Onwards
on Oct15 2009
It has not taken me long to let my brain wander into another story and I’m back in the head space of my adult novel set in Sydney in the thirties. Prostitutes, gangsters, deserters. Debauchery at it’s finest.
I stumbled upon this fantastic book by Peter Doyle called ‘Crooks Like Us’ which is a collection of photographs that were taken in the 20’s and 30’s by police photographers. For some reason crooks and crims were photographed in poses and portraits in addition to mug shots. Doyle suggests it was in order to understand the criminal mind, to see if there were some physical way of discerning the criminal from the respectable citizen. In any case, Crooks Like Us is a fantastic chronicle of mis-fits and fences, rapists, murderers, penny-pinchers and schemers. The pictures seem to strip these people bare, to peel back some veneer and expose a rugged, hardened, resolved physchology. Through these pictures I feel I have an intimate view into the characters that make up the world of my story.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 11:53 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, What I'm writing now. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
on Oct16 09It sure was a fascinating time in Australian history, Belinda.
on Oct18 09I can’t wait to read this, after hearing you talk about it on tour.
on Oct18 09these portraits are STUNNING! there was an ABC story about Doyle’s book not long ago and I was fascinated. hooked by the photos and characters. what an extroadinary collection/resource! will be tracking this book down for sure.
on Oct18 09And there’s another in the series, so I discovered, called ‘City Of Shadows’. Looking to get my hands on that one!
on Oct18 09Hi Belinda,
I LOVE the whole idea for new novel. Fascinating time in history. I’ve just added you to my Blog Roll. You might like to do the same … Karen
on Oct18 09Thanks Karen. I shall add you now! Cheers.