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Naked?
It’s not naked, it’s nude.
What’s the difference?
Art
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The boys of Glasgow
I will admit I’d said it as a bit of a joke, but my offer was taken seriously and this past Sunday saw it realized.
Let me back up a bit.
There was a conversation going back and forth with a friend in Glasgow and there was mention of a sports team calendar shoot. I had no idea if he was serious but I’d made some comment along the lines of ‘if you need a photographer, I’d be more than willing to offer my assistance’, or something like that.
A few weeks passed, emails exchanged trying to sort out schedules, location etc and before I knew it the day arrived. I was on a train to Glasgow with my camera gear in tow trying to think how on earth I was going to pull off shooting 12 decent portraits of a young men wearing not all that much. At least I think they were going to be wearing something, I mean I assumed but didn’t ask.
Oh dear…
It’s funny, as I was setting up I was thinking to myself how the shoot would go. You know, the individuals might be a bit shy, they’d want some privacy. Maybe we’d use one of the other rooms in the flat as a green room of sorts while I worked with each guy one on one.
But by the time I said ‘whose first’ they were already pulling off shirts and removing trousers. Ok, not exactly a shy bunch.
A fun bunch of guys, good natured, lots of laughter and willing to lend a hand when needed as I started trying to arrange sheets/blankets for backdrops etc.
Now you’re probably thinking… so where are the photos? Well a calendar is in production and will be for sale soon as a fundraiser for their team. When they are available for purchase I’ll make a post.
Taking orders now.
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Hullo! (Fairly urgent!)
That was the subject line of the email in my inbox on Monday night when I got home. My first thought was spam but there was no attachment so I opend up the email. It was from someone at BBC Radio Scotland asking if I would be interested in being interviewed as they have been talking to people who blog all week.
Oh my. Um gosh ok? was my awkward reply that I left on the voicemail.
So today (Thursday) I found myself in a taxi being taken to the BBC Studio in Edinburgh. I got there a bit early so it gave me a chance to calm myself down by taking some photos of the environment.
Then it was time.
Ushered into the tiny room, the door closed, headphones on I could hear the programme in progress.
Did I mention my inquisitors were sitting in the studio in Glasgow and I was all by my lonesome in Edinburgh. How strange.
Then I could hear a voice and it was the producer, introducing himself and telling me I’d be live after the news was finished. Of course at that exact moment I had this feeling like my throat was going to close up on me and I had this incredible urge to cough.
It’s funny, I have this unofficial list of things that are Scottish to experience. Being interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland was not something I had on there. But I must admit, it was pretty cool.
For the next 7 days you can catch the broadcast on the website, I’m about an hour and 5 min into the broadcast, just after the 11:00 news
I don’t think I made an idiot of myself.
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I’m French, why do think I have this outrageous accent, you silly king!
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I don't get French Comedy
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of foreign film. Some of my favourite movies involve subtitles. I love independent, non-mainstream, off the beaten track type stuff.
But…
I just don’t get French comedy.
I went to the Filmhouse Sunday afternoon as they’ve got a French film festival going on this month. I read the small blurb in the schedule for the 3:30 show and it looked interesting.
I got my ticket, had a late lunch involving a curry, cheesecake and a pint of Hoegaarden (mmmm beer) then when the clock struck 3:15 I headed to theatre 1. Huge line up waiting for the doors to open, so I’m thinking this is a good sign. Although it’s a more mature crowd, but whatever.
I find a good seat and wait for the show to start.
The film is Traffic by Jacques Tati (writer/director/actor), a France/Italy co-production from 1971. Taken from the Filmhouse brochure:
Traffic rivals Playtime in terms of being both beautifully designed and wildly funny. Monsieur Hulot is a car designer whose company sends his latest creation, a camper car checked out with all manner of ridiculous gadgetry in a convoy from Paris to the Amsterdam Motor Sow. Pursued by the company’s brash American publicist, Hulot heads north into an endless series of hilarious accidents and misfortunes. Though Tati intends the automobile to signify the impersonality of modern life, hi is obviously transfixed by the dream-like stream of traffic on the highway or by gleaming acre of chrome on a parking lot.
