Public Art

Some cool sound and multimedia installations going on around town at the moment.

Machines That Read?

Flickr has an algorithm called interesting-ness, today I made pg 37 with this image, but it's almost like a kiss of death really, I mean how can a machine be taught to judge beauty and merit of an image? From what I can tell it requires a certain number of visits and comments as well as favouriting to make this part of the site, with less than 20 views and a mere 2 comments and 1 favourite, what the hell is going on?

[Edit] Well less than 24 hours later and it seems to have disappeared! It's a very fluid thing this algorithm, but meh whatever!

Proofs in the Digital Age

Well maybe it is possible to treat one's digital wok in a similar manner to analogue, perhaps I just need to learn some more patience in dealing with my digital files.

Just spent the day flicking through my archives using iView. Found some gems and will over the coming days upload them to flickr.

iView, is a freeware app that used come with Roxio Toast. It helps you keep track of your images, by allowing you store facsimilies of your images on other drives or external storage devices.

I use it in my workflow to create a file of the contents of a CD as I burn it. Then some time down the track when either I'm looking for a specific image or just browsing for images I open the file of a given date and browse the contents of the file, if I find something I think I want to use, I match the CD to the file and load it up and away I go. You can even open it from the iView interface into any app I choose to add to the list of available applications.

Proof

There is something special about sitting down with a cup of coffee and flipping through tactile proofs exploring and wondering about opportunities, of images

Cameras

Digging deep into the archives on flickr now!

This was taken with what, was then, a fairly reasonable camera sometime in the late 90's, hasn't camera technology moved along a long way since then? My wife's current camera about 1/2 the physical size of the one that took this image cost 1/2 the price of the Kodak DC260 and produces twice the file size. Back then I enjoyed using this camera but never was quite sure what I was going to use it for, as the images were quite small, too small for print, anyway, well large prints. And in those days broadband was a dream for most Australians, and flickr was just a pipe dream. Multimedia was one way I was thinking of using these, 13000 plus images, but coding up 13000 plus pages of html didn't really grab me. So Images from my Kodak DC260 sit here on CD roms awaiting some use.

Well here we are more than 5 years later, and I am shooting even more digital images now, big enough for small prints, and broadband enables me to share this work with the world.

Thanks to all those folks on flickr who make it a great place to hang and look and talk photography.

Arnold Newman Dies

Sad Sad News!

Arnold Newman, died earlier this month.

From Wikipedia.

Newman graduated high school in Miami Beach and attended the University of Miami studying painting and drawing with an introduction to ——Modernism. Unable to afford continuing after two years, he moved to Philadelphia, PA to work for a studio making 49-cent portraits. His time there taught the importance of interacting with his subjects and allowed him to developed his technique.

Newman returned to Florida in 1939 to manage a portrait studio in West Palm Beach. Three years later he opened his own business in Miami Beach. In 1946, Newman relocated to New York, opened Arnold Newman Studios and worked as a freelance photographer for Fortune, Life, and Newsweek.

How the hell did I miss this one?

Well anyway even though I am not much of a portrait photographer, I always remember with fondness being introduced to him and his importance within the history of photography

Wating... Waiting...Waiting...

Today is the 30th of June.

"So!" I hear you say!

Well today is important not because it being the end of the tax year, but because, I am waiting to hear about a gallery appliction lodged with the CCP and a competiton I have entered at the MGA.

Needless to say I doubt much will get done around here today!

A dip into the flickr archives then for this image of Eureka Tower.

New Bodies Of Work?

Not only is the light really nice at the moment, but I've started a new series of images based on some discoveries,one of which was at a local croquet lawn.

Chairs and shopping trollies are the two things that seem to most turn up in the oddest of places.

The kind of places I've always enjoyed 'hanging around' seem rife with them.

My sets are growing. This is something that I've been contemplating in terms of my output as an artist,can I justify producing work that is a culmination of an experience [walking around with a camera], rather than having some idea in my head and making images about it, the idea?

Is the idea of exploring an external world in an inner way justification enough? After all, Marcel Proust said,

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

So seeing and make images of my own local area with new eyes, or in a way that is interesting is this enough?

While we're on quotes, here's another again by Proust, that speaks volumes,

Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments. An artist recreates those aspects of reality which represent his fundamental view of man's nature.

