Hugs all round

Tyron Hug likes to travel. Tyron Hug likes to take photos. Tyron Hug is a man of few words.

Tyron Hug has a documentary style I like and I think you'll dig it too! Thats his handy work above.... see more here

Dear Italy.... Thanks for being awesome

The fact that there are places in the world that look like this - so unbelievably diverse and wonderful just waiting for a camera wielding tourist like me to come along and capture its glorious scenery on some sought of low speed film just makes me happy!

matthew kovacs is travelling the world taking just such photos... those are his fine and dandy shots above and you can check out more of his handy work here!

The good old days

While this doesn't directly have anything to do with photography it relates somehow to what i was talking about yesterday with the digital revolution and things like film and records being left in the past.... would life be so bad with out digital? Read the below, its quite a entertaining reminder /perspective. I was born in the early 80's but I'm thankful the world was not all digital then and have highlighted below what relates to me.... would love to hear what you remember... its sad kids born in the 90s onwards will never have the simple life... they can opt for it when they are older and know better... but until then digital distractions are many!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's and early 70's!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos... They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, NO pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos. Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on a Sunday, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O..K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in riverbeds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY, no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents. Only girls had pierced ears! (OK we had a Nintendo but it was the VERY first and used rarely)

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...

We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet because we didn’t need to keep up with the Jones’s!

Not everyone made the rugby/football/cricket/netball team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT!!

Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and throw the blackboard rubber at us if they thought we weren’t concentrating. We can string sentences together and spell and have proper conversations because of a good, solid three R’s education.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla' We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

Pretty crazy perspective huh... hope it gets you thinking...

Is this the future?

If you stood for a while - pondering, appreciating these images - appreciating how the light and the mood of a day can come together in one perfect moment to form one perfect image then analogue photography is for you my friend...

But what if I told you that it was all a lie? The images above are not even a little bit authentic. The light was perfect that day and no special mood filled the air... its simply a collection of pixels... tiny little squares masterfully placed together by some iPhone application or another - does it make the image, the final product of that moment any less special?

Does the fact that its digital take away from the essence of photography, or is it just another format? like 35mm replaced 120 film or CD's replaced tapes (& vinyls before that) We all love and use digital on a daily basis but should it really replace lo-fi photography?

Its a question I ask myself all the time and I am far from having the answer but I would love to know what everyone else thinks of the matter?

Photography is a calculated and precise but its also all about the beautiful accident, a unexpected result... there are no beautiful accidents where pixels are involved and I think that makes me kind of sad... but then on the flip side their are amazing photographers producing beautiful work all through a iPhone app...

Jeremy Edwards is one such photographer, thats his shot above and you can check out more of his work here or follow his From The Pocket blog where he takes a iPhone photo a day and posts it to his site... by all means they are beautifully composed images... but when you take away the digital filters and enhancements does it make it any less special - You decide....

PORTROIDS

Portroids is a project run by a 36 year old mystery man... He basically jams a Polaroid in your face, takes a photo and whether your famous or not asks you to autograph the aforementioned Polaroid before it develops...

Why? who bloody knows, he offers no explanation on his website or blog but from the archives it appears he's been at it for 7 long years... makes for some pretty interesting results... Poor Adrian Grenier looks a little shocked if you ask me...

The wild wild west

I just stumbled across a flickr photo set called the Wild West... Its a series of Polaroids taken on a 17 day road trip from Chicago to Nevada and back again via Yellowstone National Park... The photos are beautiful and it got me to thinking what kind of photographic project Ill undertake in my travels next year?

Of course I'll be tying disposable cameras to trees still for the Hey You! Say Cheese Project and I'll be teaching photography at a orphanage in Mexico but I've been toying with the idea of something else? A photo a day using a Polaroid perhaps? Kind of a heavy load when I'm already taking a digital, lomo and 35mm (pentax or VITO I'm not quite sure yet) Perhaps I need some kind of theme? Or perhaps i just need to stop thinking about it so much and taking photos of what ever I gosh darn please :)

Good Morning America...

So Ive been getting all excited about world travels lately... sure I don't leave until sometime next year but the research part is fun for me. Its great to learn something new, educate myself on what I'm about to see, even though I know no book could ever prepare me for the experiences I have on the road I keep reading anyway... especially as it scares me to start saving.... saving more and saving fast!

Did you know it costs $34 for a campsite in the Florida Keys!!! And $75 bucks go to Disneyland!!! OK OK so I don't even want to do the later - although it would be cool to take a Polaroid of a life size mickey mouses feet... but that's another story. Point is America is expensive my friend (thank god for that dirt cheap 6 months I'll be spending in South America before i get there)

Above is a rough outline of the drive we'll be doing - I cant wait to take photos of kitch road side diners and baron landscapes...Been to America? (north, south or central) or happen to live their? I would to hear some great places to explore and take photos....

Leandro loves a good palm tree

Leandro over at Cheap Plastic Goodness loves a good palm tree, seems every second post is some sought of amazing picture taken from a somewhat obscure angle - but as long as he keeps turning out shots like the above (taken on Holga 120CFN usingexpired Fuji Provia RDPIII Chrome film and cross processed in C-41) then who am I to complain!

