Misc_001 (Jack)

Posted by Rhys (Darlington, United Kingdom) on 1 April 2008 in Abstract & Conceptual and Portfolio.

Ok, there is a theme and a story to all the shots for this week. Last Friday I came across an old CD-rom which included a file entitled ‘Misc_001’, contained in the folder were lots of old photographs that I had scanned from negatives about 4-ish years ago. I first started taking photographs with an SLR when I was about 14 or 15 (a good 20 years ago!) and I think some of the images in the Misc_001 file may even go back as far as the ‘beginning’. Anyway, I have decided to drag a few of them out of the archives, some may be 5 or 6 years old and some even older, to be honest I can’t quite remember the dates, but for most I do remember the locations and other bits of information so I will try to add what I remember as I post each shot. They were all taken on a Minlota Dynax 7000i with a Sigma 28-70mm lens and more than likely they were shot with Ilford Hp5+ film. I used to do all my own B&W developing and enjoyed breaking the rules with the processes and chemicals just as much as I do now with Photoshop. The downside to this is that the digital scanning process has highlighted several flaws and visual horrors such as excessive film grain, reticulation in the film emulsion and lots of scratches etc. However, in an industry seemingly obsessed with clarity and super mega pixel counts its kind of refreshing to remind myself of how it used to be, in fact the rough and ready feel to some of the posts this week just remind me of what really attracted me to photography in the first place.

I left University in 1996 after graduating with a degree in Fine Art Painting and moved to Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Myself and 4 others rented out an old Cutlery Steel Works and set about transforming it into a complex of artists studios. The building was amazing, right in the middle of the 'Industrial Quarter' and had a fantastic flat roof that opened out to give vast views of the City. This dolls head belonged to a guy called Max who apparently kept it as some kind of mascot in every studio he'd owned. It was called 'Jack'. No idea why. One day 'Jack' was outside on the wall which ran around the edge of the flat roof, how he got there I don't know, but it made a good photograph, albeit a slightly odd one.
On a technical note, this is a good example of how the digital scanning process has accentuated the film grain and the horrendous reticulation of the film emulsion. I've noticed that it doesnt look as bad on large monitors with higher resolution though.

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