In my work and travels I have been fortunate to visit many corners of the world. I have lost count of the number of times that I have woken in my clothes as breakfast is served on an airplane about to land in some far flung destination. But the title "WokeUpInMyClothes" means more to me than just some morning hypnopompic thought. It also refers to those moments of clarity on an idea that comes at any time of the day. Those moments as the cover of this photo book portrays when “the light goes on”. This book was created during “SoFoBoMo 2011”.

1. Woke Up In My Clothes
Bernard Dunne

2. In my work and travels I have been fortunate to visit many corners of
the world. I have lost count of the number of times that I have woken in
my clothes as breakfast is served on an airplane about to land in some
far flung destination. But the title "WokeUpInMyClothes" means more
to me than just some morning hypnopompic thought. It also refers to
those moments of clarity on an idea that comes at any time of the day.
Those moments as the book cover portrays when “the light goes on”.
With this collection of images I am looking to capture and share with
you the representations of some of my thoughts as they occurred in
July 2011, or to present images that captured a moment for me during
the month, or simply to share images I captured that might give the
observer pause for reflection.
This photo book was created during “SoFoBoMo 2011”
enjoy, Cover Image – A Self Portrait (the light goes on)
Exposure 0.01667 sec (1/60)
b F-Number f4.5
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

3. Fossil
While cleaning the flagstones in the garden with a power washer I revealed the
fossils of some leaves ingrained in a few of them. It got me thinking about how
we endeavour to leave our own immortal print on this world.
I remember when working with architects in the construction industry that they
wanted their work to have a lasting impact, something to be appreciated by
generations to come. Maybe that’s why I enjoy photography – an opportunity to
capture something to be hopefully enjoyed by others in the near or even distant
future.
I don’t know if publishing this photo book will give me any kind of digital
immortality, I just trust that like these fossils, this work might be seen and leafed
through by others in many years to come.
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
F-Number f16
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

4. Western Minaret
The sun is out and the sound of children playing brings a joy to all that hear it in
the suburban gardens of Ireland. But there is another sound, more distant, also
vying for our attention. It is the sound produced from these modern western
minarets.
I find myself suddenly engaged in their call to prayer. It’s certainly a new
religion. “Give Me Everything” implores Pitbull, Katy Perry tells us pictures of last
Friday night are online and “I’m screwed”, and the ever classy LMAFO tells us
“I’m runnin’ through these hoes like drano”.
If this is their religion then maybe I’ll find solace by switching off from this noise
and giving my own thoughts some space to breath.
Exposure 0.0025 sec (1/400)
F-Number f5.6
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

5. Copy Cat
In pulling together the approximately thirty five images required for this photo
book, I was struck by the magnitude of doing so in just one month. Would I
revert to some older images, would I avoid copying the works of others. This is
one such “copy cat” idea that made me pause for thought. It is a photo of a
lantern departing into the night sky.
We had watched the Disney movie “Tangled” with the kids the previous
weekend and I thought it would be super to capture one of the central images
from the film, that of lanterns floating into the sky. But in the same week a
friend published such a photo! Could I now do likewise?
After some consideration I decided that every composition is in fact unique.
Unless someone sets out to simply copy your photo then surely it is perfectly ok
to produce an image which contains some of the same elements.
Or so I think...
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
F-Number f6.3
ISO Speed ISO-125
(c) Bernard Dunne

6. Simple’Phi
I was listening to Groove Armada’s album Black Light in the car and found myself
caught on the track “Just for Tonight”. There was something instantly familiar, in
fact gemütlich, about its hook. In reality it’s a simple repeating riff, but how
could I capture the idea of something so comfortable in an image.
After some thought, accompanied I must admit by the same track repeating in
my ears, I deconstructed the idea. I would need a photo where I would have to
really simplify the composition.
It’s probably my liking of the absurd that morphed this into “Simple”+“Phi”. The
Phi bit being easy – the “magic ratio” in mathematics (1.61), I would simply crop
the photo to this ratio. But it was a while before I settled on a cloudscape as a
good representation of something simple. It turned out that something as
simple as a cloud-scape took a lot more work than I expected in particular
getting the blue right, and to give the clouds any sense of depth.
Exposure 0.00156 sec (1/640)
F-Number f8
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

7. Diversity
I was reviewing the design of a technical solution for availability and diversity
while sitting in the back garden of our home in Naas. No failure-mode-effect-
analysis had been applied to this business system architecture, but as I analysed
the dependencies in the solution I started to think about just what diversity
really means.
This quickly evolved to thoughts on a different form of diversity – that of the
diversity visible to us every day in nature.
This collection of photos are all from the above back garden, celebrating the
variety of grasses, shrubs and flowers to be found in a small sun drenched
garden in Co. Kildare, Ireland.
Exposure (typical for set) 0.002 sec (1/500)
F-Number (typical for set) f4.5
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

