Friday 15 April 2016

Why Eye Man

So on the Friday Archive slot we are leaving Hungary behind and moving on - to 2014 to be precise.  This was a little trip I undertook with my stepson, whose gf at the time was studying in Newcastle.   My stepson is a big football fan and a huge Manchester United fan and as a little treat I booked tickets to see the Newcastle-ManUtd game at St James' Park - so he got to see both a big game and his gf.  No complaints there then...

Here they are, trying not to look suspicious on the street corner as I snapped them up:


I've no idea what happened here with the processing - the film came out in some weird low-contrast ultra-gritty-grainy style.  The camera was a little Olympus Trip that I found in a charity shop and paid about £2.50 for.   Those were the days - nowadays all the charity shops around here have got wise to things and you won't see any camera priced at less than £30.

  

I'm not that much into football but I have to admit, St James' Park is one awesome stadium.   We were pretty high up but still felt close to the action.  It was a good day for ManU and not a good day for Newcastle - 3-0 to ManU.  My stepson was a Very Happy Boy.

We had a wee dander about the city over the course of the weekend - and a very nice place it is.  I'd never been before - the sandstone buildings and Georgian architecture reminded me of Bath.


Of course we had to head to the river and see the bridges.  This is the iconic Tyne Bridge, built by the same company that designed the Forth Bridge (hence the similarity, I guess).



And further on we have the Gateshead Millenium Bridge for pedestrians and cyclists - a fantastic looking structure:


Apparently the whole structure tilts to allow boats to pass underneath - pretty cool, eh?

2 comments:

  1. Ahh... so good to see that others get those very low contrast and overthrown with huge grits negs at times as well. Not that it's good for you, of course. More like it's good to see that far more experienced film developers than me also happen to get things not intended, at times. I know the feeling, though, and it's not a good one when you open the tank and find this sort of stuff. Myself I blamed the fixer, but I don't know what was the issue in your case. As I said, I'm not that experienced really.
    But, that will not keep us from posting, luckily. They are good snaps if you're able to look a bit more deeply into them, beyond the developing issues.
    I've never seen a premier league match in my life, so far. I'm not that much into football myself either, but I'm still a fan of the same team I used to support back in the 70's. You know, the other red team... very big back in those days, and still is. Well, kind of...
    Quick question: what do you use for spotting your prints? I'm thinking of the physical things on paper... not on the screen on the puter. I use the Marshall stuff... they come in sets of different tones. Good stuff, actually.

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    Replies
    1. These look even worse than I remember, Roy. Could have been the fixer but it's too long ago to remember. I do try to stretch the use of the fixer - like yourself :) Now I err on the side of caution and so far so good. I'm not that experienced either!

      The Red Team are very popular throughout Ireland. Lots of people support them...and others are ABU - Anyone But United :))

      For spotting I use Spotone that someone was kind enough to include with some other gear I was buying at the time. There are 3 small bottles of varying shades and you kind of mix them until you get something that blends in with the print area you are working on. I'm not that confident with it - usually make a couple of extra prints to practice on and I only spot if I'm intending to do something with the print - like a FADU Print Exchange or hang on the wall. I must check out the Marshall stuff - it sounds similar.

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