Photo Blog Retrospective

My goal when I started my Photo Blog entries back in 2008 was to force myself to publish something creative on a regular basis and help me grow as an artist. I definitely think that it has been a worthy pursuit. Now that I have made 100 Photo Blog entries, I thought it would be interesting to look back at some of them from the past ~2 years.

I have a hard time objectively judging my own work, so instead of making a "best of" I will just pick out a few entries which stand out due to the story behind them, the circumstance, technique, or something else that was notable. (each link opens in a new window)

Photo Blog #15: I was in Gruyeres last weekend.
A photo of the church in Gruyères. Gruyères is a special place to me because that is where I filmed my documentary about H.R. Giger. Anytime I produce a project in a particular place, that place feels like a home to me.

Photo Blog #20: An early morning shot of the Capitol Building on inauguration day.
My wife and I were in Washington D.C. to witness the inauguration of President Obama. It was pretty amazing to be there on that historical day even thought it was freezing out on the Mall at 5 in the morning. 

Photo Blog #36: Bonus Paris Edition
This was one of the multi-picture photoblog which I used to do. I have since decided that one picture at a time is better. I love Paris. It is where my wife and I were engaged over 5 years ago. This is a selection of photos of a trip we took to Paris in 2009

Photo Blog #46: Say a little prayer.
This was one of those perfect moments. I was walking around Zürich with my OG Lensbaby when just as I passed this school tourist group, one of the kids turned his back to the other and began to pray. He seemed to be in his own little world.

Photo Blog #56: Histoire Metallique.
This was shot in the library of Stift Klosterneuburg just outside of Vienna, Austria. I was there helping out my friend Jason film a short documentary which can be seen here. It was quite a unique experience to live in a monastery for a short time.

Photo Blog #71: Grossmünster(s)
I took these photos shortly after I acquired my Polaroid Image System camera. I have since become a big fan of the camera and it has been featured commonly in my photoblog.

Photo Blog #76: der Prime Tower im Bau.
As of July 2010,  the Prime Tower is the tallest building in Switzerland. At 126m it isn't so impressive when compared to most cities, but in Zürich it really stands out. I really like the tower and took this photo on a day went I was planning to photograph it specifically.

Photo Blog #79: She found the time.
This photo was taken during a fashion shoot called "Instant Alchemy" I made for Kimandra. It was a very fun and creative day. 

 


 Photo Blog #94: Coffee girl.
At every coffee shop in Ethiopia, there is a raised platform where a woman prepares coffee in the traditional manner. Coffee is very important in Ethiopian culture. That is probably why I liked the country so much.

Those are just a few of the Photos which had a background story that stood out to me. If anyone is curious about any of my other Photo Blog entries feel free to as on my contact page. 

I'm looking forward to creating my next 100 Photo Blogs.

The Automatic Mixtape (free download)

Here's a Holiday gift for everyone. I have been compiling a great compilation of live music without even realizing it. Over the past year or so, I have made many live performance videos here in Switzerland with musicians from all over the world. The other day the thought occurred to me to compile them into an mp3 compilation. So, for your free downloading pleasure, I present The Automatic Mixtape

Tracks

  1. Small Humans by Will Sartain (video link)
  2. Professional Lovers by Rita Hey (video link)
  3. Non-Toxic by Telekinesis (video link)
  4. Summer Light by Lambs & Wolves (video link)
  5. Unveiling by Molly Rose (video link)
  6. Red Pony by A Jigsaw (video link)
  7. Eve by Lia Sells Fish (video link)
  8. Progression by Chloes Charles (video link)
  9. Futile Crush by Ad Hoc (video link)
  10. Illusionist Boy by Jane Lui (video link)

Special thanks to Cafe Henrici, all but one of the tracks on The Automatic Mixtape came from the Presented by Cafe Henrici video series. Other people who helped during these recordings and deserve a "Thank You": Tito Huber, Howard Linton, Tobias Straka, Pascal Grob, Rok Roskar, George Huber and Karla Arias. I will definitely be making more videos in 2011. In the meantime, enjoy the free download!

Related Posts
Les Shelleys, part 1
Telekinesis Covering Teenage Fanclub
Jailcard by Jane Lui

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Les Shelleys, Part 1 - "I'm On Fire"

Les Shelleys is the American duo consisting of Tom Brosseau and Angela Correa. They came through Zürich in November to play a show at Helsinki Klub and afterward, in the "green room" (actually a small trailer), they played a few charming covers songs. I captured these songs on video and here is the first, a delightful cover of I'm On Fire by Bruce Springsteen:
 
Les Shelleys have an self-titled album which is available on iTunes or from Fat Cat Records

Molly Rose in Zürich

Molly Rose is a musician from Seattle who recently moved to Zürich. After her first ever Swiss performance at Cafe Henrici, we headed out into the cold night and shot two videos for the Presented by Cafe Henrici series.