Check out more of his stunning lo-fi work here.

Its easy being green

I took this photo a few weeks ago and have been meaning to write about it ever since. It was the greenest trip up the street Ive ever taken... I rode my bike for starters so no nasty CO2 being emitted into the earths atmosphere buy moi.

I hit up 7 different (locally owned) shops, ticking various chores off my list and managed to walk away with a grand total of ZERO plastic bags (thank you wicker basket on the front of my bike, you are the best purchase I have ever made) For a Saturday morning it doesn't get more environmentally friendly than that!

Then the afternoon was spent taking photos at a friends wedding with my new Voigtlander VITO - all in all a pretty wonderful day if you ask me... Oh and the blurry photo above was taken on my iPhone (sad i know) but as far as apps go the hipstamatic is pretty darn nifty.

Dont forget to buy film

I don't know about you but I am constantly forgetting to buy film, Its yet to sink in its not something you can just "pick up on the way" anymore....

Being born in 1982 I didn't completely grow up in the digital age... I remember when the Internet first came to our household and the look on mums face when she got her first mobile phone (and was wondering just what the hell to do with it) and I certainly remember being able to waltz into the local camera store, supermarket or chemist only to be greeted by a wall of film for your grubby little mittens to chose from.

Alas, my friends, those days are behind us. Now if you want film it's all about the premeditated purchase... You go online, find the specific roll or pack of film you are after, order it from god knows where (Australia, the UK or America) and wait patiently until it arrives... be sure to give yourself plenty of time too - There is nothing like the sheer panic of it being Friday and your 10 packs of Polaroid film have not arrived when you fly out to Cambodia on the Saturday!

I run this little disposable camera project called Hey You! Say Cheese and I needed a disposable camera on my way down the south coast a few weeks back only to have the 16 year old check out chick at Woolworth's laugh in my face at my request - So I ask what about film then, do you sell film? Needless to say more chuckles followed and I walked out empty handed.... the chemist down the road was not much better "we might have 1 or 2 rolls left on the back shelf but that's all we have"! Even the local camera store was a bitter disappointment (did you know they don't even sell film cameras anymore!!!!)

Rants aside I do have a point and that point is DON'T FORGET TO BUY FILM... consider this your friendly reminder for that wedding/birthday/road trip you have coming up. The Lomo Shop has 120 color slide film on sale now too so its a great time to buy, click here to make your purchase!

Wonder Kid

YAY! I love it when I stumble across more disposable camera love... there has been some talk on the Monster Children Flickr Page about 16 year old girls only shooting Lomo's because they think its some kind of brand of raw and cool that they are all to eager to subscribe too - and I agree...

That's why it was so refreshing to stumble across 16 year old Mary Robinson from Atlanta Georgia. She's lived in the one town her whole life, is home schooled and digs film over digital cameras (although happily admits to owning both)

She takes photos of her mates and posts every roll she shoots... And if you ask me her work, as well as her enthusiasm is pretty bloody refreshing - You can check it out above and here, or follow the developments of her very own disposable camera project here.

Monster Children on Flickr

A cool photo I found on the MC Pool... Check out the other 16,956 images here

More from the VITO...

More results from my VITO

Voigtlander VITO - My first roll

A few weeks ago I blogged about my birthday present... a 1962 Voigtlander VITO and today Ive just gotten my first roll of film back - FUJI 100 slide film. I was somewhat nervous about how it was going to turn out... you see the VITO is one of the first automatics and there is no focus as such you just have to set your distance.. which is in feet... which I'm not very good at... regardless I'm pretty happy with the results shot at two of my beautiful friends wedding and cross processed at my local Kodak shop... what do you think?

Happy Birthday Dad

Congrats on 60 good years! Love your Daughter x

Grant Hamilton

This dude is a amazing photographer... If you only do one thing today make sure its checking out this site... his polaroids are bright, oh so simple and wonderfully abstract! Enjoy

A little bit of lovely

A beautiful image from Ryan Tatar I just wanted to share with you all.

Good old fashioned fun

So I went to a good friends wedding on saturday it was just one of those magical days filled with beautiful weather and beautiful people and to top it all off they had a old school photo booth at their wedding reception... needless to say it was a huge hit with us crafty types, a sample of the fun above...

100,000 Self Portraits on a SX-70

David Lunhahl is artists whom over the last 14 years has taken over 100,000 self portraits on his SX-70 - Quite the undertaking wouldn't you agree?

For fourteen years, David, his camera and a revolving series of natural light, mirrors, stencils, and various other media have contributed to create a remarkably varied and provocative body of work.

But wait it gets better... His site is updated ONLY by his friends. Mr. Lundahl himself is "neither comfortable nor conversant with Internet technology. Instead, he hopes this site will lead viewers to contact him and perhaps even visit New Light Studios in person for a conversation" Sounds like a pretty awesome human being if you ask me!

