When I heard that Public Enemy would be performing at the Common People 2016 music festival in Oxford I was really looking forward to photographing them but when Chuck D came on stage he announced that Flava Flav couldn’t make it due to problems with obtaining a visa in time which was very disappointing and quite limiting in terms of photography as I find him the more photogenic of the duo.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 70-200/2.8 VR, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 800, HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.
As 2016 comes to a close I am ever conscious of the photography backlog that has piled up from this year that (if I’m perfectly honest with myself) I probably won’t manage to ever get on top of. It’s not much different to 2014 and 2015 but looking on the bright side I won’t ever run out of new material to post. This set of pictures is from March 2016 when we had a few foggy mornings which felt quite unusual at the time.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, Ilford FP4 developed in Kodak D76. Pakon scans.
Here are some pictures from the Q&A session with Sir Michael Gambon at the Oxford Union. It was a very entertaining talk and I highly recommend viewing the video which can be found here.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 3200, developed in Ilford DDX 1+4, Pakon scans.
After seeing lots of great shots from other photographer’s that use a Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens I decided it was time to try one myself. The weather recently has been very overcast and the light less than inspiring but you don’t have to always have sunny weather to test out gear. So far I am very fond of this little lens – the size and weight being two standout features – and I’m very pleased with these initial results.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 40/1.4 multi-coated, TMAX 100 (expired), developed in HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.
Here are some test shots from the first roll of film through a Kodak Retina camera that I recently got as part of a job lot of darkroom equipment. I don’t know anything about this camera but as it’s completely mechanical it was very easy to figure out the controls. The rangefinder is coupled and the leaf shutter is very quiet. I enjoyed using it and hope to put a roll of colour film through it soon.
[Tech info:] Kodak Retina, Kodak TMAX 100 (expired), developed in HC110 1+31 for 6mins. Pakon scans.
Michael Bay came to Oxford with his crew at the end of September to film some scenes for Transformers 5: The Last Knight and despite the tight security I managed to do a little behind-the-scenes photography.
[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Kodak TMAX 100 @ 200, developed in Ilford DD-X 1+4, Pakon scans
Behind the scenes pictures from The Mummy (2017) reboot starring Tom Cruise when filming took place in Oxford. The facade of Hertford College was cleverly dressed to look like The Royal Thames Hospital complete with ambulance vehicles parked outside. I had a great chat with the lighting guys and it was from them that I discovered the movie is being shot on Kodak film stock which is always nice to hear.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak Xtol stock. Pakon scans.
These pictures have been sitting on a roll of film in my fridge for the past year. I remember making these pictures but I couldn’t remember exactly which roll they were on and because the last shots on the roll ended up being made at the 2015 Cowley Classics car show I labelled the roll ‘car show’ when I removed it from my camera. Recently I have been working my way through a backlog of colour films and that’s when I came across these shots.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Fuji Press 400 (expired), developed in a Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of the first episode of Endeavour IV in Oxford. I managed to come across the crew during my lunch break and managed to catch the end of a scene by the river. The straw boater hats were a nice touch.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Fuji Reala 100 (expired), Pakon scans.
Here are some behind the scenes shots of Martin Parr at work on his project that has the working title of ‘Oxford’. I enjoy documenting all sorts of things but this is the first time I’ve shadowed a photographer at work. It was interesting to see which kinds of things caught Martin’s eye and also how many people didn’t know who he was. I’ve bumped into Martin on a number of occasions around Oxford so you’ll be seeing him again in the future on this blog. The book will be published by OUP and is due out in September 2017.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 800, developed in Kodak Xtol, Pakon scans.
The Oxford comma hangs on the wall in the background
Chimping
Behind-the-scenes photography during the filming of the first episode of Endeavour series 4 (or to be more precise, Endeavour IV: film 1). These pictures were all made before the masses of tourists turned up. To say that things ended up getting very hectic would be understating it a little.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford FP4 @ ISO 400, developed in Kodak Xtol, Pakon scans.
Lots of activity on Turl Street in Oxford for the first episode of Endeavour series 4. The sky started out overcast in the morning but sunshine was forecast later so deciding on which film stocks to take with me was a little tricky. In the end I decided on ISO 400 for the earlier part of the morning and ISO 125 (FP4) for later. I ended up using my faster film sooner than expected so I decided to push Ilford FP4 to ISO 400 and I must say I like these results a lot.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford FP4 @ ISO 400, developed in Kodak Xtol 1+1, Pakon scans.
