. Try an alternative and zoom in instead. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or technique. Participants are…
city speaks her name lurid voices piss, the stained human shit a siren behind their streets his only triumph © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Triumph I'm part of Post A Day 2017 This is my contribution for the…
WEEK 13: Portrait (High Key) Expose to the right and create a light, airy high key portrait. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or technique. Participants are encouraged to…
World Oceans Day! Blissfully unaware, of what we've done. © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Crisp #WorldOceansDay #WorldOceansDay2017 #OurOceansOurFuture I'm part of Post A Day 2017
part, piece, bit, section, chunk, segment, slice, fragment; wedge, lump, slab, hunk, parcel, tranche © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Prompt: Portion I'm part of Post A Day 2017
WEEK 12: Artistic (Transportation) Our world is one defined by how we get around. Literal or interpretative, find inspiration in transportation. Wandering around a religious festival here in a rural province of the Philippines, I was surrounded in the simple transportation…
© 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Radiate I'm part of Post A Day 2017
WEEK 11: Landscape (Reflection) Find a way to show your landscape/natural beauty in reflection. The mirror world revealed. I just loved the way this neon Billboard from the SM Mall in Iloilo City infused new light into a dirty street puddle. Swapping…
creativity an urban reprieve outside collective focus Artivism was a curated street art collaboration of Ilonggo Artists sponsored by the British Council. The gallery in this blog is a collection of fragments I photographed from the complete work which spans a carpark…
WEEK 10: Portrait (Environmental) Show a subject in their natural habitat. Their place of work or hobby is a great start. Tell their story with the environment. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments…
storm's precipice monsoon strikes the mountain evanescent © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine This poem was published in 50 Haikus (Volume 1, Issue 11) a literary journal featuring only Haiku poetry in open form. Daily Post: Precipice Weekly Photo Challenge:Evanescent I'm part…
i am living a tradition my eyes pieces of tin, metal scraps for hands feet (torn nails) just look at my toes! but don't get too close you don't want to see all i've got © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Weekly…
WEEK 9: Artistic (Shadows) The opposite of light is dark, the absence of light is shadow. Interpret this into a masterpiece. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or technique.…
random memories fairy floss, flowers, kids, poo all my year in pink © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Pink
WEEK 8: Landscape (Wide Angle/Panorama) This is a great opportunity to explore panorama stitching and create a wide sweeping landscape. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or technique.…
children rock mid-summer playtime © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Exposed
Wandering the streets of Iloilo City last month I was privileged to witness Artivisim: a curated street art performance and collaboration sponsored by the British Council. Artivism is a portmanteau from the words “art” and “activism” and seeks to raise awareness of…
each thing has a core a tiny centre somewhere to begin and bind © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Weekly Photo Challenge: A Good Match
shadowing me, hands speaking me, take a green line standing me, black sun © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadow
WEEK 7: Portrait (Faceless) Tell someone's story without showing their face.. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or technique. Participants are encouraged to share their work as displaying your…
© 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitude
WEEK 6: Artistic (Candy) Your artistic interpretation this week should be inspired by something sweet. A great chance to play with macro photography. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a…
WEEK 5: Landscape: Black and White Look for a scene with great contrast that will make a great black and white. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or…
One thing that delights me about the Philippines is it's dedication to repurposing, recycling and reusing everything. Filipinos are the most industrious people I have yet met when it comes to knocking something useful together at a pinch and for…
WEEK 3: Portrait: Headshot You shot a selfie, now shoot a "selfie" of someone else! The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or technique. Participants are encouraged to share…
WEEK 3: Artistic: Red Shoot whatever inspires you. Red should be the focus of the image. Don't be afraid to be creative. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme…
Tuesday was my last afternoon in Australia for possibly a year or more and the sun's golden ambience lit every tiny detail. © 2017 Melinda Irvine Weekly Photo Challenge: Ambience
She warms us, lights us. Of more is she capable, our centre, our sun. © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Prompt: Capable
© 2017 Melinda Irvine Weekly Photo Challenge: Names
WEEK 2: Landscape: Traditional Landscape Shoot a beautiful landscape and share it with the world. Find a nice foreground and don't forget the sky. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to…
WEEK 1: Portrait: Self Portrait Start things off right with a "selfie"! Explore the self timer setting on your camera. The Dogwood Photo Challenge The Dogwood Photo Challenge is a series of weekly assignments responding to a theme or technique. Participants…
In many ways this little beetle represents my path during 2016. I felt trapped and surrounded by adversity, not just falling but ready to jump. I found it really, really difficult to see the beauty around me. I'm glad I made…
© 2016 Melinda Irvine Weekly Photo Challenge: Anticipation
Discover Challenge: One, Two, Three! © 2016 Melinda Irvine
Driving along with my mother in tow this morning, I was looking for photographs for this week's photo challenge when I suddenly realised ... It’s Not This Time of Year Without… a sign on the main road advertising prawns. A big U-turn later,…
Photographs of street art and graffiti style murals by Melinda Irvine.
