The purpose of this class was to dip our toes into the water (or, in this case, surf) of our thesis idea and use the experience as a jumping off point for further exploration. Since I am looking at the tensions between traditional technologies and digital ones, I decided to bring only analog image capture devices with me. In this case, that included a basic Holga, loaded with one roll of 120mm B+W film, and a Canon EOS Rebel and a handful of 35mm 36 exposure B+W film.
I began by grabbing my cameras, a bottle of Pellegrino and a sandwich,
and trekking away from the beach. I found a path that led up a small
ridge, and seemed to be leading towards an old farm that sits on the
property. I think they wanted to discourage trekking up this way,
because someone had planted a huge overgrown flowering shrub - at least
twice as tall as me - at the start. I slogged through overgrown beach
grasses and walked the path anyways.
Using only a film camera was a challenge. Early on there was a feeling of anxiety, this fear that I would miss something or somehow gather less meaningful images because I couldn't use a digital camera. Then I ran into the issue of a limited number of photographs - as I got closer to the end of my last roll, I began to plan out what shots I wanted, and be more stingy with what I would shoot at. Finally I did run out of film, and I was forced to stop and head home.
I sometimes took pictures, and sometimes just walked and enjoyed the experience. It was sunny and hot, and the fallow (sp?) fields on either side of me were filled with some yellow wildflower. If I walked closer to either side of the path, I could hear thousands of bees buzzing, and the low grade din that they set up was huge. I cannot underestimate how terrified of bees I am, and so to get even near enough to hear thousands of them is testament to how much I love design work.
It got hot as the afternoon got closer, and I pulled out my water and sat under a bush. I sat quietly for about half an hour, allowing myself to stay still until birds and insects got used to my presence and went about their business. It was a challenge to sit this still, but rewarding to feel connected to the environment.
Later I walked along the sand and observed the way the sand was ridged with the current of the water. I pulled out the concrete "then" and "now" bricks that I had made last semester and began tossing them into various eddies and currents and taking pictures. It was interesting to see that when you put something heavy onto the sand, the sand underneath it washes away and leaves the object balanced on a small thin ridge.
Using only a film camera was a challenge. Early on there was a feeling of anxiety, this fear that I would miss something or somehow gather less meaningful images because I couldn't use a digital camera. Then I ran into the issue of a limited number of photographs - as I got closer to the end of my last roll, I began to plan out what shots I wanted, and be more stingy with what I would shoot at. Finally I did run out of film, and I was forced to stop and head home.
I sometimes took pictures, and sometimes just walked and enjoyed the experience. It was sunny and hot, and the fallow (sp?) fields on either side of me were filled with some yellow wildflower. If I walked closer to either side of the path, I could hear thousands of bees buzzing, and the low grade din that they set up was huge. I cannot underestimate how terrified of bees I am, and so to get even near enough to hear thousands of them is testament to how much I love design work.
It got hot as the afternoon got closer, and I pulled out my water and sat under a bush. I sat quietly for about half an hour, allowing myself to stay still until birds and insects got used to my presence and went about their business. It was a challenge to sit this still, but rewarding to feel connected to the environment.
Later I walked along the sand and observed the way the sand was ridged with the current of the water. I pulled out the concrete "then" and "now" bricks that I had made last semester and began tossing them into various eddies and currents and taking pictures. It was interesting to see that when you put something heavy onto the sand, the sand underneath it washes away and leaves the object balanced on a small thin ridge.