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Catch the punt across for $2 return per person from Alexandra Avenue, South Yarra (near Kanteen Café). Last ride back is at 5pm.

Come along, bring your cameras, lunch and drinks! We’ll be sitting on the oval in the middle of the island.

More information here.

Andreas Gursky's Rhein II, one of an edition of six, set the record in November 2011 as the most expensive photograph ever sold. Photograph: Andreas Gursky/Christie's

As the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported in November 2011, “a sludgy image of the grey Rhine under grey skies” sold at auction in New York for $4,338,500 (including buyer’s premium). This sale of Andreas Gursky’s Rhein II makes it the world’s most expensive photograph, surpassing the previous record holder, Cindy Sherman’s self-portrait Untitled #96, which sold at Christie’s earlier in 2011 for $3,890,500. For your common or garden-variety photographer, attaching such extraordinary monetary value to these photographs seems a little absurd. In fact, many garden-variety photographers will shake their head, cry silently into their respective caffeinated beverage(s) and hope that one day they will sell a print to someone who is not a family member. Alas we’re not at the Collingwood Gallery any more, Toto – this is the global contemporary art scene and it’s a $12 million stuffed shark none of us can possibly hope to understand.

Back to the $12 million stuffed shark shortly, but if I can remain on the topic of Herr Gursky for a minute. It is a sad fact that much of today’s photography, whether it be the pouting-young-people-these-days on Facebook or the more earnest portfolios of wannabe artists, is mediated almost exclusively through the backlit pixels of a computer monitor. Fewer photographers, from enthusiasts to family happy-snappers, are experiencing their photography through the joy of a physical print. Instead, photographic ubiquity means the posting of endless streams of unedited digital images straight to “social media” with a sameness that would make Hans Zimmer blush. This is not an argument by an anachronistic film user against digital populism, but is rather a statement of fact.

This 100% proves definitively that the new RAW processing engine produces far sharper pictures at higher ISOs than the competition. Photograph: Richard Plumridge

In the realm of the Internet, technical debates on the merits of cameras and lenses are played out through “100% crops”, where a handful of the 12 million or more pixels that make up an image are used to prove once and for all that the latest X-550D is in fact superior to the Y-550C – check it out for yourself – but I digress. The omniscience of the Internet (and “expert” photographers therein) has led to much armchair criticism over the price paid for Herr Gursky’s Rhein II. How could this sad, grey picture be worth anything, let alone $4 million? Uncle Bob’s 24x superzoom could surely take a far better picture (and he’d only charge $10 for it). But then again, how many of these “experts” has ever actually seen a Gursky? Also a valid question is “when was the last time they had a shower?”, although that bares little direct relevance to the topic at hand.

The café at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. Not a 100% crop. Photograph: Richard Plumridge

These Internet-dwelling print virgins would be in for a shock should they ever venture outside. They would have an even greater shock if they ventured to the nearest gallery with a Gursky. Indeed, after adjusting to the harsh daylight, some would have to first go to the airport to catch a plane to a city with a gallery that housed a Gursky, but for the sake of brevity (something again lacking on the Internet), let’s say we’re at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. Upon entering, our Internet-dweller may come across an image dominating an entire wall: a 12-foot wide print of Rhein II, one of only three remaining in public hands. The memory of that sludgy brown thumbnail with JPEG compression artefacts would vanish before the vibrancy and clarity of a formidable photographic print. Concepts of “lines-per-millimetre”, mega pixels and sharpness would be rendered inconsequential in the presence of such a work. The seeming mediocrity of Gursky’s image at 72ppi in a Firefox window would be supplanted by the exquisite detail of every element of the photograph, from its control of colour and contrast to the fine structure of its grain. Like the rest of Gursky’s oeuvre, Rhein II is a masterpiece by a master photographer, but more than that, it is a technical marvel printed by the best photographic craftsmen in the world. Naturally, not all find Gursky’s works exhilarating. Some find them impersonal and alienating, but that is the nature of art. Whatever your opinion, however, surely it is the work itself that must be judged, rather than an inferior re-mediated representation. Please exit through the gift shop.

