Week 4 Strategies of Freedom
Interesting presentations this week, that offered quite a different perspective on photography. Looking at using different types of ‘apparatus’, using Google Earth, archive images and radar to name a few. At this stage I am happy to continue with using my digital camera as for me, it is the most appropriate way to capture these sites. For the task this week we were challenged to use a different apparatus that still related to our projects with 24 hours. For this I decided to use a friends Hasselbland 500cm medium format camera. As this was a timed project I took images during my lunch break (so mid-day) of buildings and hangars that were logistically closest to me. These were then c41 processed and scanned in with a Silverfast programme.
I really enjoyed this task as it has been some while since I have used a medium format camera, so I found it quite challenging with different aspects such as exposure, sharpness and framing of the images. The positives are that it really made me consider my approach of each image and what to include within framing. Processing the film was quite nerve racking too, as I didn’t have access to proper equipment to load the film on to the Colenta machines so had to improvise with bodged leaders. The scanning process was a little rushed with the deadline and some of the setting weren’t the best, so the final piece needs a couple of corrections made such contrast and exposure. I’m afraid I won’t be continuing the use of this Hasselbland camera, although lots of fun. Some of my sites are couple of hours away with limited access so I can’t afford to get shoots wrong and there are a lot more potential processing risks when using a film camera.
Critical Research Journal 