Jörg Colberg’s Understanding Photobooks: The Form and Content of the Photographic Book deserves more study and attention than I’ve given it before tapping out this titular review. In short, if you’re expecting a photobook, go somewhere else. But if you’re into photobooks or thinking of making a photobook, pick up a copy: Colberg teaches photobooks in Hartford Art School’s International Limited-Residency Photography MFA Program, and with Understanding Photobooks he distilled his years of experience into a small, rather dense textbook that aims “to help photobook makers to understand the different aspects of photobook making, so they know what to focus on, what to spend time on, and—equally crucial—which pitfalls to avoid.”*
Continue reading “Unboxing Jörg Colberg’s ‘Understanding Photobooks’”On Cross Processing, and other play time
In September 2010, I bought an iPhone 4. I discovered the camera (and Hipstamatic) within days and was soon shooting away like crazy. It’s now mid-November 2016 and I’ve moved into film photography with gusto. All this time, I’ve seen it as play, as learning, as testing out, and it’s been loads of fun, but I’m wanting something more.
A month or so ago, I picked one of the FPP’s Lo-Fi / Hi-Drag film packs—four randomly-selected rolls of expired color film stocks, stored under who knows what circumstances—all spur of the moment like. I almost immediately regretted it: I have some (nebulous, unfocused) goals, and while I like the playing and experimenting, and plan to continue some of that, I want to devote more of my shooting and writing time to these goals.
Anyway, in the repurposed Porta 400 box, I found 1 roll each of Kodak Gold 100, Fuji Superia Xtra 400, RiteAid 400 (Fuji 400N), and Fuji Super HG 1600. (As of this last weekend, only the 1600 remains.) The roll of Rite Aid went first. I exposed at 250 and planned to cross process it in E6 chemicals, along with the roll of FPP RetroChrome 320 I finished just to see what would happen. I cross processed some slide film in C41 chemicals last year, with interesting results (see below), but only recently started with E6 at home.
If you’re curious, but don’t want to read on, here’s the gist: while I might buy another Lo-Fi / Hi-Drag box, I won’t be XPro-ing anything again. It’s just too much of a pain to process and the results are too uneven. Continue reading “On Cross Processing, and other play time”
Allah is sufficient for us!
With all the wondrous things taking place in the world just now, Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan’s reminder during the khutbah last Friday was a perfect reminder. From Surah Ali’Imran (the Family of Imran):
Those to whom hypocrites said, “Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them.” But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah , and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs.”
الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ
So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty, no harm having touched them. And they pursued the pleasure of Allah , and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.
فَانقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَّمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ
That is only Satan who frightens [you] of his supporters. So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are [indeed] believers.
إِنَّمَا ذَٰلِكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَاءَهُ فَلَا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
MacroChrome
It’s in some way fitting to share some nice, peaceful pictures for Armistice Day, even if I had no idea that this particular weekly roll would appear on this particular day. If you’re free at 11:11 on 11/11, take a minute of silence to remember all those who die in war and take another minute to ponder the beauty of peace, and then come back and check out these pictures. Continue reading “MacroChrome”
Eating my words, and some good food too
A couple of weeks ago, regarding Muslims in the West, I wrote:
If I can stress one thing, let me be clear: there is no plot. There are 1.5 million Muslims, or so, in the world; there are several hundred thousand in DFW. If we all got together, we could do some great things, but the same could be said for amateur and hack photographers, people with blogs, people who like grilled cheese sandwiches. If all the VW Golf drivers got together, we could ___________. But ain’t none of us going to get together on anything. My neighbors, the 50 or so houses, can’t even throw a block party, and we walk to the mosque for prayer together 5 times a day.
I wonder if some of the neighbors read that, maybe, and decided to prove me wrong, because last Sunday morning, we threw exactly that (a block party), with barely a week of planning. It was fun. And yum. And it the generosity my neighbors displayed with one another illustrates nicely my last reminder. Alhamdulillah, and may Allah reward them in this life and the next, ameen.
Continue reading “Eating my words, and some good food too”
Nate Matos’s “Serif & Silver Compendium”
Serif & Silver was a quarterly journal Nate Matos wrote and published between June 2015 and March 2016. I was completely unaware of it at the time—as I’m largely unaware of many things—and I would’ve remained unaware, if not for The Shoot with Matt Day (iTunes). The interview with Matos inspired me quite a bit and got me wanting to print and do some physical things with this hobby, so I went to check out the journal only to find that the last issue came out 6 months ago…
Not to worry, though: Matos released the Serif & Silver Compendium as a sort of book-end to the project and I was lucky enough to pick up one of the limited Pryme Editions…
The Pryme Edition came in a nice box, in a fancy white cover (the Blurb edition comes in black), with prints from each issue. I have #10 of 10, and at time of writing, it looks like there are copies still available, so jump on it quick if you’re interested. (The normal Compendium is an open edition, printed on demand from Blurb, so order it up at your leisure.)
Continue reading “Nate Matos’s “Serif & Silver Compendium””Good Advice
A reminder to myself first:
As narrated by Abu Huraira, radiallahu anhu, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said
مَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلْيُكْرِمْ ضَيْفَهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلْيَصِلْ رَحِمَهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should serve his guest generously; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should unite the bond of kinship (i.e. keep good relation with his kith and kin); and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should talk what is good or keep quiet.
Good advice for us all, for sure, but especially for me, an introvert that tends to get wrapped up in digital stuff and neglect the physical stuff. By the grace of God alone, and because I don’t like to talk much anyway, I tend to keep my mouth shut, so that’s something. But I need to be better, in so very many ways.
