Sunday, July 29, 2007

Teenagers in Sydney

Just a few aspects of the life of teenagers in Sydney: There are those who spend their Sunday afternoon at the skatepark... (I love the way this guy looks like he's about to take a plunge! In fact he's going to make a perfect landing next to his mates!)

Quelques aspects de la vie des ados à Sydney : il y a ceux qui passent le dimanche après-midi au skatepark (on a l'impression que celui-ci va plonger, mais non - il va faire un atterrissage parfait à côté de ses copains !)

Posted by Picasa ... Those who go to school : here, walking down Martin Place, a few students of an expensive all girls' private school, MLC. With tuition fees there ranging from A$ 10,000 a year in Kindergarten (US$8600) to A$18,000 for senior students (US$15,000), no doubt that the 'people like us' selection is effective.

... Il y a ceux qui vont à l'école : ici, descendant Martin Place, des élèves de MLC, une école privée pour filles où les frais de scolarité vont de dix mille dollars par an en maternelle (6000 euros) à dix-huit mille dollars par an au lycée (11 000 euros). Nul doute que ça assure un tri socio-économique efficace !

...And then there are those who work : here on Kent street, with a ship from the Swedish Wallenius Lines in the background, can you see the guy holding the stop/slow sign? When he saw me taking the picture, he hid behind his sign - he made me laugh ! In Australia children can start working at the age of 14 years and 9 months, and casual part-time jobs are easy to find. For those who leave school early with no qualifications, unskilled labour (such as this one on building sites) is abundant, and not that poorly paid either.
BTW I like the composition in grey and red here.

...Et puis il y a ceux qui travaillent : Ici dans Kent street, avec un navire de l'armateur suédois Wallenius Lines en toile de fond, vous voyez le jeune homme qui tient le panneau Stop ? Quand il m'a vu prendre ma photo, il s'est caché derrière son panneau - ça m'a fait rire ! En Australie, on a le droit de commencer à travailler à 14 ans et 9 mois, et les petits boulots sont faciles à trouver. Pour ceux qui quittent l'école à 16 ou 18 ans sans qualifications, le travail peu qualifié (par exemple sur les chantiers comme ici) est abondant, et pas si mal payé.
PS - j'aime bien ma composition en rouge et gris ici.

29 comments:

Neponset River Bridge Dig said...

Some nice shots there I hope the kid on the bike didn't hurt himself but that is a good shot.

Kate said...

It's interesting that you gave us a peek into three different life styles of kids in your country.

Carol E. said...

I love the teenagers photo (the stunt men in training)! Fantastic capture of good action.

Gregory Sey said...

Je crois que j'opterai pour le skate park...

Irina said...

The top photo is awesome! You caught the moment of flight perfectly.

Anonymous said...

Très joli blog, avec des photos très réussies ! Bravo :)
(je viens de la bande pas dessinée)

Anonymous said...

It is somewhat amazing that these lifestyles are so different from what I remember.

Abraham Lincoln
Down Memory Lane

claude said...

les jeunes à la plage en velos volants Why not. Je crois comprendre que les étudiants ont des uniformes. Cela devrait être obligatoire ici en france car quand on voit comment les lycéens sont habillés, c'est à faire peur ! Quant à celui qui tient le pnneau stop, on a les même "à la maison", à moitié vautré sur un truc ! Ils ne peuvent même pas supporter leur jeunesse !

NorthBayPhoto said...

Great series of photos. Glad to hear the bike and rider landed safely. The colours in the construction worker/ship photo are fantastic.

Jilly said...

What a great selection and commentary. And somehow I missed your
Shadow Show which was quite brilliant.

Your photographs are always so beautiful and interesting, Nathalie.

Anonymous said...

You really hit the spot with that bike shot - everything is perfect.

I'm liking the new blogging format btw - I think it works well

Dsole said...

Great shots nathalie!!
I really like the first one! it's amazing!!!

Olivier said...

Superbe ta premiere photo, on dirait qu'il s'envole, et comme toi j'aime beaucoup les couleurs sur la derniere. Une ecole privée où l'on travaille le Dimanche, j'aurais deteste ;o)

hpy said...

C'est bon de pouvoir bosser jeune. On s'y habitue, au lieu de s'habituer à toucher des alloc'

Peter said...

A very complete youth reportage, well showing how life conditions - and starting points - may be different!

Cergie said...

