I went to the cinema a few weeks back (to see Dune Part II, I think it was). In one of the car-parks at the shopping mall where the cinema resides, was a circus. The sky was heavy with dark cloud, but the sun was shining through and illuminating things nicely. I’m glad I had the XA3 in my pocket.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 6 March 2024
Just a couple of pictures of unusual stuff today. The first is a shot of a giant micro-organism – an e-coli bacteria to be specific – that was lurking within Sheffield’s Winter Gardens. This larger-than-life model is 90 feet long, apparently making it five million times larger than it’s actual size. At this scale you’d have no problem spotting if your food was contaminated, I guess, although I tremble at the thought of the chicken that it might have inhabited!
You can find more information about the sculpture here: https://www.lukejerram.com/e-coli/
The second picture is of another sculpture, a steel willow tree commemorating the victims of Covid-19 and the unsung workers of the pandemic. It was unveiled in March 2023 and stands in Balm Green Gardens, close to Barker’s Pool in Sheffield.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.
Taken 21 October 2023.
This defaced and damaged phone box made for an interesting subject. I guess the neighbourhood watch wasn’t watching.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.
Taken 21 October 2023.
A new year has arrived, so it’s traditional to come up with some resolutions you intend to follow in the coming twelve months.
Mine are, in no particular order:
Let’s see how I get on with them…
Today also marks the start of my sixth year of daily blog posts. I sometimes think about stopping posting every day, but I guess I’m not ready to give it up just yet.
Apropos of nothing, here’s a picture of a seat.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.
Taken 21 October 2023.
A new camera arrived in the post today. I say new, but it’s both used, and also a camera I already own, so not even new “to me”. It’s another Yashicamat 124G TLR.
I’ve had my current Yashicamat 124G for almost seven years, and it’s a favourite to use. It was my first proper medium format camera (I had a Lubitel 166 Universal before this, but the Yashicamat really surpassed it in terms of quality). Unfortunately my current camera has some haze in the taking lens. While this doesn’t always have an impact on the photos, sometimes it does, producing the occasional image with a foggy, low-contrast look. As I like using the camera a lot, I decided it would be worthwhile finding a replacement without the optical issue.
Just before Christmas I was alerted to a sale at a film camera supplier here in the UK and they had a very nice model there with 10% off, so I took the plunge. The new camera looks in very tidy condition (although my original model is hardly looking rough), so I’ll have to find the time to put a roll of film through it to make sure all is well. After that I’ll look for a new home for my old camera as, despite the haze, it’s still very capable.
It certainly isn’t ready for the bin (a feeble link to today’s picture, I think you’ll agree…).
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.
Taken 21 October 2023.
Back in October I visited the My Brutal Life exhibition in Sheffield. The exhibition featured a variety of pieces from various artists, covering photography, painting, collage, poetry, and film, all linked by the theme of brutalist architecture.
The venue for the exhibition was the Moore Street Electricity Substation, itself a notable brutalist building that sits just on the edge of the city centre. While the substation is in active use, one of it’s floors is empty. This floor was originally intended to hold the equipment that would provide electricity to two foundries and a car factory that were never built.
It forms an impressive space – effectively a large concrete emptiness with no source of natural light at all – that was perfect for this exhibition. I had seen a number of the pieces on show previously – something that’s bound to happen when you visit local exhibitions featuring local artists and of local subject matter – but others were new to me, or at least not seen before by myself in person.
One of the artist’s featured was Jen Orpin, a Manchester-based painter who has produced a number of works featuring roads and bridges, notably concrete spans across motorways. I first came across her work in a feature in the Guardian newspaper and her compositions of brutalist bridges crossing mysteriously empty stretches of road caught my eye. There’s a photorealism to the work that evokes recognition and a sense of otherworldliness. You can see example of her work on her website: https://www.jenorpinpaintings.co.uk/
Although the exhibition space was far too dimly lit for me to take film photos (I had no tripod), I did take a number of pictures of the staircase that needed to be ascended to reach the exhibition space (126 steps!) and of the substation itself, which you can see here in this post.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.
Taken 21 October 2023.
Another shot form the grey, overcast day in London. Some interest in the sky would have worked wonders for the picture, I think, but the conditions were what they were.
I have more HP5+ pictures from the day to come, but this second roll was exposed at 1600asa and pushed in development, so I at least got more flexibility in shutter speeds and apertures. Those will start to appear from tomorrow.
I received a surprise today in the shape of a parcel that I’ve been expecting for weeks, but which has been caught up in the Royal Mail industrial action currently affecting us here in the UK. The parcel was sent to my via Special Delivery – a service which “guarantees” next working day delivery by 1pm but which, in this case, has taken a full three weeks to arrive. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to get to me before the New Year so, when it turned up today, it was welcome and a nice Christmas bonus. The parcel contains a new photography related toy which I will start to get to grips with next week. More news to come on this soon, I hope.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 29 November 2022.
City Hall, London was opened in 2002 and served as the headquarters of the Greater London Authority unttil 20221. It’s unusual shape was designed by achitect Norman Foster.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 29 November 2022.
Shad Thames is an area of former wharf buildings situated on the south bank of the River Thames in London, immediately east of Tower Bridge.The street which bears the area’s name is cobbled and spanned by historic bridges that formed part of the complex when it was in industrial use, though it’s now an upmarkek residential area. It’s a very dramatic and picturesque street and has featured in numerous film and television programmes (although I remember it most from a 1980s Doctor Who serial featuring the Daleks).
It’s a great location for photography, even in the less than inspiring conditions I had on the day.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 29 November 2022.
I’d really hoped for better conditions on the day I made all these photos in London. The day before had beencontrasty sunlight, blue skies, and interesting swirls of cloud. The day I was able to do some photography was beset by drab featureless grey skies whose only redeeming feature was that the tops of some of the tall buildings disappeared into the cloudbase in an atmospheric fashion. Still, as a photographer in the UK, thses are conditions to which you must resign yourself because they are likely as not to arise when you least want them.
So here are four pictures shot in the City of London – London’s business and financial district – on a cold, grey morning at the end of November.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 29 November 2022.
Steel City Snapper photography 