Biker Crofter

You lot think I make most of this up don't you? You can't make this sort of thing up.

I was over at The Crofter a few days past, passing the time of day, pulling my foot out of a cow-pat and avoiding having to help feed the pigs when Dad Crofter comes out with the fact he used to be a biker. I wrote about this phenomena on Island Crofters blog - an everyday tale of Crofter folk - without Jazzer but with cows and pigs. And now I have the proof. Well, I have the proof that Mum Crofter was a Biker's Moll [a motorbike rider's lady companion for all you Aussie readers so you don't get the wrong idea], here in the snap on the right seen on the left and looking far all the world like the snap was taken yesterday. The chap by her side was Jon - and we don't talk about Jon do we? No.

Dad Crofter, I'm told is the one with the Skull and Crossbones on his designer jacket - because he wus dubble 'ard an all.

The snap of the motorbike was Biker Crofter's Triumph Trophy - "The American model don't forget" I was told. I haven't forgotten eh?

Nice snaps too - proper development issues an all. Must be authentic :-)

Death by P.S.

I have been re visioning a neg of mine. Taken with the Hasselblad in one of my favourite home village spots and re-worked here in front of t'fire using a pooter program - the lazy way. However, it is something I do from time to time - when I can't be bothered to go into the darkroom, I have not got enough B&W paper or, like this time, when I want to spend time in the same space as my dear Eve whilst doing something constructive/destructive.

I am rather taken by the work of Titarenko, not only in his use of movement but also in his darkroom re-visioning of negs. Like Titarenko, I like to imagine that the neg is merely a starting point of the final image. Unlike Titarenko, I have little of no imagination of what I'm trying to achieve. I just hope I recognise it when I see it! Here, I rather like this Titarenko-esque effect whch would be rather easy to do the proper way. And, if I can find the neg, might well do that.

And yes, I like it dark and part-toned sine you ask Coelyne :-)

Yup; snow

The Stornoway Gazette Snapper walks to work [Seamus McDean ?]

Snowing.

Not snowing at the moment I might - quickly. The sun is out - somewhere behind the big bank of dark clouds that are lurking overhead and causing me to have to have the light on in the middle of the day and everything.

But it does seemed to have snowed inordinately this winter. The animals have been having a rough time of it and the snow underfoot does not 'help getting the pigs in' [an obscure Archers reference here for Mick who's bobbing around the high seas somewhere out west in his boat Hannah with Bee and the moggie. Well worth checking out their website as it happens - nice pics an all. The Archers are always worth checking out of course. Jazzer being particularly wonderful at the moment and I feel that Phallon is giving him a terrible time. So unfair. And Helen is off her head.]

Anyway, took these snaps a few days ago in The Big Town with the Kiev rangefinder camera and HP5 rated at 1600 and sloshed in Rodinal 1:100 for 2 hours - which can't be done apparently.

Proper stuff

I have been known to been on the end of some doubt from time to time. Doubt in the main at the direction of my images. Not surprising since I am rather prone to veer off from the norm and produce disasters masquerading as 'art' - whatever that is. Take this image; please . [tis the first image of this collaboration] . I lost it really. My mind was elsewhere when I put that together using an old Soviet 13x18 plate camera, x-ray film and cyanotype print, toned and then sloshed with watercolour paint. What was I thinking of? I can't imagine but I blame it on tension at work.

In the meantime I went along to an interesting information packed Islands Book Trust lecture about Greenland by photo-lecturer Iain Roy. Afterwards I had a quick chatette with the man but, he was all full of words, the lecture and was rather preoccupied with signing books and getting out of the theatre before they turned the lights off. I mentioned another tographer who had taken some rather special snaps of Greenland but I didn't think it had been the right time to bring it up as it happens. I mean, Mr Roy still smiled at me, talked to me like I was intelligent but I could see in the back of his eyes that, it was not the right time. So I left.

However, in a flash of inspiration that comes to me from time to time, I emailed Mr Roy about Ragnar Axelsson and his work and to my pleasant surprise I received a lovely long and most interestinating reply detailing Mr Roy's delight in such imagary and a great deal besides. It's very pleasing that Mr Axelsson still uses film for his work - which I might add I love - and Mr Roy's used to use film too - 35mm, Medium Format and LF. Having said that Mr Roy has now gone over to the dark side and I am rather afraid I'm not so keen on the rather saturated colour and sharpened pictures that seem to be the result. I do like the man though and his B&W work.

Anyway, here's a proper snap from me; taken at Gress - just up the road - with the Kowa 6x6 and printed by own fair hand on Foma Varient. Which reminds me; I have a film fixing [hopefully] in hypo after development in Coffee/Soda crystals/Acetic acid mix.

And before I forget, one of the villagers reminded me of the TV programme 'Off Kilter' about the Isle of Lewis [Isle of Rust] is on Iplayer on the pooter at the moment. Brilliant stuff and well worth a look.

Multiplication

It just happens

The dairy is gone

Next door at one time was a chap who started a dairy in the village. It was built just down the road on a croft - at a time when there were less fences around the place - and more cows. The cows were kept in various 'parks' around the village, my informant tells me. Anyway, now the dairy is gone. Gone, lorst and gone, making room for another house to built to house a lovely family.

Sad though. Clocks used to work with the cows and latterly kept pigs there. So, here it is just prior to being demolished with Biker Crofter making his way to give the eye to builders to let him salvage some useful stuff.

Tealair stroll

My fav Tolsta View taken with Paxette - before the snow!

The moon is at its fullest, the tides are massive and so, today at low tide - or just before, Eve and I took off for a stroll down North Tolsta's cemetery road towards Traigh Mhor [Big Beach]. In between snow showers and bright sunshine, we took off to Tealair, a little bay only accessible at low tides. Here there are some fine caves at the bottom of sheer cliffs.

What a fantastic place and what a strange day. The wind was very keen and twas a good that we were both wrapped up well. The snow came over from the north in heavy flurries, foam from the sea was being blown all over the place.

I had taken a tiny and old camera with me - a Braun Paxette 1 - with a lens scratched it produces images with loads of flare and they look rather like images from a hundred years ago. The snap is of Eve on the way home just below cemetery road.

Toots did not come with us!