There is no future in retro®
I have introduced Jeff Curto’s podcasted lectures here before. Here is an article about an Apple software package that lets you publish lectures easily.
I think this is really a great way to learn and stay interested. I can think of several ways to utilise this, perhaps some of my esteemed readers can develop even better business ideas out of this concept?
Ginza, by Dirk Rösler.
Another photo show, by Dirk Rösler.
and not a single shot in black & white. This seems to be a real phenomenon.
I have only read this morning that black & white was the dominant way for mass market photo printing in China until the 1990s. Perhaps black & white is still too close to become a form for artistic expression. Especially developing countries may want to distance themselves as much and as fast as possible from those relicts of the pasts that may stand for poverty and technological inferiority. Since the Japanese culture and mindset contains a lot of developing country values, similar reasons may be at play here. Remember that the people in those photo clubs are usually middle-aged men around 60, who witnessed the boom years and the rise of Japan. They may not want to have anything to do with artifacts of that poor and undeveloped pasts.
Just having a stab at this. What do others think?
I am thinking of buying an additional film holder for the scanner. My thinking is that when doing batch scanning, I can load and unload the next holder already while one is in the scanner. This should speed up the scanning process hopefully. While the time saving may not be that great, the cost for those things is very low (around 3000 yen for a pair), and with Konica-Minolta disappearing, you never know if there will be an opportunity to buy those later - for example the current one may break or similar.
Anyone care to comment on whether this is a worthwhile idea?
Kiosk Döringstrasse Ecke Wilmerdingstrasse, by Jumbo.
Nice series of photographs of German “kiosks” in my hometown.
It appears there are quite many of those in Braunschweig, most of them operated by immigrants. Given the restrictive German law on opening hours, kiosks and petrol stations are the only places in late evenings and on weekends where you can buy beer, snacks, magazines and other items. Not a match for the Japanese conbini, but a charming and interesting phenomenon nonetheless.
This is in the street I lived until about I was 3 years old, when my parents bought a house in the outskirts.
Looks like the film world is a little nervous right now. First this from Fuji as a response to Minolta exiting the photo business and now the honourable people from Zeiss speak their minds. So what to make of all that?
I try not to panic and do what I always do, trying to take pictures in one way or the other. I don’t think there will be a complete demise of film in my lifetime. Less choice perhaps, but with Fuji appearing as the last major still standing, Japan is probably a good place to be. Otherwise someone somewhere will make them. I doubt there is much support for black and white, even in domestic market the photo-crazy Japan. Yesterday I saw an exhibition of yet another photo club populated by men over 60 in a department store, and as usual not a single black and white photo in the selection.
Good news is that Rodinal will survive, too.
Meanwhile, for those shopping for a Zeiss Ikon or related lenses, here is the best price I have found so far. You have to be in Japan for this of course, and know your way around Ueno.
Bohlweg Cafe, by Dirk Rösler.
From 2004, one of the rolls I have just developed. This one is Neopan 400. Grain from Rodinal, 2 hours stand-developed, 1+250.
Tsukushino Beer Party, by Dirk Rösler.
Summer 2005
First b/w attempt with the new scanner. I have been owing these neighbours a print since last summer.
… with the purchase of this film scanner on Yahoo! Auctions.
This is the old model, although I heard it is better for scanning b/w. Amazingly, it is still shrink-wrapped and was never powered on! While I am mostly happy with scans from my Epson 3200, I wanted something I can carry into the living room and connect to the iBook, if necessary.
Next step is to sell some things.
