archives Archives - s2z Photography Blog

Scanning and the archive

Screen grab of scans from a 1998 trip to Whyalla — Screen grab of scans from a trip to Whyalla circa 1998

In 1998, as part of a larger and very personal quest I flew to Whyalla, in South Australia. I carried a lot of camera gear with me, so much so I was charged excess baggage on the return flight home. I flew all the way to Whyalla via Adelaide and collected a rental car there. I spent a few days exploring the area, and shot a lot of colour negative film. I remember the skies really being dramatic. I tried, in vain to capture this. I used a caravan park in Whyalla as a base and would spend all day out driving and exploring the area. I believe I got as far south as Franklin Harbour.

As I begin scanning my archive I was reminded of this trip. It was the era before the internet burst into the public consciousness. So no blogging, cloud based notes or smartphone to jot down pictorial notes. I vaguely recall borrowing a laptop from work, to write with I assume, but at this stage can only find meagre scribblings in my journals of the era.

It seems I shot about 22 rolls of 120 film on this journey, I’ve yet to count or find the black and white, either 5×4 or roll film. Of these I have edited down to about 20. Despite the problems I encountered processing the film there are still a a handful of images that resonate with me. I have yet to find the 5×4 film I shot on this trip and the one preceding it, in or about 1996 or 1997.

I plan on uploading a gallery of the colour images soon.

New Photobook?

I have begun a new book idea.

It is going to be a small book, physically and in the number of copies I make. Three and an artists proof.

It will be approximately 42 small silver Gelatin contact prints. Tipped into a 110 gsm cartridge paper book.

Some working titles include:-

[sub] urban gothic,
The map is not the territory
“…looking back…”
Forty two
42
“… the sum or the parts…”
The path of least resistance is rarely the path of wisdom.

The images are drawn from my archive stretching back to 1989. All shot on medium format film. The whole process has been enlightening and made possible in part by Gary’s interview . We collaborated on part 1 and I deep dived into my archive to consider some responses to his questions. Part 2 is going to be forthcoming.

TyYAT[Twenty Years Ago Today]

P0002125 Version 2 I was experimenting with my first point and shoot digital camera.

For the record

As this is a new blog I’m putting a list of some of my online projects here. I use flickr and tumblr as my two main digital folio display tools.

Screen Shot 2020 04 05 at 18 02 14

First tumblr:-

Every Saturday at 17:17 I make a picture, it’s a project about time and photography’s unique ability to preserve it.
Four days a week at work I make this picture, again it’s a project about time and photography’s unique ability to preserve it.
I have lived in Sunshine now since 2000. At some point around 2017 I realised that I was sitting on a vast archive of images. These were of things and scenes that have changed or disappeared. I decided then to start looking at other parts and places of Sunshine and record them. This is an ongoing project like the other two predominantly digital but I do use film as well.

Flickr: Screen Shot 2020 04 05 at 17 59 54 –

I have many ideas and projects that tick away on flickr, this list details some them.

Psychogeography, this project has its roots in my use of phone cameras, the underlying concept comes from an art movement active in the late 1960s early 1970s. The movement was called the Situationists and extolled the idea that walking and observing in the city was an act of creation and rebellion itself.
C roads & other adventures this project is like the Psychogeography however it involves me driving in a manner that is spontaneous and intuitive. It too is an going project.
Doors/Doorways Inspired by Egene Atget’s work I find that the shape and form of a door is very interesting.
Concrete as canvas as a surface most people look at concrete as a bland and uninteresting surface/object. Under the right conditions though the surface can become quite beautiful.
Abstractions. This work is about the how surfaces can becomes an abstration unto themselves. What really makes these pictures interesting for me is the fact that they are also ephemeral and disappear very quickly.

Sunset over Melbourne

What impact does a visual trope like a sunset have in this day and age of the networked image. Especially if it was made before flickr, facebook and probably google? This sunset was made circa 2002. It was made from the edge of the site where I worked from 1994 to 2013.

I’m thinking of posting sunsets fairly frequently as a kind of response to the current pandemic sweeping the world.