Granted it was shot in 1971 so the sound is terrible. There wasn’t any real dialogue so to speak which makes me wonder if everything was just ad lip. It would explain as to why the overdubs were so bad. Most of the comedic elements were slapstick and situational which to be honest is my least favorite genre. But there were moments when everyone around me was killing themselves laughing and I was sitting there thinking what did I miss?
Maybe I’ll just stick with film noir.
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Oh Nutella
Why do I love you so?
Is it your chocolaty goodness?
Your hazelnut nuttiness?
Toasted brown bread
A glass of milk
And thou….
Heaven
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Who is hoarding the Nutella?
Ok so what’s the deal here. Today was my third attempt to purchase a jar of Nutella and the third time I’ve not found a single jar in the shops. I’ve tried a variety of grocery stores (Sainsbury’s local, the big one at Meadowbank and my Scottmed Co-op up the street). It’s like it never existed.
I’ve google searched “nutella shortage” and get nothing.
Nutella was my comfort food, something that would be a special little treat on the weekend. I suppose I could break down and buy a generic brand, but what if it doesn’t taste the same!!!
This makes me sad :(
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It’s only when I sense the end of things, I find the courage to speak… the courage, but not the words.
Audio with 9 plays
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Title track from the album Ghost of a Dog, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians. I really like that word, Bohemian :)
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Old School Photography
As previously mentioned I’ve begun a bit of an addiction with vintage cameras. So far my luck has been good in that they’ve all worked (well the one’s I’ve run a roll of film through).
First tested was an ancient Ensign Popular. I’ve tried to research this one as best I could but I’ve still never managed to figure out what year it was manufactured but my guess is somewhere between the 1920 - 30’s.
Now I agree, the photo is a bit blurry. Focusing was a bit of a challenge as you’ve only got a little slider off to the side that you move to correspond with how many feet away the image you’re capturing is. I don’t normally have a tape measure with me. But what this image did tell me is that the bellows do not leak light (that’s a good thing).
Next up was my 1964 Yashica minister-D rangefinder. Bought this one when I was on holiday in Vancouver, but I was actually in the market for a light metre (oops). So armed with the light metre and this rangefinder camera I set off for a day with a friend to give it a test drive.
Shot this using a roll of Ilford IP4 Plus, 125 ISO film - lovely stuff. Its during this time that I realised that I would need to put my black & white composition thinking cap on. Unlike with a digital you can’t just press a button and look at your image. So when reviewing the developed images I understood that a brilliant blue sky just looks, well um kinda grey. I need to think more high contrast, so the above image worked well. It was also my last shot on the roll.
On that same trip home I also brought back my first real SLR camera, an Asahi Pentax ESII. That particular model was made between 1973 - 1975, I’d had it given to me as a gift (used). For some reason I’d thought that it had been sold so was surprised to find my Dad was still hanging on to it.
I’d lost the lens cap somewhere in the Burrard Inlet (boat trip) when I first moved to Vancouver back in 1992. I guess I just wasn’t mentally ready to understand/grasp photography as an art form or means of expression so it was never used much and then eventually was just kept on a bottom shelf out of the way.
When I got back to Edinburgh the photogrphy group I sometimes do things with had organised a film day so I loaded her up with a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus, 400 ISO and went blindly snapping away.
During the day I had some issues with the camera sticking on a certain setting but I think that’s just from lack of use more than anything. Most of the shots I was pretty happy with again.
Now I’ve just finished running a roll through my Russian Zorki-4. But no photos to show just yet as I’ll need to send those off for processing and scanning. Although I do have it on my list if things to do is to learn how to do my own Black & White developing. There is a place in town that gives courses and once you’ve done one it’s very inexpensive to use their darkroom and scanning equipment.
Oh and I’ve also got to run a roll through my Lomo Cosmic 35, but I’m waiting for my order of expired colour film to arrive (it’s what you do with plastic vintage Russian cameras don’t you know).
So stay tuned, the experimentation continues…
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