The site where the quotes are from? BrainyQuote.com, a great site indeed

More Winter Light

While we're on it, more winter light.

Again part of the maps project

Incongruous

Another example of the gorgeous winter light to be had sometimes in Melbourne.

This sight seems so common, abandoned furniture in obscure pockets of big cities, I don't understand how. Our local council has regular hard rubbish collections and a 6 day a week tip that allows locals to dump their rubbish quite easily.

Despite the light this shot sums up the occasional state of mind I find myself in these days. Hence the title.

Not that that is a bad thing really?

Bollywood Director?

Wanna be a TV producer, of a Bollywood classic?

2006 Winter Light

Winter light sweeps though my house in amazing ways.

It days like this that really make me appreciate what it is "I do"

Even better that I get paid to "do it".

You do remember don't you?

we are not what we remember of ourselves.
we are what people say we are.
they project upon us their convictions.
we are nothing but blank screens.

So sayeth casoulbyrd, indeed a powerful sentiment.

There were many reasons I like the look of flickr when I signed up, irregulargirl's images was one of the reasons, so here's a peek at her set that just keeps on growing.

"it was electric... so frightfully hectic"

Recently experienced an interesting 'spectacle'. A Dance competition!

Several things that struck me were that this kind of event even existed, that it was actually a competition between 4 dance studios owned by the same company, that folks could get so into the whole competition idea in the first place.

Photographically I new I didn't have a hope in hell of subtle or nice lighting, so I resorted to my one of my favourite techniques in this kind of situation, 'Flash & Blur'. It can be a bit hit and miss, especially over longer distances, but when it works it works well.

Tech specs, f4.3 0.5 sec 400 ISO, flash set to -2. According to my EXIF data in Photoshop.

Here is the EXIF data pulled from the file using Graphic converter.

• Image title:
• Make:-NIKON
• Model:E5400
• Orientation of image:1
• X resolution:300.0 ppi (pixel per inch)
• Y resolution:300.0 ppi (pixel per inch)
• Resolution unit:inch
• Software:E5400v1.4
• File date and time:2006:06:24 20:40:51
• Y and C positioning:co-sited
• -- Exif IFD --:
• Exposure time:1/2 s
• F number: 4.3
• Exposure program:Normal program
• ISO speed rating:400
• Exif version:0220
• Date and time of original data generation:2006:06:24 20:40:51
• Date and time of digital data generation:2006:06:24 20:40:51
• Meaning of each component:YCbCr
• Image compression mode:4.0
• Exposure bias:-0.7
• Maximum lens aperture:3.0 APEX = F2.8
• Metering mode:Pattern
• Light source:unknown
• Flash:Flash fired, auto mode.
• Lens focal length: 10.3 mm
• Color Space:sRGB
• Valid image width in pixel:2592
• Valid image height in pixel:1944
• File source:reserved
• Scene type:reserved
• Custom image processing:Normal process
• Exposure method: Auto exposure
• White balance:Auto white balance
• Digital zoom ratio:not used
• Focal length in 35 mm film:50 mm
• Scene capture type:Standard
• Gain control:Low gain up
• Contrast: Normal
• Saturation:Normal
• Sharpness:Normal
• Subject distance range:unknown
• Compression scheme:JPEG
• X resolution: 300.0 ppi (pixel per inch)
• Y resolution:300.0 ppi (pixel per inch)
• Resolution unit:inch
• Offset to JPEG SOI:4596
• Bytes of JPEG data:6819

I was trying to capture the movement colour and light from the whole night and this is the best I could do. Several things impeded me. The table settings were PACKED in as much as possible not allowing much freedom of movement in and out of them, and being a 'guest' I didn't want to put any noses out of joint by jamming cameras at people in the wrong place or wrong time, besides anyone who knows me will know that a people/portrait photographer I ain't.

The town hall itself was an interesting old building and worthy of several hours of wandering with a camera and tripod. I didn't shoot much by my standards only a dozen or so shots, but the colour and movement seemed well captured, even if I do say so myself.

All Done - For Now!

Well all done, now 6 rolls of film to process and given the light and me being at home all day, I think that number will rise!