Fans were left outraged late Friday afternoon, as Sandra B. escaped her sometime boyfriend and anti-sawmilling activist Tiny Timberlake, with little more than her poise. © 2016 Melinda Irvine
Chaos hides out in tight coloured places. Outside, ordered car parked rows. © Melinda Irvine
Captivated, I am out of the car, barefeet sanded shooting light. © 2016 Melinda Irvine This is my contribution to the Blogging-U course Photography: Developing Your Eye II (Day 1 Warmth).
TRANSMOGRIFY: transform in a surprising or magical way ... Oxford Dictionary of English © Melinda Irvine
© 2016 Melinda Irvine This is my contribution for the Blogging-U course Photography: Developing Your Eye II (Day 6 Landscape). In addition to experimenting with cropping the image (as suggested in the resource page), I decided to apply a blurring filter to…
when things seem crazy stillness and simplicity will allow silence © 2016 Melinda Irvine This is my contribution to the Blogging-U course Photography: Developing your Eye II (Day 4 Natural World). The featured image was also published on the ABC Open…
Waiting for Jerry to finish his play-centre treat I spy the rickshaw drivers through the windows of this massive shopping centre. They work in the monsoonal rain while I drink hot coffee and photograph them. My contribution to the Blogging-U…
The Shrine of Agtalin is a large statue of the Virgin Mary located in Pilar, Capiz (Philippines). A mass is held at the site on the first Saturday of every month, attracting thousands of Ilonggos and Ilonngas to the site. The Shrine of Agtalin (or Mama Mary) is a Catholic icon in the Visayan region.
So ingenious practical, familiar. Surrounds me in sad © 2016 Melinda Irvine
lady out for water stepping to the usual place but the only water she will carry are the tears that stain her face © 2016 Melinda Irvine A different take on the wordpress weekly photo challenge: H20
this red bench was the 'pop of colour' i had been seeking to finish the 'developing your eye' wordpress course. there is usually an street vendor sitting here reading the newspaper while he sells sweets, fans or small plastic toys. at night he sleeps between pieces of cardboard in an alley behind an international hotel.
the #shine on the floor pulls me away from the down and up into light ... © 2016 Melinda Irvine © 2016 melinda irvine
Muddy in a city puddle I saw myself © 2016 Melinda Irvine Photos taken in Iloilo City for the Weekly Photo Challenge (Mirror).
one can be quiet once can be peaceful. one can be quite disturbing. © 2016 Melinda Irvine
dreaming hot water ... and four bus hours to the city seem seconds. © 2016 Melinda Irvine Running water is something I never really thought much about. I think about it a lot now and today I would like to…
delighted little boy frames happiness wanting to sleep in those gloves © 2016 Melinda Irvine
your little cries loud; so loud you pull my ears too my eyes too, my heart. © 2016 Melinda Irvine
We walk along wet roadside picturing the new sunlight on rice farms, fathers and hardwork. Barefeet turn drying rice as trucks beep confused alarm at the white woman and small brown boy out in unsheltered heat. Flood water rushes through our…
The window is open The curtains are curled The sun shines brightly I can't hear a sound Nothing is broken All lights are on No-one inside I am not afraid of the four rapid gun-shots © 2016 Melinda Irvine
lines circles swirls space © 2016 Melinda Irvine
© 2016 Melinda Irvine
© 2015 Melinda Irvine.
This was one of the craziest Christmas party's I have attended. Not sure I'd do it again, but friends make it all worthwhile.
© 2015 Melinda Irvine
Photo Essay of the Basilica of Saint Martin of Tours, (Taal) Philippines.
© 2015 Melinda Irvine