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.