All posts by Dirk

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Get cool at the pool

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At one of the many Kashiwa pools.The pools with many rules. I was busted for not swimming a lane end to end and sitting on the pool rim during the hourly “floater inspection” (for those outside of Japan: every hour for 10 minutes everybody has to leave the pool, the lifeguards will then busily scan the pool for… not sure what. On the other hand there was news yesterday that 14 people countrywide have died in swimming pools or lakes, quite a high number, No wonder they need this baby-sitting).

I have to add that photography is also not allowed, but I sneaked that one in.

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Camera fair at Matsuzakaya

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I have been known for swooping in on the first day of these things, circle like a vulture and strike like an eagle, so why should today be any different?Almost 9000yen cheaper than the best used price I have seen, a 20+% saving. Try that with yer points!

Here a photo from a whole area dedicated to just Polaroid SX-70.

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Self development

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Girls in Kashiwa

Kashiwa girls, Konica Pan 400, 17.5min in Xtol 1:2
Today I developed my own film for the first time in what must be over 5 years. It was fantastic and it is remarkable that I haven’t forgotten that much. The reels I managed to buy on Yahoo auctions for my new tank arrived today, so it was time to test. The Paterson reels are a lot easier to load compared to what I had before. Loading the reels in warm and humid weather was a real pain and difficult because the film expands a little and gets sticky, and so would I in a small darkroom. Anyway, those new reels work great, no problems whatsoever!

The film came out OK, maybe slightly overdeveloped, because of the warm summer temperatures right now. I cooled things down to around 17 degrees before pouring it in, but on exit I noticed that the temperature was now 25 degrees. Add to that the lack of information about developing my current type of film (Konica Pan 400) with Xtol, and you have slightly off results. I also have some water stains so maybe I have to get some wash aid.

However, it was just so much more enjoyable than plugging a USB cable into the computer, and I had forgotten about that.

Update: the film is dry and I noticed I have increased grain. Now this could either be due to the developer/film combination, the high dilution development or the over-development. Or it could be that stop and fixer are room temperature (around 30 degrees), causing some effects, but then the jump from 25 to 30 is not great, or is it? I am planning to switch to Neopan 400 soon anyway, but I have some remaining stock of Konica Pan to use up, so I would really like to correct this at least a little bit.

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Tokyo photo night

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The greatest hindrance to photojournalism is colour.

Magnum photographer Philip Jones Griffiths

The Welshman took an hour to show some of the pictures taken throughout his career, followed by an enlightening question and answer session. He is well known for his images from the Vietnam war, which seems to have been a turning point in his personal and professional life. Some interesting questions came up, amongst them working style (he does not seem to be a great fan of Nachtwey) and the question about why all his images are in black & white. The answer to this was brief and, of course, subjective. He was also referring to a piece called “The curse of colour” he had written for a Swiss magazine, which I cannot seem to find online.

During the session I realised that the technique and working style is not that different from being out doing so-called street photography. Approaching subjects, pre-focussing and other techniques are completely identical. And why should they not be? The only difference is that these guys are paid and work on a story of sorts, whereas we are just out there for our own motives.

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Election trail

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As noted before, election campaigns are a noisy affair in Japan. The candidates drive around with their lorries and vans with enormous loudspeakers, bringing their message to the masses. And there is no escape for anyone.

Shinbashi is a popular place for campaigning, especially for the right-wingers with their scary vehicles. So when I left the office one evening, I first thought it was them again hammering our tired ears. The instantly gathering audience indicated however, that this time something was different. This was the Democratic Party of Japan (民主党) doing the rounds for the upcoming upper house elections.

Some people go rather excited because the speakers are well-known politicians. I suppose a symptom of Japanese excitement is taking your camera or mobile phone with camera out and start taking pictures. I was not sure whether some of them were part of the campaign team or not. Anyway, it was a mild spring evening, with some listeners and others like the taxi cabs just minding their daily business, and I tried capturing a little of the atmosphere around the station at the time.