Next the flattening & the numbering, then over the coming months, the perusing, to see if anything is worthy of further exploration or printing even?

Photoshop may even fall into the equation at some point, if only I had access to a nice printer like the Epson 7400! The 9400 would be even better though!

Something that I of course have forgotten about is the waste, over 50 rolls of film in the last few months, equals 50 test strips and 50 proof sheets, not counting a pair of rubber gloves, no end of hand/paper towel, several empty plastic bottles and assorted packaging, oh dear. analog indeed!

1 of 13

One down 13 to go, several ideas on this one.

Kent's Portrait involving fabric and bodies, headless bodies, as well as some ideas I'm tinkering with in relation to flat surfaces and shadows, and the usual urban landscapes too.

Of Course!

Vernacular?

So more than 90,000 views. I'd like to se my work get that level of exposure at the NGV.

Speaking of the NGV, maybe I should write an exhibition review of a show I've seen lately?

American beauty at the NGV international at the moment has got to be one of the best shows I've seen since the Bill Henson show of 2004, or was it 2005? Anyways, Lee Freidlander Walker Evans and Robert Frank have got to be in my top 10 of favourite Overseas Modernists photographers from the last century. Lee Freidlander I'm told shot enormous amounts of film to get the kind of 'visual' treats he achieved, and Walker Evans, documenting life with an 8 x 10 camera, with the most superb compositions and drawing that I have ever seen. Robert Frank well I'm almost speechless here. His controversial book from the 50's 'The Americans', even has an introduction by one of my favourite poets/authors, Jack Kerouac. The space at the NGV international is small, so sadly the amount of work on show is scant, but several of my Favourite Lee Freidlander shots are there, the one with the triangular cloud over the stop sign, and the shot of the tourists at Mt. Rushmore, are moments never top be repeated, slices of time that say as much about what is being photographed as the photographer and the time and place, and managing to be funny as well!

This show is a must see, just for the ideas it portrays, which is an idea close to my heart. 'The Vernacular'.

“I speak of the things that are there, anywhere and everywhere – easily found, not easily selected and interpreted.”
Robert Frank

13 May to 22 October 2006
Photography Gallery, Level 3
Admission free

One of the Elite!

So I took an Art Fag test?

Go on I dares ya!

Suburban Gothic

Still no sign of the proofing beginning.

This is from a scanned neg, and I am pleasantly surprised at it's success.

We have been experiencing a little fog here around Melbourne on and off for the last few weeks and finally I got out into it and made a couple of shots, which by the way will fit perfectly into, my Winter Mornings series/idea.

Despite the apparent low contrast in this scene, there was still enough to justify a contraction development of one stop.

The old adage that "everything in photography is a trade off" is even more telling these days. When I was shooting only 5x4 film, no compromise required, each sheet/shot/scene could be developer as required. Now that I'm back using roll-film minutes hours and even sometimes day separate shots so a compromise is often needed. One of the things I've learnt with T-Max film is. NEVER overdevelop under normal lighting situations.

We're all pilgrims on the same journey-but some pilgrims have better road maps.

Well the process of proof printing is yet to begin, here's a worked scan, in the interim, of an image shot in the back streets of Carlton. A cursory look at the negs on a light-box and already I'm pretty impressed with the results.

One aspect of this way of working that I had completely forgotten about was the whole surprise factor when you pull a wet roll of film out of a tank and scratch your head and wonder where did I shoot this?

The magic of that moment of surprise and realisation is one to cherish that's for sure.

I have so far managed to scan a handful of shots, from the 13 rolls, more to come as I work them. Subject matter ranges from portraits to the abstract to my usual landscapes.

Just added a neat little piece of javascript that pulls an artistic quote from another website - enjoy!

Forty Five Plus

I'm back after a refreshing weekend away for my birthday.

All 13 rolls of film are now processed. Next proofing, filing and contemplating. May do a quick scan of the negs for a look-see first as it'll be a few days before I can get into the darkroom for any extended period.

Small subtle coincidences are difficult to catch at times. This image from a set called three, is an example.

Swings & Roundabouts

Yesterday afternoon the light was again truly magic, so I headed off to buy more film and some other bits 'n bobs, from a store in North Melbourne Called Vanbars. It just happens to be very close to a the rail yards on the western edge of the city. There is a freeway overpass nearby, and creek as well. All the usual fodder for me and my camera. Alas, things just weren't quite firing for me, I shot a roll, but… Last week was a different story.

