Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/11/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]on 11/14/00 7:46 AM, Mark Rabiner at mark@rabiner.cncoffice.com wrote: > Martin Howard wrote: >> <Snip> Don't like that >> over-saturated Velvia look at all. >> >> M. >> > I burn my eyes out going over slides on my largelight table and then I go > outside and head down the street but: > I am immediately stuck by how barely blue the sky is and how not so green the > grass is and everything is muted and soft > not backlit. > Wish they made a film called Boring Actuality 400. I don't' mind things at all > the way they really are. > mark rabiner > :) > http://spokenword.to/rabiner/ > who put all the colors in there we all know the real world is black and white? Actually,they do. I find that Kodak Elite Chrome 100 purchased in bulk at Costo or some other warehouse store manages to look kind of drab, especially when compared to Provia, Velvia, etc. Also, try any no-name-o brands of print and slide film you see around. Buying expired film is another strategy. (Big advantage: besides providing that cheap look, these films are also cheap.) It takes some work to get that spectacularly blah look, but it's worth it. When I shoot a job (rare event) on pro chromes, the pictures look like they're on steroids to me. I like the way the real world looks, too. I love the mundane. I always thought you didn't have to go to Africa for National Geographic to be a photographer. I photograph the most ordinary stuff I can find - fast food, people ironing, the inside of refrigerators (a fascinating subject - you learn so much about the owners), dirty dishes, etc. I am going to San Francisco and Sausalito for a few days on business, but you won't find me waiting for magic light at the Golden Gate. I'll be photographing the interior of my hotel room. I thought all of this was wildly original, of course, until somebody gave me a copy of a book called "Suburbia" by Bill Owens. A wonderful look at dirty dishes, people doing chores, cookouts, garages, orindary people doing ordinary things etc., back in the 70s. Great stuff. My spiritual father, I guess. I just read that purposely perverse Magnum photographer Martin Parr has gone to a town called "Boring" (I think it's in Oregon) and photographed everything that had the word "Boring" on it - "Boring City Hall," "Boring Hospital," etc. What a great project. Wish I'd thought of it. Parr has two books featuring his collection of really awful picture post cards called, yes, "Boring Postcards." These cards feature the worst photography and worst color I have ever seen. It inspired me beyond belief. dc