"Unveiling"
 

"Refuge"
 

Special thanks to Rok for being an impromptu sound man.

One Roll of Kodachrome

I am in the middle of a generational divide. When I was a child, there were no digital cameras. Digital photography only became a somewhat viable replacement for film when I was in my late-teens. All of my photography classes in community college and at Brooks Institute were film-based. I purchased my first digital SLR in 2005 (a Canon 300D) and seldom looked back. Today, though I know film well, I am more comfortable with digital. 

In the time period when I was shooting a lot of film, I shot mostly black & white Ilford stock, some Provia, and of course plenty of various color negative films. The one film I never got to shoot, however, was Kodachrome -- and if I ever want to, I have to act fast. Kodak announced on June 22, 2009 that Kodachrome would be retired. Dwayne's Photo in Kansas is the only certified lab left in the world who can process whatever film remains, and December 30, 2010 is the last day that Dwayne's will process Kodachrome. Any unshot rolls left in the collective photographer's freezer after that will transform from potential art to simply worthless rolls of polyester and silver-nitrate.

The Film
Recently, I decided I should shoot a roll of Kodachrome before it's too late. It was a bit challenging to find -- no local stores in Zürich have any left. On ebay, it is expensive and of unknown origin/quality. I eventually made my purchase through a Swiss online shop, and it was pricey for a single roll. I ordered it over a month ago, since I intended to finish this project before November 30th. My reason for this deadline was based on the fact that everywhere outside the U.S. Kodachrome is sold with the processing cost included. To receive the processing with the cost of the film, you have to send it to Kodak's office in Lausanne, who then forwards the film to Dwayne's. The deadline for processing through Kodak Lausanne was November 30th. It seems that the company through which I ordered my film had as much trouble tracking down a roll as I did, because they took over a month to send it. Needless to say, I was disappointed, which is why I am not mentioning the company's name. Now my only choice is to send my film directly to Kansas and pay for processing a second time. The roll I recieved is the standard 36 exposure Kodachrome 64 with an expiration date of 11/2010 and the batch number of 1563 -- which wikipedia confirms is the last batch ever.

The Camera
I own a few different film cameras, and I took a long time to decide which one I wanted to use for my first and last roll of Kodachrome. I have a Canon Rebel 2000, but it seemed too new and plastic-y to shoot such a classic film with. I also have a Leica Z2X, which was a tempting choice, but because the camera doesn't have any manual settings, it also seemed like a shame to shoot the Kodachrome on it. I finally decided on an old camera that I had actually found several years ago in the garbage -- an Olympus 35RD. This camera is perfect. A classic, fixed-lens compact range-finder with a 40mm f1.7 Zuiko lens, it is one of the last cameras made with an automatic setting that can be also operated completely manually even with no battery inside. This last feature is particularly great, because the light meter on mine doesn't work well, so I will be carrying my Sekonic light meter with me when possible (that in combination with an impressive free light meter iPhone app as well as the Sunny 16 rule).

Before I could shoot with this camera, I needed to send it in for repairs. Every 35RD still around has a sticky shutter due to the kind of grease they used when they were built. I took it to Claudio Fabio of camera-service.ch, who did an amazing job. He fixed the shutter, the light-sealing, and replaced a few faulty parts. I shot a test roll with it and it works like new. Here is a shot from that roll:
200 ISO Müller Color Negative (probably rebranded Fuji Superia) Shooting starts now.
The camera is loaded and I have already taken four shots around Zürich. I have made a list of the subjects I want to shoot with this precious roll. I want to finish it before December 15th because it has to make it all the way from Zürich to Kansas before the 30th. As soon as the slides are back, there will be a new blog post with my impressions and some shots. I also intend to occasionally post iPhone photos to my Twitter with the subjects of particular exposures. Stay tuned.

TELEKINESIS covering Teenage Fanclub

Micheal Benjamin Lerner of TELEKINESIS performs "The Concept" by Teenage Fanclub in a quaint corner of Sursee, Switzerland. 
 
Don't miss the previous video from this session, "Non-Toxic".

Find more great artists at Morr Music.

"Non-Toxic" by TELEKINESIS

Performed live in a quaint corner of Sursee, Switzerland:
 

If you are not aware, TELEKINESIS is the project of seattle native Michael Benjamin Lerner. His first album, called TELEKINESIS! is excellent. It can be bought on iTunes or via the Merge Records website.

The song from this video is available from his EP Parallel Seismic Conspiracies.

A new TELEKINESIS album entitled "12 Desperate Straight Lines" is due in February. 

Related Posts:
Photo Blog #92
Illusionist Boy by Jane Lui
Ultra Cheap Hipster Glasses