Shooting or printing on Tuesdays will, over the coming weeks, be a bit of a ritual for me from now on, I hope. Last Tuesday for example was a beauty. This location is close to where I work on Tuesdays. After work on my way home,I decided to stop, actually I had decided the week before but was in a hurry to go somewhere else, anyway as I carry my film camera pretty much everywhere with me a habit picked up form digital I might add, I stopped on the way home last week. Well 3 or 4 rolls later and on one of those creative highs that make it all worth while, I arrive home. It was one of those days where everything just fell into place, the light, my mood, the subject matter, it was all there. So once the films are processed I'm sure I'll have a few good ones worthy of printing and exhibiting.

I now have 10 rolls waiting to be processed. At least the developer is made up now, and ready and waiting.

Begininnings

The beginnings of the series, looking at texture tension and 2d.

Shot in Sutherland lane, handheld with my 'blad, 1/125 @ f4 or f5.6, developed in D25, @ 24 ° Celcius for 13 minutes.[I need to stop being lazy and carry a tripod around more]. Besides these laneways seems to see very little light at the best of times!

Normally I wouldn't print this dark, but it seems to suit the location, and who knows how the idea will pan out over the coming months. I am already planning on writing a 2008 CCP application, as I am not holding much hope for the 2007 one.

I am glad photoshop, handles black and white better than colour, I seem to be drifting back towards it as a medium of expression. The lessons that I have learnt form foray into digital are still being rationalised in my head. This doesn't mean I will stop using it as a means of working, but certainly will change how I use it, and my approach as well.

Busier Than Ever

Got a bit going on at the moment.

Recently handed in my 2007 CCP solo exhibition application, and on Friday hand delivered my MGA competition application. Plenty to mull over, will know later this month on the CCP gig, and the 30th of June is the date for the MGA show/prize.

Meanwhile, my new Hasselbald is going great guns, still ironing out the bugs with D25, but once nailed they are going to be awesome shots.

Two things are going on with the 'blad at the moment. One. I am of course shooting in those incongruous places I've always shot, as they invariably have power-lines and all the usual detritus of modern life. Two, I am looking a flat surfaces and exploring a level of formal composition with those flat surfaces. I have discovered a series lane-ways in the CBD one of which is called, Sutherland Lane. This small pocket of Melbourne seems untouched, you can almost hear the horses and carts going about their business delivering and sending goods to and from the various places that commerce existed in Melbourne's early days. Texture and markings on the walls are both recent and ancient, and I hope to revisit there more over the coming months, several sections that see little light really draw me in, with the damp and brick and mould and small plants that barely survive.

One of the things that my forays into digital has also taught me is to really take my time with the 'blad. I mean isn't that the real attraction for a lot of people with digital, myself included, blast away from all sorts of angles and hope for a good one? Well no more, softly softly is the approach now, and with 12 shots to a 'roll' it is rare to finish a roll.

As of this writing I stil have 9 rolls waiting to be processed!

Dead Trolleys

Wandering home today, stumbled across a veritable shopping trolley graveyard.

Keeping your books organised online now could be the next big thing? Social elements to this software are not unlike de.licio.us, and another fun way to while away the hours?

Colder by the day

Final in this series of images from my flickr albums.

One of the reasons I use flickr and enjoy it so much is the ability to organise my work into albums, which is ultimately what good art photography is generally about, an idea an thought an emotion, and groups of images do that, really well they can use repeated visual elements to move the viewer beyond, oh that's a pretty picture of [insert assanine sunset or baby photo here]

Splashed out yesterday, bought two new books. Photography A Cultural History, by Mary Warner Marien, and Photography Reborn, by Jonathan Lipkin. Possible book reviews to come, Photography Reborn is not too heavy a read so that won't be too hard, the other is a thick historical volume and will take some time to read for sure. Books are another passion of mine and I use a little software app called Books, to keep a record of what I own and who I lend it too. The writer of the software I use now informs me that there is an online catalogue for books, so naturally I signed up.

First Day of Winter!

