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24.01.2022 When my exhibition 'Nine Men:Nine Lives' ended last year, I promised myself no more exhibitions because as well as huge enjoyment comes quite a bit of stress as to how it will be received. But then Covid struck and we were in lockdown on the Peninsula - unable to travel more than 5 kms from home for some months. I came up with the idea of an online isolation exhibition, for the photographers and artists of Studio Sorrento. It has been a great success (and I'm just one of many involved this time). It's the first time the photographers and artists have collaborated - we photographers submitted around 80 photos and the artists have used them as inspiration to create a painting or drawing. Next Easter it will be a physical exhibition at the Sorrento Activity Centre. These are just a few of the 50+ completed works to date.

21.01.2022 I'm not sure I would enjoy being a real photographer, or one who earns money doing it as a living. There is a wonderful sense of freedom in being able to take photos I feel like taking, and not worrying about what others think of them. I only ever post photos I like and nowadays I aim to take different photos - not to focus solely on golden hour, sunset and sunrise etc. One morning recently on a walk (and in fact minutes after my husband suffered a heart attack, although we didn't know at the time!) I took these photos, mid-morning at Rosebud, with the pier in the distance. It was the light that attracted my attention - beautiful light which illuminated a scene in which there was actually very little happening. It looked really beautiful. As Derry Caulfield always says: "It's all about the light!".

17.01.2022 Many thanks to our good friend Ian Coles for taking these photos at the Mornington exhibition opening. The exhibition is on display till March 6th during Library opening hours - check on the website.

17.01.2022 Isolation 2020 This has been a very interesting time and while I thought I would struggle without all my usual activities and social life, I have in fact enjoyed the peace of isolation. In part this is because so many people and organisations have put workshops and classes on line. Photographers have offered plenty of online workshops, many of them free. My Pilates/fitness teacher has generously posted a class most days. Who needs to go out? I have missed coffee catch ups a...nd seeing friends and family, but occasional zoom meetings and frequent phone calls and emails have almost made up for it; it's worth it as I don't want to get sick. This has been an amazing time for taking photos, with beautiful sunrises and sunsets (and we're allowed to walk to the close beaches). I've got into the habit of getting up very early and heading to the nearest beach. Attached are some of my recent photos, taken during lockdown, including one of me surrounded by my herbs. See more

11.01.2022 I was delighted yesterday to receive four Highly Commended awards in the Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers competition - three of these in the Portrait category and one in Landscape. I have posted the landscape photos already on my page Amanda Stuart, and have been asked to post the photos I submitted for portraits. When submitting images for the competition, I knew they needed to be a little different, to stand out in some way, mainly because judges in a competition h...ave seen everything already. I entered two series of 3 photos mostly taken at workshops designed by Natalia Naa - she hires a professional model (sometimes two) and a great venue for the shoot. Participants photograph whatever and however they choose, and these images are just a selected few of images from the shoots. I took plenty of photographs on the day which were conventionally "attractive" as portraits; these are what I selected for the competition. (The young boy was not part of these shoots). I called the first series of 3 "The Hair and Make-up Stylist" and the second "Through a glass darkly". I'm delighted to receive the awards. See more

10.01.2022 Friday 13th March was a strange day, as the Corona virus situation escalated. It was also supposed to be the final day of Nine Men:Nine Lives, as well as the day of my author talk at the Mornington Library, organised by the Mornington Regional Gallery. During the morning I heard from several people, apologising for not being able to come as promised - including two who had to attend funerals and two who were having pacemakers put in! All very valid reasons. On my way to the t...alk I heard that both the gallery staff who were going to introduce me were also unwell and wouldn't be coming. Julie from the Library stepped in and I owe her sincere thanks, particularly for her technical skills with the video. It was a small but lovely audience, several of whom had spent many hours in the past weeks reading the stories and wanted to find out more. Two of the nine men - Clarry and Les - spoke; the audience was very interested. Guest of honour was photographer Matt Krumins who came from Melbourne to see the exhibition - I felt really honoured. The exhibition has been extended till the end of March, but my appearances are over! It's been an amazing experience and I would like to thank everyone who supported me in this my one and only solo exhibition! Thank you, and thank you to everyone who came to see it. And of course, most important of all, thank you to the nine men who made the exhibition possible! See more

10.01.2022 Isolation Album In spite of these rather gloomy times of Covid, there is an incredible beauty in nature, even in the simplest scene. This was taken at Sorrento Back Beach this morning after an uneventful sunrise. There wasn't a lot of light but a tiny rainbow appeared and light rain fell.

