Rune Guneriussen.

© Rune Guneriussen.

Rune Guneriussen uses these everyday objects to construct stories, assembled and photographed on-site without any digital intervention in various rural locations all over his native Norway. Embedded into dreamlike landscapes, these surreal, humorous photographs of his installations seem almost computer-generated. As an artist he believes that art itself should be questioning and deceptive as opposed to patronising and restricting. Guneriussen does not explain the stories he is trying to tell, he just leaves them completely open ended. The hidden agenda of his art is not to give clarification, but rather “indicate a path to understanding a story.”

© Rune Guneriussen.

© Rune Guneriussen.

© Rune Guneriussen.

You can see much more of the wonderful and evocative work of Rune Guneriussen at iGNANT  and the artist’s website.

Mushroom Hunt: Orange Birch Bolete.

From Charly, who notes: Another one of my favourites, but unfortunately it is not very common around here. Not only is it very tasty, but it can relatively often be found in big size without maggots having infested it. This time we found only this one specimen, but we were not going into the right habitat, so I did not expect to find even that. Latin: Leccinum versipelle. Click for full size!

© Charly, all rights reserved.

Kangaroo Island.

From David, who notes: This is a lighthouse on Kangaroo Island. Other photos show remnants of a machine room and store as well as the jetty where supply ships docked. Goods and people were hauled up via a flying fox. It was a long way from the jetty to the top. The lighthouse is still operational, but like most these days, it is fully automatic. Click for full size.

© David, all rights reserved.

Mushroom Hunt: Cep.

From Charly, who notes: Probably the most prized mushroom around here, not only edible and tasty in many preparations, but also can be dried and stored. There are people who do not collect anything else, but I am not so picky. It has the advantage that it cannot be mistaken for anything poisonous or dangerous, however there is a beautiful inedible bolete (bitter bolete) around here, that is very similar in looks sometimes, but can be easily and safely recognised by simply licking the cut when unsure. Unfortunately I have seen only one specimen of that one this time and I totally forgot to make a picture. Click for full size!

Chris Ford: Affinity &emdash; Boletusedulis004

Chris Ford: Affinity &emdash; Boletusedulis005

Chris Ford: Affinity &emdash; Boletusedulis006

Chris Ford: Affinity &emdash; Boletusedulis007

Chris Ford: Affinity &emdash; Boletusedulis008

© Charly, all rights reserved.

Kangaroo Island: Remarkable Rocks.

From David, who notes: Here is something different for you, Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island. I included one of C who is 5’ 3” to give a sense of scale. It is a desolate part of the Island, nothing between it an Antarctica. Several people have been swept from the rocks / fallen from the rocks and the photo of the sea will give you an idea of the depth of the fall. Click for full size!

© David, all rights reserved.

 

Hose Testing.

From Kestrel, who notes she had enthusiastic permission to have these posted. Click for full size!

These are hoses waiting to be tested.

The hoses are laid out straight and hooked up to a machine. It fills them with water, and then measures the pressure. Hoses have different pressures they are rated for. These particular hoses will have 400 pounds of pressure. When they fight fires, they will not use near that much pressure – they will only use 125 to 150 pounds of pressure, because if it’s higher than that, the firefighter will not be able to control the hose.

Some hoses are rolled up afterwards, and some are folded carefully right on the engine ready for use. That box they are folding the hose into goes onto the engine.

The ladders have to be tested too. Nobody wants to climb a ladder, in full turnout gear, carrying a charged hose, and have it fail. The ladders are subjected to 500 pounds of pressure, which is carefully measured with gauges.

The engines have to be kept full of water and fuel, so they are ready at all times to go on a fire if necessary. This is engine 2 getting filled with water. This is a fairly small engine and “only” holds 750 gallons of water. That’s 6,000 pounds, or three tons. The bigger engines hold 1,200 gallons, which is 9,600 pounds. That’s a lot of mass… never pull out in front of a fire engine! They have a hard time stopping suddenly.

A close up of the control panel on engine 2. Fire engines have a lot of knobs on them…

Back at the station, all done with hose testing for another year.

© Kestrel, all rights reserved.