More from the 'formerly informal' series

First day of winter, how long before the winter blues set in? If the light keeps going the way it has been for the last few weeks never!

Might even shoot a shot today and upload it, we'll see?

Last Day Of Autumn

Today is the last day of Autumn. The light has been magnificent of late. Yesterday I shot several rolls in one of my usual kind of locations, under a freeway that had several on and off ramps with creek running beneath it all, totally incongruous. [A term I use sometimes to describe myself.] Hopefully the light will hold for a few more weeks, as term break for both jobs is just around the corner.

One of the things I love about photography is it's ability to abstract surfaces and add a sense of formality to the everyday. So much so I have a set dedicated to it. This image being the lead opening shot. Taken on a car-park rooftop in Footscray in late 2005.

Minimal Photoshop processing here, except for the usual levels and curves and sharpening.

The MGA are having a competition/show with a deadline set for later this week, I have decided to enter it this year. I am surprised that one of the entry conditions is a small print plus a slide or jpeg! Suits me, my work is as much about the final print as it is about the subject matter, the idea, the emotions evoked by the image and the politics of images. And I have a digital high rez version of the file on my hard drive. It will of course need some work as I have simply scanned it in as a 16 bit file. As digital files are notoriously low in actuance, I will use the Lumnious-Landcsapes sharpening trick with the high pass filter to get the image as sharp as I can

I am printing this image, as it will hopefully form part of my CCP show in 2007, if I get it, the show that is.

Opening Night Shots!

Last night was the opening, of the show Web to Wall at 69 Smith St. Thankfully somebody managed to document the evening in a way that reflects it all.

Thanks to Colin for doing the whole job.

Utterly Urbane cont'd

I've always liked this one in ways that have been dificult to define, the complexity of the composition and the light all add up to a rather successful image even if I do say so myself.

The series continues

More Metal

More from the ever-growing 'Utterly Urbane' series.

For what it is worth, these steps have been gone for some time, they used to be part of the old Spencer St. Station complex. Now that it is being re-built I wonder if something similar will re-appear?

Shot on my old DC260 made by Kodak. Now dead/stolen, and processed in Photoshop.

Aluminium

I'm glad I stopped to make this picture.

I've never seen it, this composition, since. It's from a scrapyard near my house I pass often.

"... something...."

Traditionally, landscape and documentary photography relies on techniques such as deep Depth of Field, and dramatic light. Sometimes though for me if the image just cries out to be made, you do the best you can under the circumstances. This is a perfect example, and if anything these perceived shortcomings are, what makes this image successful to me. The shallow D.O.F, the soft light all add a sense of mystery, a kind of quiet casual glance that seems to indicate, something, something delicate and aloof.

This image describes something a place a moment, but the actual place and moment is not clear. Sure it's a galvanised iron fence in a lane-way in Richmond, but what else does it describe? A state of mind, a fleeting gestural response to a place?

Is this then a documentary photograph, if not what is it?

Handheld at 1/125 at f2.8. A lane-way somewhere in Richmond, Melbourne Australia

Winter Light Continued

Robert Adams, one of my favourite photographers, early in his career published a book,called, 'Summer Nights'. Lately I've been enjoying the morning light and given it's winter here in Melbourne Australia, I think I will attempt something similar. Funnily enough called 'Winter Mornings'.

My new camera, is now all calibrated and ready to go. So producing the soft and hopefully luminous prints I am used to making should not be a problem.

On a technical note, my film/developer combination is T-Max 400, rated at 160 ISO, developed in D25, with my 'N' development time being, 13 ″ 40 ′ at 24 ° C. This particular shot was shot at f22 for 1/4 of a second early in May before Midday facing south east in a nearby industrial suburb. As of this writing I haven't been able to even do a darkroom proof of it, as I've been a bit busy with a group show I have been helping set-up. D25 can be found in Steve Anchell's book, the Darkroom Cookbook, but basically is Metol, Sodium Sulphite and Potassium Metabisulphite. I'm told that it is very similar to Microdol-X and is supposedly a good fine grain developer. It even smells like Microdol-X when i mix it up.

One of my aims with this kind of work is to, make the harshest suburban environments look like something else. Something while not necessarily pleasant at least a little less inhospitable, after all we as human beings make these places and use them. I am also interested in the formal capabilities of the the camera and how they transform our world, into something either hyper-real or surreal.