09.01.2022 The seventh man I would like to introduce is John Bredl, the Artist. John would be known to many for his stunning landscape paintings; he currently has an exhibition showing in Sorrento at the Sorrento Activity Centre. John was the second of four boys. His father came to Australia from Austria and founded an animal and reptile sanctuary in Renmark, South Australia. John's father was obsessed with reptiles and was bitten numerous times by snakes. John and his three brothers s...pent their childhood chasing and capturing snakes and lizards for the sanctuary. John took a different path. He thought he was the black sheep in the family. While he hated the animal farm, he discovered a passion for the bush and nature. He saw something very special in the landscape and fell in love with it. From an early age he was captivated by the vast expanse of the landscape of his childhood. Out of this grew John's interest in painting. Nowadays he is a very successful painter, and has sold his work overseas as well as locally. He has won many awards for his work. John's story in Nine Men: Nine Lives tells of his childhood and the influence his father had on him growing up, an influence that determined his commitment to his painting. I am honoured to have John as one of the nine men in my exhibition. Sadly he won't be at the opening on Saturday 18th January, as he will be doing a demonstration that day at his own exhibition at the Sorrento Activity Centre.

09.01.2022 Isolation album continued This morning I managed to go out early and get to the beach before sunrise - a beautiful and peaceful morning, no wind and a calm sea, and the bonus was hearing a kookaburra and a thrush when I first arrived. I'm amazed at how much the light changes - these three photos taken in the space of half an hour. There was plenty of colour in the sky before sunrise but I also like the clouds which settled on the horizon after sunrise.

09.01.2022 I entered two photos in the Mono Awards this year and was very pleased to receive a Commended and a Highly Commended award for them. Many of the successful entries are black and white images of people and places, often taken overseas in exotic locations. These were taken on a foggy morning at San Remo, Phillip Island - an exotic location as far as I'm concerned, now that we're in stage 4 lockdown and can only travel 5kms!

09.01.2022 Phillip Island - some recent photos One of my favourite destinations for a short break or a holiday is Phillip Island. I've had many happy times there and enjoyed everything from pelicans to sunsets and iconic places like Woolamai Beach and the Pinnacles. We stayed at San Remo recently and I've already posted (on my Amanda Stuart page) some photos from my adventure with Dale Rogers at Forrest Caves at sunset. These are a few photos taken on Woolamai Beach - I was giving up hope of seeing a wallaby but suddenly spotted one watching me. And the best part is I'm returning to Phillip Island very soon for more relaxation between photos!

08.01.2022 Isolation album continued! A brief stop at Dromana this morning when I noticed beautiful clouds and suddenly a flock of birds appeared. I liked the way they looked for the light and then flew along the edge of the clouds.

07.01.2022 Isolation number two. I spent the first lockdown heading to the beach early to catch the sunrise but this time the sun is up before me. Instead I've spent many happy hours photographing a baby magpie who appeared on our balcony about three weeks ago, and has spent long hours with me every day. It's my first experience of hanging out with a baby bird, and it's great to have a model to photograph. One morning the wind was blowing hard and her soft feathers looked like a balle...rina's tutu! She's very obliging too - she entertains me with her wonderful singing and warbling, in appreciation of a few sunflower seeds; and she likes to stand on one leg, tucking the other up under her feathers. She got caught in a heavy downpour one day and spent hours grooming every bit of her body until she was satisfied. I'm very happy to have a baby magpie in my bubble! See more

07.01.2022 A few black and white photos by Dale Rogers (one of the 9 men) taken at the opening of the exhibition Nine Men:Nine Lives, at the Mornington Library. The exhibition will be on display until March 13th, during Library hours (i.e.not Sundays).

06.01.2022 After 5 hours spent in the foyer of the Mornington Library, my exhibition Nine Men: Nine Lives is on display. There were several glitches - the wrong hooks on the back of the posters for a start. A treasure of a man from Southern Buoy Framers came to the rescue and changed all the hooks - I owe him sincere thanks and will definitely follow up. Then it looked as though only 8 posters would fit and Pete (the Art Hanger) suggested using a Texta and changing Nine Men to 8! Fort...unately he was able to hang all nine. There was a further delay when Pete looked at Les (The Sailor's) poster and found to his amazement that Les and Pete's father served as young sailors on both the Nestor and the Nizam ships during World War I - see photo of Pete who put down his tools at this point. The exhibition looks wonderful and while we were there many people heading in and out of the Library stopped to read the stories. The opening, by Tom Putt, internationally awarded phtotographer, who also owns a photography gallery just up the road, is on Saturday 18th January at 2.30 in the Library meeting room. Several of the nine men will be at this event. Come and meet them. All welcome. Tea and coffee provided (sorry, alcohol not permitted - Library rules!) See more

05.01.2022 So we're back in lockdown and I feel for all those people for whom it's really hard - people running their own businesses, our local cafes and restaurants, teachers, nurses, and many many more. It's not hard for those of us who are retired because life isn't all that different, except that we can't meet with family and friends. I was very lucky to be able to celebrate my birthday before lockdown happened. I really enjoyed my isolation album last time and I've decided to do another for the current lockdown. These photos were taken on the first day - at Sorrento Back Beach. I saw the birds (I thought they were seagulls but they are in fact terns) and it was a wonderful sight when they took off - even though they are not sharp in my photos. Here's Day 1 of my Lockdown Album!