Cela te fait un "ado à la tête de stop", on a bien eu "l'homme à la tête de chou" (Gainsbourg)

Teeen agers entre nous c'est un terme que j'aime beaucoup et ça dit bien ce que ça veut dire
Une période entre parenthèses entre l'enfance et l'age adultes
Trois sortes d'ados, mais sont-ce les même ?
Sans doute, ceux de l'école privée sont à part
Je dirais que je suis pour l'uniforme qui rend égaux (pas les uns avec des marques, d'autres avec des fringues bas de gamme, en plus pas obligé de changer tout le temps). Mais là ces filles montrent leurs diff / le reste des ados et non les unes / les autres

Tes photos sont toutes trois différentes, l'envolée du jeune homme sous le regard appréciateur de ses pairs sur fond de soir me plait beaucoup
Nous avions une telle piste près de la maison, supprimée pour cause de nuisance sonore !!! (Comme les coqs et les anes dans les villages)
La photo du ferry offre des tons doux d'hiver, de quoi se réconcilier avec
Tu vois, l'hiver offre de très belles images aussi...

Sally said...

Hi Nathalie - I hope the jetlagis receding and you are having a "soft landing" in France.

The cold snap suddenly disappeared, and we've been having some lovely warmish weather.

And yesterday I had to go to thesports shop to buy new cricket gear, for training strats again this week! hard to believe it's that time already...

Sydney Daily Photo

rauf said...

Hi Nathalie,

There is class difference everywhere in the world. for me there are two classes. The frustrated class and the satisfied class. You have rich and poor in both classes.

Beautiful pictures as always Nathalie
hope you are doing fine

Anonymous said...

I believe 15 is still the official leaving age in NSW, Nathalie, but since the authorities used to stop chasing truants at 14 yrs 9 months (simply because it would take time to obtain Court action) it became the point at which they gave up, and let the youngster get on looking for a job. Nowadays, for all too many youngsters, effective non-attendance can begin much earlier without any serious repercussions.
In any case, if a genuine job is available, many students only harm their long term prospects by remaining in the school system, since although no one is "failed" at the Year 12 HSC Level, employers are beginning to realise how meaningless and misleading that piece of paper can be, resulting in some of those who possess that scrap of paper feeling cheated and unhappy, and less likely to end up in a real job than if they had left at [say] sixteen.
But the HSC set up is "progressive", so it must be good?

Maxime said...

Pfuiii ! Je ne sais pas si il réussira son atterrissage, mais toi, tu as réussi l'instantané parfait, avec la composition en prime !

J'aime bien aussi le bateau en ville. Il aurait mérité un plus grand format...

Anonymous said...

you've taken beautiful pictures this past month. wow. i'm so jealous.
thank you for your kind comment.
i look forward to checking back here when i can. perhaps, one day i too can take the plunge that teen is taking -- and maybe visit australia....looks incredible!
take care,
james

travelphilippines said...

aussie kids are very adventurous. i have met some aussie kids here in the philippines and they all love to do extreme sports.

Peter said...

I know from your different comments on some blogs that you have happily landed in France and even watched the Tour de France arrival (forget this year's version, except the first exceptional day in London; I had difficulties to be interested at the end!)! Looking forward to see what will happen with this - or another - blog! I'm curiously checking every day!

Mélisse said...

J'aime bien cette façon que tu as de regrouper tes photos par thème.
A vrai dire je me demande comment tu procèdes...est-ce que tu trouves le thème d'abord ou bien est-ce que tu prends des photos au hasard et que tu les rassembles ensuite au gré de ce qu'elles t'inspirent ?

Anonymous said...

Tes photos sont vraiments superbes !

Kim said...

Wow, you captured that winter light at the skatepark well. Great action shot. The photo of the girls on the street is a wonderful urban capture. I like your groupings of photos in a mini-gallary. I learn a lot from your commentary in these!
-Kim

Ann (MobayDP) said...

I just love seeing kids in school uniforms. They look so neat and purposeful...and childlike.

It never ceases to amaze me just how little teenage boys care about self preservation! lol! :-D

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! I go to MLC school (Year 12) and it's a lovely picture. The girls are on City Experience...(I think)

xoxo

Anonymous said...

Boys schoolthis school is mainly dedicated to boys and no girl students are allowed inside the school. It offers courses and various skills that are relating to boys activities.
http://www.teensprivateschools.com/