Also Today Marcus and Scott are being interviewed on 3RRR for the exhibition Web to Wall. Could someone please tape it for me as I am at work and may not get a chance to hear it?

Winter Light

Despite it being winter, the light has it's moments and my new Hasselblad really excels at capturing that.

Recently submitted a proposal to the CCP for a show in 2007. The title of the body of work I am planning on showing is "Grids Switches and Gates", this is another contender for the show.

Polaroid Positives

It's been a while since I've done this, but I occasionally like to show off other folks work from flickr. 

Here's Mae-Fleur's work using polaroids and scanning in the resulting negative. Pop on over leave a comment tell her I sent you. Please bear in mind this image of Mae's has had full copyright assigned to it so respect that please.

More Flickr Grey Archives

Life is a million shades of grey III.

Lot's Of Views!

Well it took a while but here it is, 80,000 views. I guess a watched pot never boils!

Flickr Archives, more grey

Life is a million shades of grey II.

Flickr Archives

Life is a million shades of grey.

NY Times Technology Writer Gets Blog!

David Pogue has a Blog!

David Pogue, is a technology writer for the NY TImes, has written several Books on Computer Hardware and software, and seems to me to be a cool level headed guy.

From Wikipedia

David Pogue is a New York Times technology columnist, Emmy-winning tech correspondent for "CBS News Sunday Morning," tech guest for NPR's "Morning Edition," and author of several books on Macintosh-related topics including Macs for Dummies and Macworld Macintosh Secrets, later Macworld Mac and Power Mac Secrets, an enormous book on the Macintosh, circa 1993.
He has written a number of books in the "...For Dummies" series, and launched his own series of computer books called the "Missing Manual" series in 2000.
Pogue also wrote a 1993 techno-thriller, Hard Drive.

Folio; Re-discovered II

More re-discovered folio shots.

For a planned show in 2007, and the upcoming, Web to Wall Exhibition taken in the late 80's early 90's

This is a *work print* which means, they will look very different by the time they hit the wall in 2006 - in subtle photographic ways of course.

Folio; Re-discovered

Nth.Melb. 1
2006
Toned Silver Gelatin print 190mm x 190mm

For a planned show in 2007, and the upcoming, Web to Wall Exhibition taken in the late 80's early 90's

This is a *work print* which means, they will look very different by the time they hit the wall in 2006 - in subtle photographic ways of course.

Hasselblad Research

Hasselblad is a Swedish manufacturer of high-quality still photography cameras based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company was established in 1841 as a trading company. In the 1890s, Hasselblad began distributing photographic products from Eastman. The photography branch grew, and during the second world war Victor Hasselblad was commissioned to develop an aerial camera for the Royal Swedish Air Force. After the war, camera production changed into civilian cameras. Introduced in 1948, the Hasselblad 1600F was a medium format SLR that became the camera of choice for many professional photographers.

Perhaps the most famous use of the Hasselblad camera was during the Apollo Program missions when man first set foot on the moon. All photographs taken during these missions used specially modified Hasselblad cameras.

Hasselblad cameras are still widely used by professional and serious amateur photographers. One reason is the superior image quality of 6x6cm size rollfilm over smaller film and digital sensor formats, along with a reputation for long service life.

In August 2004 Hasselblad merged with the Danish company Imacon A/S. Imacon is a manufacturer of digital photography equipment, e.g. digital camera backs.¹

A pictorial History of Hasselblads, a unique system consists of a body, lens removable film magazine and interchangable viewfinders. Each lens incorporates its own leaf shutter. The design has been copied by several other medium format camera manufacturers. Although recent models incorporate electronics, the bulk of the cameras are totally mechanical incorporating intricate interlocks. The use of interchangable film backs allow a photographer to change film types in mid roll.

One of the highlights in Hasselblad history was its role in the US space program. The moon camera used by Neil Armstrong was a Hasselblad 500EL/70 (special model 500 with a motor drive and a 70 mm film back). Due to weight restrictions only the film (backs) returned to earth with the astronauts. There are 12 Hasselblads available free, for the next person who visits the moon.

