Thursday, August 5, 2010

On the train: Yup, I've had one of those days...

Recently, I've been having this type of days quite often, but then again,  they build character. And chicks digg scars (including mental ones), at least that's what I keep on telling myself.

Here is my inspirational song of the day...

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win

-- Don't Dream It's Over, Crowded House

Cheers.


Kentmere 400 B&W film, shot on Canon Canonet QL17 GIII, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31, 5.5min.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

On the street: University & King W

I just checked my subscription statistics. I have apparently got 4 subscribers. I know that I am one of the four. This means that I have three more subscribers than I anticipated. Thanks guys! :)

This is one of those shots that makes me want to stop all street shooting straight away and retire happy, knowing that I ended it on a high.

The juxtaposition: both walkers in the same pose, both with one foot up.
The candidness: all unposed!
The composition: rule of thirds on both walkers.
The diagonal lines: right across the frame, separating the darkness and brightness.
The exposure control: perfectly exposed for the walkers, even in a very contrasty scene of bright whites and dark blacks.
The bonus: the top suit and walking stick!

The irony: it was taken when I least expected a shot.
The pity: shot on colour film and cross processed in rodinal. I have a feeling that there would have been more details if I used pure black and white film.
The moral of the story: keep camera ready at all times. Aperture and shutter speeds all predialled, lens pre-focused (this is certainly a shot that I could not have taken with an SLR without drawing a stick-load of attention to myself that would have sent the walker running for covers).



EasyPix 200 Colour film, shot on Olympus 35RC, cross-processed in Rodinal 1+100, 60 min, stand development.

PS: I am running out of fodder for this blog. The thesis is back with comments from my beloved supervisor and I am busy putting in about 40 hours each weekend trying to finish it off. This means not much opportunity to go out and shoot. It looks like another summer has bitten the dust. Will dig around to see if I have more original photos lying around for a post.

Monday, August 2, 2010

On the street: University & King W. St. Andrews Station

EasyPix 200 Colour film, shot on Olympus 35RC, cross-processed in Rodinal 1+100, 60 min, stand development.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Reflections from the Office: Black and White People and Their Cross Roads


  One more day down
Everybody has those days
Where one soft sweet song's
Just enough to clear my head


Fall on real life
Is anybody left there sane?
If we slide on over and accept fate
Then it's bound to be a powerful thing


If it's just that you're weak
Can we talk about it
It's gettin' so damn creepy
Just nursing this ghost of chance
The fiction, the romance
And the technicolor dreams
Of black and white people


One boy head strong
Thinks that living here's just plain
He's pushed down so hard
You can hear him start to sink


And it's one last round of petty conversation
You hold on boy 'cuz
You won't go down like this?
Just roll over
Lay down till it's more than you can take


If it's just that you're weak
Can we talk about it
It's gettin' so damn creepy
Just nursing this ghost of chance
The fiction, the romance
And the technicolor dreams
Of black and white people


So one more day down
And everybody's changin'
One soft sweet sound
Is just enough to clear my head


If it's just that you're weak
Can we talk about it
It's gettin' so damn creepy
Just nursing this ghost of chance
The fiction, the romance
And the technicolor dreams
Of black and white people


Yeah if you're weak
Can we talk about it
It's gettin' so damn creepy
Just nursing this ghost of chance
The fiction, the romance
And the technicolor dreams
Of black and white people

-- Black and White People, Matchbox Twenty (...video here...)

Very appropriate song for the messed up days in the office and personal moral dilemmas. Kind of makes me wonder if all those people on the street below go through the same emotional indecisions as regularly as I do. 

Should things be left to fate and "ghost of a chance"? Do these black and white people have "technicolor dreams"? Do the "headstrong boys" think that "living here's just plain"? Do they get "He's pushed down so hard that you can hear him start to sink"? Is anybody here sane?

The reflections on the window: are these thoughts purely a reflection of my own being, or do they also reflect the image of those outside?

Am I alone in this black and white world of technicolor dreams?

Isn't it kind of appropriate that I shot this on colour film and developed it as black and white? What does that say about my technicolour dreams?

EasyPix 200 Colour film, shot on Olympus 35RC, cross-processed in Rodinal 1+100, 60 min, stand development.