Sydney July – September 2015 (9 photos)
I want to break free.
I want to break free.
I want to break free from your lies,
You’re so self satisfied, I don’t need you.
I’ve got to break free.
God knows… God knows I want to break free.
I’ve fallen in love.
I’ve fallen in love for the first time,
And this time I know it’s for real.
I’ve fallen in love, yeah.
God knows… God knows I’ve fallen in love.
It’s strange but it’s true, hey yeah.
I can’t get over the way you love me like you do.
But I have to be sure,
When I walk out that door,
Oh how I want to be free, baby.
Oh how I want to be free.
Oh how I want to break free.
But life still goes on.
I can’t get used to livin’ without, livin’ without,
Livin’ without you, by my side.
I don’t want to live alone, hey.
God knows… got to make it on my own.
So baby can’t you see,
I’ve got to break free.
I’ve got to break free.
I want to break free, yeah.
I want, I want, I want,
I want to break free.
“I Want to Break Free” is a song by British rock band Queen, from their eleventh studio album The Works (1984). Written by bassist John Deacon, the song is largely known for its music video for which all the band members dressed in women’s clothes, a concept proposed by Roger Taylor, which parodied the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. The second part of the video included a composition rehearsed and performed with the Royal Ballet and choreographed by Wayne Eagling. Whereas the parody was acclaimed in the UK, it was considered controversial in the US and banned by MTV and other stations.
Breaking free from my usual candid photography of humans, I thought I’d change temporarily into an animal photographer, albeit stuffed ones wanting to break free from or change their situation. All animals in this post were photographed candidly in the wild, unchanged as they were found on different days. No animals were harmed during the photography for this post. If you’re wondering, the cat is a mailbox.
The final photo is street art of Freddie Mercury painted on the side of a private home in the suburb of Enmore, which I visited in Meanwhile, back in Penny Lane.
Other Queen songs to have been given the Draco treatment, include:
Bohemian Rhapsody
Another one bites the dust
Brilliant! Did anyone see you placing your ‘subjects’? And you said to them… ?
Thank you. All of the stuffed toys were in the trees and on walls, as I found them. I guess the “owners” wanted some guardians for their street. 🙂
Oh seriously. Classic. I’ve heard of yarn bombs but never ‘soft toy’ bombs. 🙂
🙂
Are children very bad at hanging on to their toys in your neighbourhood or is there another reason for these unfortunate creatures to be hanging in a tree? If the former there must be a lot of tears at bed-time!
They were probably placed in the trees to act as “guardians” against dragons and ghosts that might come by and try to photograph people on the streets. Believe it or not. 🙂
Love Queen! Particularly “Someone to Love…”
Funny you should say that. When I first saw that painting of Freddie, I immediately imagined him belting out that song. 🙂
Those stuffed animals look lonely. I wonder if they were abandoned at their spots on purpose. To be honest, they all look like they are in good condition – like they haven’t been rained on or blown on too much by the wind.
Probably a different way to “decorate” the street. 🙂 Photo 3 was taken just after a period of heavy rain – I happened to look up as I was standing under the tree for shelter. Trees are good for shelter. 🙂
Just goes to show how stuffed animals are resilient to the harsh forces of natures. That purple stuffed thing in Photo 3 certainly looks wide awake, albeit a bit of a dirty shower 😀
I’m sure the animals had a guardian checking on them regularly. A couple had been repositioned, removed and moved around over the different days I was there.
Nice to see you expand your artistic horizons. Even these inanimate beasts seem to come to life in front of your lens. I’d love to see what you could do with live beasts (besides Biggus). Maybe a trip to a zoo, or even a petting zoo (for you-know-whats) is in your future? 😉
Thank you kindly. 🙂 The dog with long ears in photo 2 will have to suffice until I find what you want.
Those poor stuffed animals! Sure there is some organization, like the S.F.T.P.O.S.A., that will come to their aid!!
Those stuffed animals may well be in need of a new home. At least my photography has revealed their plight. Are you looking to adopt? 🙂
I’m not familiar with that song. But I can’t help wondering who could leave all those adorable animals just sitting around. Did you do that?! 😀
They were already there, in an area full of street art. Perhaps just another form of artistic expression? 🙂
Another Monday morning soundtrack, thanks for the tune and fun photos LD. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it. Have a rocking start to your week. 🙂
I like how you set up the scenes for your models, especially the graffiti walls in the background. This was fun. Love Queen!