Matthew Fluharty is the Editor of "The Art of the Rural" a website dedicated to "considering rural arts and culture in the 21st century" and he has written a wonderful article on Mr Lundahl recently, you can find it here on his site. Enjoy this little piece of America!

Grain

This is a beautiful grainy photo found here on retro movement and shot on a Leica - I just wanted to share it all with you...

Twas his first roll of film...ever

OK so I like to follow the blogs of the kind people that follow this here blog and I Make Films by a lad called Gabe just happens to be one of those blogs... He has just made this post about shooting his first roll of film EVER... pretty crazy shit hey, judging by this statement and the fact that i remember when digital film hit the main stream when i was 16, circa 1998 I'm assuming Gabe here is in his early 20's just young enough for digital to be the norm when he got to camera buying age.

Gabe's post got me thinking back to my first roll of film ever? My first roll was probably some 35mm ilford B&W shot around the school yard for yr 8 art class, the details are hazy, but what i do remember clearly is my first photo I ever took. I was 9 years old and my mum was taking photos of my brother and i on our front porch when she asked me to take on of her and him, when the photos came back it was a beautiful photo three parts brick wall and only 1 part mother and brother - hahaha... I'm happy to report my aim has gotten a little better since then.

Would love to know what your first roll of film or photo was and while your pondering such great memories check out more of Gabe's photos above and here, pretty wonderful for his first roll!

Voigtlander VITO Automatic

Sounds kinda german right... Well it is. West German to be exact. This particular model came about around 1963 and Ive just been given one for my birthday! Woo!

Check out the kind of brilliance they turn out here...

The gloves are off...

So we all know that Polaroid corporate are the idiots who decided to walk away from this amazing medium back in 2008 and The Impossible Project are the absolute legends who rode in on their white horses and saved Polaroid film from a uncertain death - so it comes as no surprise they are somewhat pissed off at Polaroid for introducing a new camera last week called the 300, a camera that only prints out 'business card'-sized instant prints after striking a new partnership with Fuji film... not the 1000 model promised that was compatible with the impossible projects 600 film. You can read the full story here.

People if you want to dabble in mini Polaroid's buy a Diana and get a instant back, don't buy this desperate attempt at cool that Polaroid have just released.... better yet get onto eBay and find a Polaroid from back in the day, you know from when they weren't trying so hard to impress the masses.

The photo above was taken by Teresa Yang and can be found here.

Another Polaroid Project

Lauren is a graphic designer who happens to be studying architecture while finding time to piece together some weird and wonderful projects including "Tomato Workshop" - A Polaroid project... where as far as i can tell she takes photos with random strangers and posts them to her website... Click here its worth a look

Project Polaroid

How cool is this... Project Polaroid is a underground hip hop group with some damn fine cover art... have a listen here....

Harinezumi: Where Your Heart Should Be

Harinezumi is a lo-fi video contest that a lovely lady named Joyce thought might be of interest to you lovely readers. Details on how to enter this comp can be found here.

What the F**k is a Harinezumi I hear you ask... In a nut shell its a digital video camera that produces low fi footage...kinda a swing back to the days 0f 8 and 16mm - there is a pretty good review to be read here....I gotta be honest I wouldn't say no to one of these in my Christmas stocking... its bought to us by the same folk who whipped up the golden half - pretty cool!

A piece of Polaroid history

I stumbled across this site today... its just a list of Polaroid cameras made from about 1948 until 2004. Its not a particularly aesthetically pleasing website but its a pretty darn cool one. You can click on a Polaroid model, see samples of the kind of photo it takes along with how the camera looks itself... kinda cool to see how the Polaroid image has evolved over the decades dont you think...

two very opposite ends of spectum above. You can see more here!

Introducing Joel Grimes.

I dont need to write much about Joel... I simply need to state the dude digs Polaroid type 55 film and you can check out more of his work here.

Louis Mendes / NY Polaroid Photographer

Louis Mendes has been shooting Polaroids at festivals and events in New York City for over 40 years, he knows every trick in the book and is happy to continue to lug around his big old Polaroid camera when every other sook in town has gone digital.

The New York times has just done a small profile on his handy work. Check it out here.

The New face of Polaroid film...

According to this news article not only is Polaroid film back but Polaroid cameras too... seems like the marketing genius' over at the Polaroid plant finally figured out all was not last when it came to the fine art of instant photography... Although i feel obligated to remind you that these are the same idiots who hired lady gaga as the creative director of this once reputable brand... so who knows what will happen next!

The Polaroid 300 (pictured above) is the first new product to be released onto the market and is available now, not only is it half the numerical value of the beloved Polaroid 600 but its half the size too... I don't know about you but there is something decidedly un cool about this new design... perhaps the fact they are trying to be cool at all... surely they know Polaroid never set out to be cool it just was what it was.

Industrial design and a general sense of aesthetic aside the new prices are pretty bloody nifty. For US$89.95 you guy purchase yourself a camera and for US$9.95 you can add a 10 pack of film to that purchase... much more appealing than the 36.95 we are currently paying here in Australia for a 10 pack of 600!

So what do you guys think? do you love the new camera? do you hate it? do you think the 300 format was the best product to re launch first?