8. Dangerous Dreams
Our memories of the past can be a fickle thing. Do we really remember events,
or is it hearing about them subsequently that registers them as “real” in our
minds. I don’t remember the specifics of any summer camps that I participated
in, but I can definitely recount that I enjoyed my experiences of them.
For Myles, this year, he is off to enjoy a “Dangerous Camp”.
These camps aim to equip boys with a range of ideas with which to enjoy their
‘free-time’. Partly inspired by “The Dangerous Book for Boys”, the camps
familiarises the boys with games, outdoor adventure, hobbies and skills, as well
as providing a strong educational flavour.
I wanted to capture the feeling of dreaming about what the camp might be like,
or what it might be like recalling the camp in time to come with this photo of
Myles reading from “The Dangerous Book for Boys”.
Exposure 0.01667 sec (1/60)
F-Number f4.5
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

9. I Want A Pony!
In every girls dreams I believe there is the recurring idea that they want a pony,
or at least that’s what the stereotypical images say. But how do we distinguish
what we “need” from what we “want”, and how good do we feel when we make
those dreams come true for others.
Faye’s first experience of horse riding came courtesy of the local Girl Guides
Brownie troop. She enjoyed it so much that she wanted her “Summer Camp” to
be a week learning to ride a pony. The photos here are of Faye riding Jackson
one of ponies at the Little Oak Equestrian Centre.
Seeing her smile on the final day of the camp when they put on a show for us in
the pouring rain it struck me that sometimes making what they “want” a reality,
and not just what they “need” can have spectacular rewards.
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250) (all pictures)
F-Number f4.5
ISO Speed ISO-250
(c) Bernard Dunne

10. Can we really control nature?
Are we simply part of nature, just like other animals crafting the environment to
their own purposes, or is there something different about our approach to
controlling the living world. What happens if nature is left to its own devices?
This thought came to me in Marlay Park where two different images caught my
attention. The first was that of a tree around which stones had been placed, the
second of a gate over which nature was reclaiming its territory.
As humans, I think we have a particular accountability about how we treat the
environment. Unlike any other species we seem to have an ever increasing
appreciation for the long term impacts that we can have. So I would like to
believe that when we mould nature to our needs that we keep in mind how we
return it to its original condition. That we follow-through on our exit strategy –
unlike the gate in the image, a rusting remnant of some transient need long
forgotten.
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250) (both images)
F-Number f5
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

11. Let Me Entertain You!
I remember in my teens being jealous of the lads who could strum a guitar in
someone’s kitchen. They always seemed to get the girl. In fairness, a piano or
keyboard would have been much too big for me to cart around at that time!
When walking around Dublin at the start of the “Made in Temple Bar 2011”
festival the variety of folks providing the entertainment reminded me of those
long past days.
However, today’s buskers provide a much broader variety of entertainment than
a simple guitar. From the artist scribing the words of Shane McGowan’s
fairytale, to the dancer caught in a hypnotic drum beat, to the folks playing pan-
pipes on a Dublin street, long may it last.
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250) (all images)
F-Number f5
ISO Speed ISO-200
(c) Bernard Dunne

12. Magic
Sometimes it can be the most innocuous of things that can really switch on our
brains, and what I am certain of is that the emotions created in those moments
are always painted on our faces and in our body language, if even just for a split
second, for all to see.
Here Fays is watching her brother Myles perform magic tricks for some of their
cousins. The venue is the walled garden of a city park, the shadows providing a
perfect cover for the deft hand movements of his card show.
The shadows of the walls also provided a lovely background on which to see
Faye’s face – and that moment the magic became reality.
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250) (both images)
F-Number f7.1
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

13. DJ Play-Doh – How Adaptive Are We
A child’s imagination is an incredible force. When presented with a few pots of
play-doh the permutations they can create from this malleable compound are
endless. The versatility of what can be achieved is evident in this model of a
play-doh DJ spinning the disks on his mixing desk.
As I work through a reorganisation with my company, I’m also struck by the
versatility of our folks. Their resilience in dealing with ambiguity. We avoid
getting into a spin and stay focused on the business result. But how will any of
us be if faced with redundancy or a change in career path.
I like the idea that even as we get a little older that we can keep our flexibility
and our imaginations alive, that we see all the possibilities. I am sure this must
be key in the attraction photography has for me.
Exposure 0.033 sec (1/30)
F-Number f4.5
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

14. Third Law
The law of reciprocal actions says that to every action there is always an equal
and opposite reaction.
It may be true in physics, but I was thinking could it also be true in how we act
and behave. So what is the philosophical equivalent? A quick read would
suggest that the same ideas can be applied to “you reap what you sow”,
although I wonder could the same principles ever demonstrate the pure balance
of Newton’s third law of motion.
Although I would love to capture a photo that clearly articulates “you reap what
you sow”, I thought I might go for something much simpler. Graphical
representations of Newton’s law of reciprocal actions frequently use a
“Newton’s Cradle”, but I’ve gone with just an image of two pens whose forces
on each other are keeping them in equilibrium.
Exposure 1.6 sec
F-Number f8
ISO Speed ISO-100
(c) Bernard Dunne

15. My WokeUpInMyClothes Photo Blog
http://wokeupinmyclothes.wordpress.com
On Google http://www.google.com/profiles/bernard.dunne
On LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/bernarddunne
On Twitter http://twitter.com/bernarddunne
This Photo Book was created during Solo Photo
Book Month (SoFoBoMo) 2011.
(c) Bernard Dunne