Now that our armchair experts are safely back indoors, tenderly stroking their f/2.8 zooms (the VRII, not the VR1, as the VR1 had known issues with vignetting on full-frame bodies) whilst patrolling the frontier forums of dpreview, it is time we return to the $12 million stuffed shark. This is the title of a book by Don Thompson on the economics of contemporary art. Indeed it is so named because a decaying stuffed shark carcass apparently sold for $12 million (piece specifications: Tiger shark, glass, steel, 5% formaldehyde solution). Art? Some investment banker thought so. Such extraordinary prices for rotting sea creatures, according to Thompson, can be explained thusly: there is a scarcity of “traditional” art on the global market, i.e. that which is universally and uncontroversially defined as art, including works by the Impressionists, the Old Masters et al. These will rarely be seen on the open market again with the majority of “traditional” works owned by public galleries and those in private hands likely to be donated to public galleries in the future. With no classics to buy, the ever growing wealthy of the world (in Asia especially) ascribe value to what the garden-variety human would be unlikely to consider art (including obscenely-priced rotting sea creatures). Include in this equation the “celebrity” art collecting/commissioning power of Charles Saatchi types and you’ve got yourself one odd-looking global art market. This is not to say contemporary art is all hokum, but it is to say its value is ascribed differently in this esoteric market. It is unlikely future humanity will remember the $12 million stuffed shark as fondly as we do the works of Picasso, Rembrandt or Botticelli (if not for any other reason than its natural decomposition), but there is surely a better chance that photography, as the 20^th century’s primary medium of record, will be more appreciated as art and as fact in the centuries to come. The greatest concern photography itself faces into the future is its own preservation. Prints and negatives – both physical objects – are subject to the march of time. Sure, Kodakchrome transparencies may look as vibrant as the day you took them, but they won’t survive like stone tablets. They are, at least, a physical record that requires no other technology to interpret or view them. Digital imaging, on the other hand, is merely a collection of bits and bytes on a storage medium. They require often complex devices to view and interpret their data, devices which are subject to the commercial whims of large companies. Retrieving files from a hard drive in a decade’s time won’t be as easy a task as holding a Kodakchrome slide up to the window. Now, where did I place my Zip drive? What’s my MySpace password again??

But back to the topic at hand:

Is Gursky’s image worth it? Probably. Possibly. All I know is that I will not ever be in a position to make that financial decision. Also, my walls are far too small, unless I can justify $4 million worth of photographic wallpaper. Either way, I think Uncle Bob is on to something. I’m off to buy his old negs at a garage sale, scan them and make one-off prints. See you at Christie’s, losers!

Links:

Christie’s listing for Rhein II (With audio description!)

PetaPixel: Why Gursky’s Photo of the Rhine is the World’s Most Expensive Photo

how long have you been shooting film?

I’ve only been shooting film since August 2010 – in fact I’ve only been seriously shooting anything since January 2010! I’ve still got heaps to learn but wow what a journey it’s been so far! I never thought that I would possess seven analogue cameras by now and four of them Polaroid. But that’s what I’ve enjoyed most about exploring film – it’s challenging, fun and just a bit addictive. And I love the anticipation of peeling back a Polaroid film or scanning a roll to see what it holds.

Student life by Lea Williams
Polaroid Colorpack II , Polaroid 667 film

do you prefer colour or black & white? do you have a favourite film, camera or technique you like to work with?

Personally I prefer black and white because of the simplicity and mood it can convey. And it picks up those shadows and light that are perhaps sometimes lost in the distraction of colour. I’m still learning about the wide variety of film grades and grains and look forward to each developed roll to see how they turn out. But in my experience, even a bad image can be salvaged in b&w!

My favourite camera is my Polaroid 100 Automatic. It’s big, clunky and always draws comments from passersby, but never lets me down (except when I accidently dropped it – I almost cried). I still marvel at how well it works despite being 45 years old! At the moment my favourite film is Polaroid Chocolate which is sadly very hard to find now. I like the texture and feel of the chocolatey tones – they add a vintage, imperfect quality to prints which I love.

show us one of your favourite shots and tell us a bit about it – how did you take it? is there a story behind it?

