Pigeon Wharf

Pigeon Wharf
Originally uploaded by TSHolen

It's been a while since last post now. This is by no means of lack of stuff to write about, more the opposite to be honest.

Christmas was good, very good. To be frank, it was so cool meeting everyone again that going back kind of sucked for some days. And we DID have some good parties. As usual I have serious difficulties remembering what actually happened at these, but I am fairly positive I had fun. As far as parties goes, I feel the climax was reached new years eve. For the very first time (ever) I dared host myself, and I am truly impressed by how good everyone behaved. In fact after getting some recaps of the night, I actually have an inkling it was I who was the biggest troublemaker there. Impressive stuff. This conclusion was reached after hearing accounts of how I managed to drop my phone in a glass of water while speaking on it, only to continue the conversation casually with a wet phone (the poor thing is dying anyways) after fishing it up (I believe; with some difficulty) out of the glass. Apparently the guy I was speaking to, who had earlier seen the state I was in, merely thought it sounded like I drowned for a while. I don't blame him for not being overly surprised that it sounded like I was doing something crazy.

Following a photographic dry spell I finally managed to do a project I've been thinking of/planning for half a year. Big ups to you guys for actually showing up to do it. And sorry if anyone feels left out, but the 'roles' were taken so I couldn't add any people. I've got the films developed, and it's looking pretty good..! Now I only need to find time to scan them all (and the 8 other films I recently developed) within the 10am-5pm time frame the scanning room is open. This is actually such a big hassle that I consider buying my own scanner. It is pretty damned annoying to attend a university (for which I am paying £10k p.a.) and have colour negative processing, b&w processing, colour and b&w print-darkrooms, a studio (in fact 2), and two scanning rooms that are ONLY open between 10am-5pm. I think you might get an understanding that there is quite a lot that has to happen between those hours every day. And that is granted I have nothing else to do at those times. Of course that is not the case, for this is also when we are having all our lectures, tutorials, workshops and whatnot. And if you know what it involves you might also understand that all of these things; studio, darkroom and scanning, are things that you have to work quite a lot to get started so that there's no use to try and fit these activities in between, before or after etc. Well, all of this is mounting up to the inevitable eventuality that the weekends wind up pretty fucking quiet. All of a sudden nothing can be done. The only thing I really can do is to go out and take more pictures which would again only add to the workload in the week. Hmpf!

The reason why the rooms are not open any longer is that it is not felt that the interest is that great and that the facilities are being exhausted by the number of students using them. Of course not, we are supposed to be everywhere else aren't we? Granted, there really isn't that many students in doing darkroom/analogue work, and honestly I don't know what people are doing because everyone seems to scatter as soon as they have the chance, only to show up with some mediocre digi shots a couple of weeks later. I mean, people, you are paying for this! Maybe not as much as me (actually less than a third), but it's still money..!
And as far as facilities being used, there are really only three dedicated film scanners, and of those three I would find something else to do if none of the two best were available. So that leaves two people to scan. The studio can only effectively be used by one person (with assistant), and it is also nearly always booked. I would stay all night if they were open, honestly. And I do believe some five more students would as well, give or take. Maybe someone new would actually come in in the evenings. Who knows?

On another note. I am beginning to fear that photography is not for me, simply because in the long run, I really don't work well alone. Well, I work well enough, but I just somehow need to be around loads of people on a regular basis. I guess some areas of photography would not work too well, I'm thinking of James Nachtwey who travels around to war zones alone and that stuff. It'd be really awesome, but lonely in the long run I expect.

I feel ashamed to say I have not been following the Gaza war too closely, but I did do some reading up on it. It is and has always been a very complex conflict. One thing has to be said though, when the Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert working in Gaza (up till today) states that he has "seen ONE military person" in the hospital, he really has no reason to lie. The people who are hurt and killed, simply are not military, they are civilians. In lack of a better way to put this:
That is unbelievably wrong!

till next..