Monday 19 November 2018

Thunderbirds in the garden

It was a very sunny day back in August when I visited DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus. While The Brother was working - meetings and whatever else needed his attention in the office - I wandered about with the Hasselblad casually slung over my shoulder.  It’s a pretty affluent area around the Uni but that means it’s a bit of a target for theft, since students are likely to have expensive cell phones, laptops, Hasselblads etc on them.  I tried to be as unobtrusive as one can with a ‘Blad.

This was a busy scene - not with people, but busy with foliage and shadows.  There weren’t many students kicking about - well, it was summer recess and it was hot hot hot but I tried to get a couple of bodies in the shot. Barely visible and almost camouflaged, mind you...

DePaul University Garden, Lincoln Park Campus, Illinois.  Ilford Fibre Classic paper, sepia toner.

There was a bit more detail in the sunlit areas that appears on the print, simply due to the fact that I reached for the sepia toner and the bleach took what detail there was and didn't give it back.  It's probably better to over-print ever-so-slightly when using a bleach toner, but that's a detail I don't always remember in the heat of the moment in the darkroom.

Just after I took this shot I had the bejesus scared out of me by the sound of US Air Force jets screaming low overhead.  I was totally unprepared for them - the sound reverberated around the buildings surrounding the courtyard garden and it was as loud as loud can be.  I learned later they were practicing for the Chicago Air and Water Show - they're called the Thunderbirds, I believe.  Pretty apt name, but they might have had the decency to inform me beforehand.  I actually wondered if all was well in the world, or was Chicago under attack.  Thankfully it wasn't and I survived the Chicago experience, in spite of the best intentions of the Thunderbirds.
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2 comments:

  1. Marcus Peddle19 November 2018 at 22:40

    That is lovely foliage indeed. The nice thing about older film cameras is that if a thief misses his first grab you can then brain them and not worry about hurting the camera. I once heard the Nikon F4 described as a hammer you can take pictures with. Pretty tough.
    There is an airbase in this city and jets flying overhead is pretty common. My university is directly under their flight path, unfortunately. The university once sent someone to ask the Air Force if they could limit the flights during exam periods. The answer? "Move your university". Nice.

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    1. Michael McNeill20 November 2018 at 12:04

      Haha I think you're right on that one, Marcus - the 'Blad too is fairly sturdy ;) Thankfully it didn't come to that.

      Move the University. Hmm. That's an interesting remark to make - it says something about the where the balance of power lies in South Korea, perhaps. And you're not too far from the border with North Korea, I understand, so maybe the armed forces feel pretty secure in themselves.

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