Pier in Polaroid Blue by Lea Williams
Polaroid Colorpack II, Polaroid Blue film

This Polaroid of Point Lonsdale Pier is a particular fave for its simplicity and the Blue film produced some lavender tones which I wasn’t expecting. I think it was only the second pack of film I’d run through the Colorpack II camera (my first Polaroid) and I remember being so pleased to have finally produced a decent print! Also, Point Lonsdale holds special memories for me and my family and I think this picture captures its tranquility.

show us a favourite shot from the MSM pool. what do you enjoy in other peoples’ photos?

The Great Escape by Dave Carswell
Pentacon Six, Ilford FP4+

It’s very difficult to choose from a pool of so many amazing and unique images, but at the moment I choose Dave Carswell’s “The Great Escape” because I love its timelessness and spontaneity. It’s such a perfectly timed shot and to me captures ‘summer’ beautifully.

There are so many beautiful images out there and I simply enjoy seeing how others have captured events, emotions and moments in time in their own unique way.

question from the previous interviewee Dave Carswell: What does the future hold for your photography? What would you like to be doing in five, ten years time?


The future in my photography holds many more years of learning, fun and seeking inspiration from others – and I suspect an expanding collection of cameras. And I might even try my own home-developing one day! What I love most about flickr and being a part of MSM is the great source of inspiration and seeing how other photographers shoot and compose. I’ve learnt so much simply from observing other photographers’ techniques and images. My journey has only just begun.

please give us a question to ask the next person:
What is your favourite subject to shoot?

St Kilda palm trees by Lea Williams
Polaroid Colorpack II, Fuji FP 100-C

Thank you so much Lea! You can find Lea on flickr.

The project, aptly named “The Totally Awesome Film Swap Project”, gave participants an opportunity to shoot an entire roll of film in a style they don’t typically shoot in.

Royal Melbourne Show
Photograph by Louise for Ambre

The 18 participating MSM members were randomly matched with another participant.  The only real rule was that the roll had to be 35mm and could be processed in c-41. Naturally, some decided that rule was lame and shot what they wanted to anyway.

Participants were then given a few weeks to shoot and process the film. A set of prints plus the entire roll of negatives was to be handed to their assigned partner.Many of us found giving up an entire roll of images a little unsettling.

As is the case with any shoot, not every frame on every roll was perfect. There were some brilliant shots and some, not so brilliant. The opportunity to share work, and discuss each member’s approach to shooting their partner’s style made for some laughs and a really great afternoon.  Even the sun came out for the event.

Some of the resulting images can be seen below:

Chris Zissiadis, Shooting for Michael Carew

Barbara Fischer shooting for Jock Blakley

Lea Williams shooting for Vinnie Piatek

Deanne Smith shooting for Emma Jay

More pics from the project.

Here are some pics from the swap meetup, at The Boatbuilder’s Yard, South Wharf on Saturday 29th October 2011.

Photos: Deanne Smith (colour) & Emma Jay (B&W)

Did some nasty mod or admin kick them out of the pool?

(It’s a pool, get it?)

Aww…

Guess what?! Now there is a MSM Flickr group JUST FOR YOU!

MSM Inc. Out of Town

Now you can post your photos from well beyond Zone 2 without fear of them being removed.

So whether you’ve been to Wellington…

or Wedderburn…

Or countries other than New Zealand like… umm… Germany!

You can relax in the knowledge that they won’t be deleted.*

* Unless they were taken in Melbourne or on yucky digital.

MSM Inc. Out of Town

UNSENSORED11 offers a glimpse into what film in its various formats can produce today. Once again our members are presenting a diverse range of images in both subject matter and tools/techniques. The exhibition includes images produced using traditional processes and techniques through to hybrid works that blur the line between film and digital.

We hope to see you all on opening night.