Thank you very much, Elisa. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Tämä on mahtava idea ja hyvin tehty. This is a good idea and done great.
Thank you very much. 🙂
Love it, so cute all this buddy toy. Are they in trees or did you take them there? No matter, it is cute 😉 And at the end, a big big singer. Big hugs my dear 🙂
Thank you, Sophie. They were already there and I photographed them over a few months. Maybe they were good luck charms? 🙂 Have a good week ahead.
This certainly is a breaking free post, Dragon. It looks to me these animals want to break free… It’s such a powerful song, and Freddie Mercury had an incredible voice. Great post! 🙂
Thank you, Amy. They were definitely looking a bit forlorn up those trees and behind the barbed wire. Like a scene from Toy Story, waiting to be rescued. 🙂
It did remind me of the Toy Story, one of my favorite movies. 🙂
Woody (dragon) saves the day. 🙂
🙂
Funny pictures. Your photos are rarely in color…
Thanks. Yes, but when I do use colour, I use it to grand effect. 🙂
Bel post! 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
E poi, adoro i Queen!
🙂
Classic Queen all the way!
🙂
Awww! So cute 🙂
🙂
A mix between poetry and reality……
Love this post and the splendid photos!
Thank you very much.
I felt sure you had surreptitiously placed those stuffed toys around, then I read in the comments that they were all found in situ. Well seen LD I will be looking up as I walk around Sydney.
Never forget to look up, especially in Angel Place, if I may be a bit indulgent. 🙂
Thank you for the link. One more thing to put on my to do list for Sydney.
It’s just near Martin Place.
I’ve been around that area often when in Sydney so I must be more observant this time.
As I said – don’t forget to look up. 🙂
Hehe, love the Draco treatment. Plus, this is one of my mom’s favourite songs.
Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Nice collection. Must have taken quite some time to collect them all.
Now I understand how you weave them into a song. The Draco treatment. And i like the disclaimer at the end of the post 😀
Thank you for joining the MM challenge 🙂
No problem. 🙂
you are doing pretty well as an animal photographer too, Lignum 🙂
the post reminds me of this one time when my lil one lost his stuffed teddy bear, the ONE and only, the very special one, you know :)… we were cruising around the neighborhood to find it for hours, he would cry for days… never found it… it would have been great if someone kept it for us like this, on some tree.. he was so concerned about it all the time repeating that it will be cold and will get wet in the rain… my heart breaks again when I think about it… no, it didnt want to break free from us lol 🙂
I think that story is fairly familiar to most people, either recalling their youth or talking about their children. Nothing every truly replaces it.
passare da te è sempre una festa d’inventiva di ironia e immagini!
buonagiornata ( in Italia…da te non so che caspita di ora sia!)
🙂
So cool!
🙂
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Awesome creativity … must bring a smile to passers by. May I ask where this street is ??
And great inspiration to share these with us .. thanks 🙂
Thank you very much. All photos taken in the inner west region of Sydney.
Oh … makes me want to visit Sydney if they do such cute things there 🙂 Have been only to Melbourne and Perth.
There’s always next time. 🙂
There will have to be huh if only to see these cutey pies on the trees 🙂
🙂
So beautiful and so unusual. Loved the photos.
Thank you.
All such beautiful shots Lignum and what a dramatic finale, fabulous!
Thank you, Patti. It was a fitting portrayal of Freddie.
I remember the song well, it’s one of my favourites, and the video still makes me laugh!! 😀 I love the message in the song.
The Freddie Mercury wall art is awesome, I’m sure my brother would love to have that on the side of his home as he’s always been a huge Freddie Mercury fan. Cool art for all age groups!
I wondered what the cat was for! I’d love to have a mailbox like that, so unique. 🙂
You seem to come across a lot of misplaced soft toys, and they appear to love sitting in trees! 😉 They’re quite sweet, and a little sad too.
That video – the make up and transformation was very good for a couple of them – too good! 🙂
The soft toys were mostly in a couple of areas and once I knew one was there, I looked a bit harder to find the others. I think someone was “caring” for them.
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Some posts you should be able to like more than once 😉
Yes, this one would appeal to you. 🙂 They were all photographed as I found them. 🙂