The 500 C/M was in production from 1970 until 1989. A Hasselblad camera or accessory can be dated by a 2 letter code in the serial number. V H P I C T U R E S represents the codes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. Therefore a two letter code UC in a serial number indicates the year 1975.²

An extensive look at the 500 series Hasselblad.

A brief look at the differences between 35mm and 120 format cameras.

A Hasselblad Lens Guide, and how to un-jam or unlock a Hasselblad Lens & Body.

Melbourne Flickrnaut's Infamy

Well it's official, yesterday's Green Guide in the age has an article, by Terry Lane that talks about Flickr and even mentions the Flickr Melbourne Group. Now it seems that Terry Lane also writes online, and the blog entry is on a site called dpexpert.com.au. So yes indeed we are infamous now.

Photoshop Workshops

Hate to brag but, look has who the two top spots on google for the phrase "photoshop workshops".... today.

Heiroglyphics

Really enjoying film at the moment.

Flickr #1 Web App?

Flickr reaches new heights and levels of public consciousness.

Stunning Photography

Check out this guys work awesome!

Urban Landscapes March 2006

Returned to film recently, and if there is one thing I learned from my dalliance with digital, is, the process of image making doesn't need to operate at cyber-speeds.

This image from a series of images for the web to wall show with 19 other flickr photographers, as well as a continuation of my proposed 2007 show idea.

Walls?

A recent wander in a lane-way of East Melbourne produced these. More over on flickr—of course!

Upcoming Group Exhibition

Well it's official, the invite is printed, the space is organised and paid for, now all we need to do, is to actually hang the work in the space — oh and organise food for the hungry hoardes that will rock up on the day.

Writing and Photography

I am currently working on my application for my planned 2007 show. The first draft is written, and I have asked two people to read and comment on it. Despite the seemingly difficult task of writing about your own work, and the difficulties I had actually opening the the document, it was a useful exercise. I have managed to clarify some of my own concerns in my head about what it is I'm doing, as well as how and why.

I also seem to have dropped the digital ball completely of late. Being back at work and working full time doesn't help but some realisations about the nature of working digitally have effected my approach, if not changed it. I am now looking much more critically at my own work.

For either of my readers, this blog is now 2 YAH!

Is Sarcasm the Lowest Form of Wit?

Unless you were living under a rock here in Melbourne you'd know we recently had a large sporting event, fortunately with a planned 2007 show and a group show in May, plus my extra teaching at VU, I didn't get to see or hear much of it all. Kaz Cooke on the other hand had the good sense to write a bitingly funny diatribe about it all, onya Kaz!

Contact - After 2 Years!

Processes, are a bit like riding a bike, somethings you just never forget. Now of course begins the long process of looking at each image and deciding if i made the right choice before pressing the shutter and then there is still the whole how do I print them to look their best issue.

This first proof sheet is of an area I've long been attracted to. One that I drive past 4 to 6 times a week. Friday the 24th of March just seemed like the right time to go there, so I did, and I'm glad I did. Plenty of chaos and texture, manmade, and natural fighting it out, so to speak. The next proof was from one of those little exploratrory drives that I used to do so often but these days rarely take, I had originally intended to shoot something else but the light wasn't the way I wanted it so I kept driving. I found some excellent locations that will expand my proposed 2007 show, and will revist around dusk to see what I can get as there was some great views of the city from a couple of the spots. The place is so desolate and yet to close to the city I'm really looking forward to shooting more there.

Grass Roots

So yesterday I mentioned the nets ability to foster grass roots activism, well today I was sent a request to sign a petition to save one of our two non-commercial broadcasters. Burrowing around in the news feed for their blog I find that a campaign started to alter the course of a bill going through Parliament worked. And by worked I mean the responses form the Minister's contacted plus the result of the bill means that this grassroots organisation had some impact on the direction of the bill

What is Photography?

Here's a great entry on the flickr blog, about photography it's power and meaning and more importantly the way the web is being used at a grass roots level to by-pass traditional media.

Technorati Tags:-flickr, photography, media, grass-roots, politics

Pillow Fight Club

Pillow fight anyone?

120 x 5

So here's the results of a busy weekend of shooting. Processing will happen over the next few days, and who knows maybe in a months time I'll have scanned a couple and uploaded them. Thus allowing an emotional distance from them when they were taken, which in turn allows me to judge their real merits.

