Waterbird is a short film directed by Alex Darby which was being filmed in Oxford last week. Alex invited me along to shoot some behind-the-scenes stills during a night shoot in the Westgate car park. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for very much of it but I did manage to shoot a roll of film of some of the cast and crew. More to follow.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, 80/2.8 Zeiss Planar, Kodak Tri-X @ ISO800, processed in Kodak HC110 for 9 mins.
These shots are from a few weeks ago from possibly one of my shortest photo shoots ever – start to finish I think we spent around 15 minutes. They were all made handheld on 5×4 large format film and I really like how these have turned out. The camera is from the 1960’s and was originally designed to shoot on Polaroid film that came on a roll. It was never designed to shoot 5×4 film so the viewfinder is not 100% accurate for what will be on the film and that’s something I’m still trying to get used to which is why the top of the frame is cropped so tightly in a few of these shots. This summer I plan to do more large format film photography than I have before and I think my modified Polaroid 110B will be getting quite a bit of use.
[Tech info:] Polaroid 110B land camera (modified by Holga Mods), Ilford HP5 5×4, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5mins.
It’s been a while since I shot any Fujiroids with the Oxford Tailors at Clements & Church so I decided to stop by there during my lunch break today. This pack film is in date (expires in September 2014) which is unusual for me because I mostly use expired film. I also shot a few frames of slide film which will follow later in the summer when I mix up the E6 chemistry to process the batch of slide film I’ve been building up since last year.
[Tech info:] Polaroid 110B, Fuji FP-100C.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year already since Giffords Circus was in town especially as I remember it so well and it feels more recent than that. This year there are familiar faces that I saw last year and also some new people. I saw the show this afternoon and it was fantastic – very different from last year. If you haven’t been to see the show yet I highly recommend it. Here are some portraits I made back stage.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, 80/2.8 Zeiss Planar, loaded with Fuji Acros 100, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.
Here are a few Fujiroids from my first photo shoot with Cos which was a lot of fun. The sky was overcast the entire time but that made for nice and consistent lighting without any harsh shadows to contend with. We shot plenty of film but those shots will follow at a later time once they’ve been processed. These shots are from the bleached negs which are a lot sharper than the prints and have more colour saturation too. I see there is a slight light leak from the ageing bellows so I’ll have to repair that but for a camera that is over 50 years old it still delivers.
[Tech info:] Polaroid 110B converted to use Fuji instant pack film. FP-100C (expired).
These shots were all made with a Polaroid 110B Land Camera that has been modified to shoot 5×4 large format film, handheld. It can also shoot a whole host of other formats thanks to the Graflok back and I plan to do a separate post on this camera at some point. The conversion has been beautifully done by Randy of Holgamods.com and it was worth every day of the 3 months I had to wait.
[Tech info:] Polaroid 110B, Ilford HP5 film processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6mins.
Eric rowed for Keble College in 1955.
It’s the time of the year when some Oxford University students are sitting their final exam and immediately after they’ve exited the exam schools they celebrate with their friends in various different ways that can involve lots of colourful confetti, silly string, shaving foam and various liquid refreshments and sometimes food as well. The celebrations are known as trashing and looking through my archive I first photographed it in 1989 (last two pictures). Back then I don’t remember as many students doing it as they do now but no matter how crazy it looks I’ve always enjoyed photographing it because I haven’t come across any other occasion where you can see such a visual expression of pure joy and elation. Friends greeting friends to show their support and help celebrate freedom. Still images can’t really canvey the atmosphere because you really need to hear the laughing, cheering, screaming and shouting that goes along with all of the colour.
This is my first set of pictures from this years’ trashing and there will be lots more to come. Unfortunately I keep being accused of working for the Daily Mail because of a ridiculous article they put out recently about binge drinking that used pictures of Oxford University students celebrating the end of their exams. Tabloid junk at its best. It’s no wonder the Daily Mail have removed the ability to leave a comment under the article. My passion is photography and documenting life, particularly in Oxford which is a place I am proud to call my home town. I don’t judge and I certainly don’t supply my pictures to the tabloid gutter press.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2, 100/2.8 Series E lens, Kodak Hawkeye film. Processed by ASDA, Swindon.
Oxford, 1989
The 107th Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity 2014 Boxing match took place at the Town Hall in Oxford, here are some of my shots from the celebrations at the end when Oxford received the winners trophy. It was a great night and a total contrast to the town v gown match that I photographed previously. Well done guys!
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 17-35/2.8, Ilford XP2 (expired). Developed at ASDA, Swindon.
Here are some images that I made back in autumn 2012 that I thought I had already posted but after checking back I realise that I hadn’t. Last week I bumped into the guy in the top left shot and after he told me that he hadn’t seen his shot yet it prompted me to check. He looked a little different but I still managed to recognise him and he remembered me making this picture during my lunch break which is nice considering it was over a year and a half ago. Some of these shots were made during my lunch hour photo walks and a couple are from a day trip to London. Same camera, different rolls of film.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, 80/2.8 Zeiss Planar. Fuji Velvia 100 and Kodak Ektachrome 100G films. Processed in a Tetanol E6 kit.
Some shots from a quick session I had with Iona a couple of weeks ago. I first shot with Iona during a promo shoot for the Christchurch Ball but as there was a specific theme for that shoot and quite a few other people involved so I didn’t have much time to shoot much film. The two Polaroids I shot of Iona were overexposed due to a sticky shutter in the lens so I was pleased that we were able to find time for this shoot. These shots are all from the same roll of 10 frames. I also shot a roll of slide film which I hope to develop later in the summer once I’ve built up a batch of rolls to develop at the same time.
[Tech info:] Pentax 6×7, 105/2.4, Kodak Tri-X [expired], processed in Kodak Xtol (stock).
I’ve always enjoyed photographing May Morning in Oxford because there’s always so much going on with plenty of interesting characters around and this year was no exception. Despite some drizzle early on it would take more than that to dampen the spirits of the people that had either woken up early or had been partying right through the night. There were some familiar faces among the Morris Men, people that I remember seeing over the years and this year I managed to make some nice portraits of them on Broad Street. I did quite a lot of photography this year so there will more shots to follow.
[Tech info:] Bronica ETRSi, 75/2.8, loaded with Fuji Pro 400H (expired). Dev & scanned by Ag Photo lab.
One of the highlights in the Oxford University calendar for me is Summer Eights, also known as Eights Week and I’ve enjoyed photographing the event for many years. Out of all my visits so far the most memorable was when I first saw The Syndicate there in 1991 so I decided to dust off some of the shots in my archive to share them because Eights Week is next week. I haven’t been able to find out very much about The Syndicate so if you know anything about them please leave a comment. I saw them performing their co-ordinated dance routine two years ago and they’re still dressing in their matching outfits with the same front design. The back text reads ‘we have the strength to slip you a length’. I wonder what these guys are doing now.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2, Ilford FP4.
