Sunday 19 June 2011

Fired Up

Before I say anything else, I have to confess to being a) so uncharacteristically 'with it' that I use a smart phone (well, not very smart as it's covered in beer stains and gouache fingerprints) and b) utterly absorbed with taking snaps with the astounding Hipstamatic 'app'. As they say, "digital photography has never looked so analogue". The software uses the standard phone camera, but turns pictures into unbelievable retro-looking snaps. Just like plastic-lensed cameras of the 50s or 60s. Flaring, blurring, generally messed about with, it introduces an eccentric quality you'd spend two grand a day with a London snapper to get. The next step is that we'll all go back to using Instamatics and waiting for them to be done-over at Boots. And if you think I'm joking, or for once in my life ahead of the game, it's already happening. The Hipstamatic 'films' and 'lenses' have curious Ikea-style names like 'Ina 39' and 'John 'S', and if you don't watch out it changes your settings at random, just for fun. So you can imagine how I felt when these First World War limeburning kins at Barrowden in Rutland, in front of both a raging sky and the limestone village church, were accidentally captured on a film called 'Lucifer' with its burnt out ring of fire. You can find out more about the kilns in this book.

13 comments:

Sue Imgrund said...

Sold! I wonder if iTunes will bring out an app to make your songs sound like 78s played from a wind-up gramophone?

Fred Fibonacci said...

I knew we were heading this way (and not a moment too soon) when I saw that proper red BT handset you could plug into your mobile. Coming soon: village shops, manners, absence of litter. HAAAAARRRRRUMPH!

Fred Fibonacci said...

Ace pic by the way M'Lord Ashley; almost forgot.

Peter Ashley said...

All songs I sing sound like that Sue.

And thankyou Fred. Even the Routemaster's coming back. Ish.

Anonymous said...

Look at lomography.
They have been selling crap cameras at over inflated prices for years.

Quite like this one tho.

http://uk.shop.lomography.com/cameras/la-sardina-cameras/la-sardina-camera-and-flash-el-capitan

Forest Pines said...

I just go onto the usual websites and buy vintage cameras. Not Instamatics, because they generally used 127 film, now in the hen's-teeth box; but there are loads of low-quality vintage cameras out there that still work and use widely-available film (either 35mm or 120). Who needs a modern deliberately-poor "lomography" camera when you can buy a genuine made-in-70s-Leningrad Lomo like a Smena or a Cosmic for less than it will cost to develop each film?

williamandemma said...

Sue - Could this be what you wanted?

http://www.colormonkey.se/vinyllove/

Peter Ashley said...

Thanks for the camera advice. I've wondered about the Lomo, and very nearly bought the Paul Smith limited edition. Good sense and an imaginative gas bill intervened. But I am still using my Minolta CLE and Minox 35ML, and scanning Boots prints from the eighties.

Anonymous said...

So when was the last time you used the CLE Pinocchio?
You in the "Rub a Dub" Thursday?

Major General (Sir) B. Gripps.

Wartime Housewife said...

Marvellous.

Martin H. said...

More in the Routemaster/BT handset vein:

Railfreight has 'borrowed back' a class 55 "Deltic" diesel from a private owner and put it back to work in Northumberland, as they were embarasssingly short of suitable locomotives. The Deltics were built by English Electric in 1961 and are truly magnificent pieces of British engineering, powered by two Napier (another evocative name!) diesels of no less than 1650 bhp each. Makes you proud.

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Peter Ashley said...

Thankyou Martin for the Deltic info. Camera itching.

Anonymous: Alright, I lied about the CLE. I meant to say Leica M6. But the Minolta does have an unfinished Fuji print film lurking in it.