UNSENSORED11
Collingwood Gallery
292 Smith Street Collingwood

Opening Night:
Friday 25th November 2011 from 6pm

Exhibition dates:
Saturday 26th November 2011 – Wednesday 7th December 2011

Gallery open daily:
10am – 6pm Saturday & Sunday
Midday – 6:30pm Monday – Friday

(facebook event) (exhibition invite)

This year’s show features work from 46 photographers:

Rhys Allen, Gedal Basman, Anthony Begovic, Roberts Birze, Sandy Birze, Jock Blakley, Natalie Blom, Richard Buckley, Michael Carew, Dave Carswell,  Michael James Christian, Andrew J. Cosgriff, Nicole Davis, Melissa Dixon, Barbara Fischer, Stacy Gillett,  Veronica Hodgkinson, Ross Holmberg, Hing Hshen, Timothy D. Johnson, Matthew Joseph, Daniel Lee, Jaye Loring, Suzannah Marshall Macbeth, Marc Morel, Jodie Noonan, Daniel Noppert, Jessica Anne Parker, Ambre Pitt, Richard Plumridge, Karen Riley, Ahmad Sabra, Gary Sauer‑Thompson, Deanne Smith, Emma Starr, Cameron Stephen, Paul Stoney, Reynandi Susanto, Michael Verhoef, Marcus Visic, Christian Were, Katherine White, Liam White, Lea Williams, Damian Young & Chris Zissiadis

Here is a small selection of the images on show at UNSENSORED11

untitled image
Photographer: Katherine White

Scratches and scars
Photographer: Barbara Fischer

G’day Ray
Photographer: Matthew Joseph

Three Crows
Photographer: Sandy Birze

Crossing Lines
Photographer: Deanne Smith

Ache
Photographer: Jessica Parker

Zahrah
Photographer: Ahmad Sabra

We have two group shows in the BIFB11 Fringe program.

Our first show we simply called Melbourne Silver Mine as it has 23 of our members exhibiting thematic explorations of a diverse range of ideas, subject matter and techniques.

Accompanying this show is Just Don’t Call It Street. An installation of  photographs by 17 of our members exploring the notion of street photography.

Exhibition Information:

Melbourne Silver Mine
First Floor, above Woolshed Clothing
48 Armstrong Street North, Ballarat
Corner of Mair and Armstrong Street North (map) (facebook)
(Venue 38 on your BIFB11 Broadsheet)

Melbourne Silver Mine Presents: Just Don’t Call It Street.
The Old Butcher’s Shop
112 Seymour Street Ballarat (Soldiers Hill)
Corner of Seymour Street and Neill Street (map) (facebook)
(Venue 42 on your BIFB11 Broadsheet)

Opening hours for both shows:
Saturday 20th August 2011 – Sunday 18th September 2011
Monday – Wednesday (open only by arrangement)
Thursday – Friday 11am – 5pm
Saturday & Sunday 10am – 6pm

Untitled by Dave Veentjer

Untitled by Daniel Klaas

gpo by scott_aus

OK, so you’ve got exposed B&W film in the developing tank, and you’re ready to run that baby through the developing process.

For the complete process of development, you’ll need 3 solutions in the following order: Developer, Stop bath, and Fixer. It’s a good idea to keep the temperature consistent for all the solutions if possible, but if not it’s not the end of the world. Each of these solutions will go into the developing tank to do their job on the film, then get poured out to make way for the next one.

The video below is a detailed (and long) walk-through of the process in full, and I’ve also written instructions here for reference. If you have any questions at all regarding this process, please post them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Black & White film developing at home (pt.2) from Ross Holmberg on Vimeo.

First off^* is the most critical solution, the developer. The developer should be mixed accurately, and made at as close to the given temperature as possible. You can choose from countless different developers, and use them at different dilutions, and different temperatures. What is important here is that you know what you are using, and decide on a development time accordingly. Most people look up a development time on the Massive Dev Chart to get started; you’ll need to know the film type and developer you’re using. Most times on the Massive Dev Chart are based on agitating once every minute, but it’s worth reading any relevant notes to check.

After the developer comes the stop bath. This step is simply to stop the development reaction from continuing on longer than it should. There are chemical stop baths available, but plain water works quite well. The stop bath step can be agitated continuously, and doesn’t need to be timed; as long as you do it for at least 30s or so, you’ll be safe here.