Please excuse the horrible colour cast, my little digi-cam has only so much control.

One place, two shots

Flickr is one of those places where you are constantly surprised by who you encounter. I have recently re-connected with Kent Johnson. A wonderful photographer and lively personality to boot. His website is an interesting read. He rather succinctly talks about the process involved in his creative process which was in part the inspiration to these shots, a mere two kilometres or so from my house. Of course if you look hard enough you will see some Robert Adams, some Frank Gohlke and maybe even some Lewis Baltz.

Thanks Kent for the shot in the arm looking forward to our first real life encounter.

As for my creative process, it seems I am more intuitive and time based, I have a vague idea what and where I want to shoot, go look for it, and maybe even revisit several times, process it put it away and come back to it over a period of time and re-analyse it, perhaps take the idea and images further or even go off on another tangent all together. Or maybe just scrap that idea and go somewhere else.

Haiku of yellow?

Been hitting the books of late, so not much image making going on.

Pre-Exhibiton Research

"the best landscape images, whatever their medium and whatever other emotions they evoke … propose the possibility of an intimate connection with a world to which we have access only through our eyes, a promise containing it's own denial"
Frank Gohkle
pg 696/698 1000 Photo Icons George Eastman House, pub Taschen

The start....

of the end?

I am changing the course of my image making practise. This change has come about after a series of small but none-the less revealing incidents involving the web, materials [sliver gelatin] and processes, my own.

The final catalyst occurred a day or so ago I went to my local photo supply store, to stock up on paper. I am in the process of printing some work prints for a planned show in 2007, and had run out of my favourite paper, Forté."No worries" I thought, Vanbars will have some, so down to north Melbourne I go, wandering in I say hi to Richard and head down the back to buy said paper. While Vanbars had plenty of paper in stock generally, they had nowhere near the variety that they used to have when I last had an exhibition.

This catalyst, is the last in a chain of incidents that have been bubbling away now for several months, a discussion on flickr about the appearance of digital photographs, was one such incident. This discussion made me realise that it was probably a futile cause to try to get people who don't want to see what they don't want to see. Namely that there are differences in the look and feel of Digital Photographs over Analogue photographs. Another incident I have already talked about here.

So this slowly snowballing effect, got me thinking, how can I make something that is truly unique? The process of putting together an exhibition, has my creative juices really flowing at the moment and I'm quite enjoying the act of returning to my darkroom. This reminded me of my final days at University where I started mucking around with a film developer agent called Pyrogallol. A mythical developing agent that was as renowned for its long tonal scale as it was for it's difficulty to control, not to mention the O H & S issues! I then poked around in my note books from around 1991 and dug up 3 or four technical book that either talked about it in length or mentioned it. I now have several recipes and, am ready to begin the long process that will be mastering this developer and it's intricacies.

Perhaps this blog will track that progress, sadly the only way to really appreciate the prints will be to see them in the flesh, something that the internet is incapable of; unless you live in Melbourne?

Image & Text

A project I've always wanted to contribute to. PostSecret

Nan Goldin's having a show in New York, after a 3 year hiatus

Most viewed shopping trolley shot

This shot from my Shopping Trolley series, using a mobile has had 514 views so far. Kinda weird really

"Dry Brightness"

Seems there's some folks questioning the "art" of Digital Photography. I agree with the arguments presented and for anyone to understand those arguments and use the ideas to their advantage using digital tools will be then able to call themselves an artist to my mind.

Monitor Calibration

Over on flickr I recently uploaded a 21 step grey scale test swatch. My intention was to use it as a guide for my own current upload project. It has gathered considerably more views. Than I expected with several comments to boot, what a strange place flickr is.

Connections?

Prose, Photography and Passion.

Lonely Radio has it all.

What is TV?

They say TV is the bits between the ads, this very funny commercial proves it!

Here's the google.video link for it too

30 Boxes

Is 30 boxes the latest meme or will it fizzle so much other stuff has over the last decade or so of internet life?

Personally I've never been one to live by any kind of calender/organiser, but iCal changed all that and maybe this next Web 2.0 technology will change that even further?

News and Flickr

Flickr in the news.