05.01.2022 The opening of the exhibition at Mornington Library is today at 2.30! I would therefore like to introduce the ninth man - our centenarian, Les Oakley. Les turned 100 on October 24th 2019. I had selected 8 men for this project, when a friend asked if I would include his neighbour, Les. We met and Les talked to me for a couple of hours. Out of 100 years, Les chose to tell me about his time in the navy as a young boy.... Les joined the Sea Scouts at the age of 16 and when he turned 18 he joined the Reserves. Just eleven months later war broke out; Les was called up two weeks later and was away for two and a half years. In November 1941, Les was drafted to HMAS Nestor, one of the N-Class destroyers on loan to Australia. They sailed with a convoy to Gibraltar and then on to Malta, arriving on Christmas Day. While having Christmas dinner, they were interrupted three times by the Germans bombing. Later they joined another convoy heading for Malta. Malta was desperate for fuel, food and ammunition as the Germans and Italians were sinking most convoys, so the Admiralty sent one convoy from Gibraltar and one from Malta. I was able to track down the official version of the sinking of the Nestor, which Les was on when it was bombed and later scuttled. In telling me his story, Les relived his wartime experience and brought it to life (far more than the official version). Even thought 8 decades had passed, he still recalled that time as a wonderful experience, "because it was dangerous". I am very honoured to include Les in my exhibition.

05.01.2022 With just two days to go till the exhibition opening in Mornington, I would like to introduce Doug Chugg, The Athlete. Doug had always enjoyed running and at 14 he joined the local Chelsea Athletics club. When he was 18, he heard about a weekend camp for athletics training in Portsea, run by Percy Cerutty. The camps ran over six weekends and Doug and a friend signed up. That was in 1955. That camp and meeting Percy Cerutty was to change Doug's life completely. Percy’s trainin...g philosophies were unusual to say the least in the middle of winter, the trainees ran naked along the back beach, jumping into the ocean (Bass Strait). Percy made his boys run at the water’s edge, up to their ankles in the sea or in the dunes, often struggling through deep sand. As well as intense athletics training, Doug learned a great deal from Percy, who shared his philosophy of life with his young trainees, encouraging them to study widely, to read poetry and live healthily, which opened Doug's eyes to a different world entirely. In 1960, Doug decided to go to the Rome Olympics, along with Percy Cerutty and Herb Elliott, who was competing (and bettered his own 1500 metre record). According to Doug, it is thanks to Percy that he settled in Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula. See more

02.01.2022 As the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery has had to close, due to Covid19 restrictions, the gallery is having online exhibitions and asked if I would be happy for them to make Nine Men:Nine Lives available for online viewing. Just when I thought it was all over, there is another opportunity for people who missed the exhibition to see it. Steve, from the gallery, has done a great job - it's possible to read each story just by clicking on it. I am delighted the nine men's stories are going to be shown once more - I have heard from several in recent weeks, all of whom feel the exhibition changed their lives. Being acknowledged simply for who they are means a lot. Please share the link with anyone you think might be interested. https://artsandculture.mornpen.vic.gov.au/

02.01.2022 Lockdown Day 2 Breaking the rules of photography! This morning was a tricky sunrise, with a line of light along the horizon, just where the sun was about to come up. It was especially tricky with no tripod, no filters etc. But I'm never disappointed - no photograph can convey the magical feeling of being out early in the cold air, before the day begins. A bird flies overhead against the dark clouds and then suddenly the sun's rays burst through the clouds and a flock of birds fly in front of the sun. These two photos haven't been processed at all - I just cropped them. They come close (for me) to describing the thrill of just being there.

01.01.2022 I can see this lockdown album isn't going to happen every day as a number of life events have got in the way, but I will keep posting because at this weird time with Covid restrictions photography keeps me cheerful (well most of the time). This morning I headed out early to be met by a bitter wind at Sorrento - an icy blast coming off the water. The boats' masts were swinging in every direction. But it was wonderful to be out - the moon still up at first light and the rich colours which followed as the sun came up on a new day.

01.01.2022 Nine Men:Nine Lives THE END! Today we delivered two of the men's portraits and posters. It's the end of a wonderful experience for me - a rich and rewarding relationship with not just the nine men but also the many people who supported me, who came to the exhibition, and not forgetting the printer, John Hardiman, and designer of the poster, Catherine Caia. I'm sad in part, but mostly feeling very happy. The online exhibition continued online for the month of May, thanks to the Mornington Gallery.