The last chemical process is the fixer. This is a very important step, but the timing and agitation is not critical. The process simply needs to be done to completion, so anywhere between say 3-12minutes will work fine. It is easy to under-fix, so I generally fix for around 10mins, just to be sure. During this step, you usually agitate in the same way as for the developer. Personally I don’t worry too much, and just agitate every now and then to make sure things are still moving.

After the film has completed the fixing process, all that’s left to do is wash and dry. You need to wash all the fixer off the film, and this should be done thoroughly. Ilford suggest the tank be filled with fresh water 3 times: with the first rinse you should invert the tank 10 times, then invert 20 times with the second rinse, then 30 times with the third. Again, I usually do a little extra, just to be sure.

An optional step before taking the film out of the tank is to add a wetting agent (eg: Agfa agepon) to the final rinse, which is essentially a soap. This will help the film to dry evenly, so you avoid the possibility of drying marks (more common when the water quality is lower). Before you pour the final rinse out, just open the tank, put a couple of drops of the wetting agent in, and agitate (any way you like) until you see lots of soap suds.

And that’s it! You can now take your film out of the tank, remove it from the reel, get any excess water off (use your fingers like a squeegee), and hang it to dry. For hanging, I use some small metal clips I got at the newsagent, stuck to the top railing of a doorway. Try to hang the film somewhere with not too much dust around, since dust tends to be attracted to the film, making scanning / printing a little harder down the track. I also suggest cutting the film into strips, and storing it in film sleeves like the ones made by Vue-All.

This entire process, from pulling the film out of the camera to hanging it up to dry, usually takes me around 45mins to complete. I often develop more than one film at a time (usually between 3 and 6), meaning the whole thing is really quite efficient. You’ll end up saving yourself both time and money compared to taking the films to your local lab, and you’ll get loads of self satisfaction to boot!

* There is an optional step before the developer, which is a pre-rinse in water. This can play a few roles in getting things ready for the developer, but I don’t find it necessary. Ilford actually specifically advise against a pre-rinse, saying that it may lead to uneven development. That’s reason enough for me not to do it, and I’ve never noticed a negative impact on my films at all.

Thanks so much for all that, Ross. Top stuff!

Here’s the links for all three tutorials:

• Black and White film developing at home part 1.
• Black and White film developing at home part 2.
• Black and White film developing at home part 3.

Now that you’ve got everything you need, the first thing to do is get your film on to the film reel and into the developing tank. This step will be done in the changing bag, and is probably the trickiest step of the whole process, mostly because you won’t be able to see what your hands are doing. If you have a roll of film you don’t care about, use it to practice with a few times in the light until you get the feel of things.

This video will take you through what needs to be done, and the following text will explain it for your reference. If you have any questions please ask and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Black & White film developing at home (pt.1) from Ross Holmberg on Vimeo.

• First off, use the bottle opener to pop the top off your film canister; no need to be gentle, just wrench it off there and throw the top to the side.
• Now carefully slide the film itself, along with its spool, out of the canister; be sure to hold the film to stop it from springing off the spool (don’t worry, there are no images on this part of the film, so you won’t be marking anything with your fingers).
• This end of the film will not be straight, because of its leader shape. Let a little film off the spool, and cut a straight end with the scissors.
• Now pick up the film reel and feel with your fingers for the entry; this is just the spot where the film feeds through. If you’ve looked at the reel in the light, you’ll have a better idea of what you’re feeling for.
• Once you’ve found the entry on the film reel, hold the very end of the film and feed it on to the reel, guiding it where necessary using your fingers on the edge of the film.
• Assuming you have the Paterson tank system, feeding the length of the film on to the reel is a matter of ratcheting the two halves of the reel back and forth. Keep ratcheting until you get to the end of the film.
• Snip the film at the end to separate it from the film spool, then make sure the film is fed completely onto the reel (usually just give a few more ratchets on the reel).
• You can now put the film reel onto the centre column of your tank, and slide this into the developing tank itself. Seal up the tank with the light-trap.
• Once the light-trap is on, you can open up your changing bag and pull the developing tank out. Your film will be protected from the light by the tank itself.

Now you have the film in the developing tank, it’s time to start the actual development process. This means it’s time for the chemistry, which we’ll go into in the next post.