Massive thanks to all those comments and faves that I got after my second DD -
'The Tackle'. Unfortunately I'm so far behind, I can't promise to answer all the 382 faves and watches that are now lying in my inbox, but it is appreciated!

Got a bit annoyed with looking at the same journal all the time. I haven't been around a whole lot because of getting caught up with uni work - and haven't taken many photos since One World Week a month or so ago (I think). Needless to say I've been making it up with darkroom time, and I'm loving the hours I've been spending trying to print out a lot of the negatives I got from Paris by hand.

Have a song:

The beats, yeah, they were coming out the speakers
And were winding up straight in your sneakers.
And I'm dancing like every song who spends his bizzle
Like all my dance heroes would if they existed.

And it's sad that you think that they're all just scenesters
(And even if we were it's not the scene you're thinking of)
To taking props from like these boy band fashions
All crop tops and testosterone passion.

If there's one thing that I could never confess,
It's that I can't dance a single step.

It's you!
It's me!
And there's dancing!

Not sure if you mind if I dance with you,
But I don't think right now that you care about anything at all.
And oh, if only there were clothes on the floor,
I'd feel for certain I was bedroom dancing.
And it's all flailing limbs at the front line.
Every single one of us is twisted by design
And dispatches from the back of my mind
Say as long as we're here everything is alright.

If there's one thing that I could never confess,
It's that I can't dance a single step.

It's you!
It's me!
And there's dancing!

And i always get confused
because in supermarkets they turn the lights off when they want you to leave, but in discos they turn them on,
and it's always sad to go, but it's never that sad,
because there's only certain places you're guaranteed of getting a hug when you go.
and on the way home, it seems like a good idea to go paddle in the fountain, and that's because it IS a good idea
and it's like we're all like Rousseau depicts man in the state of nature
we're undeveloped, we're ignorant, we're stupid, but we're happy.

- Los Campesinos! - You, Me, Dancing

Being one of the few users of film in my University Photo Society, I thought I'd say a bit about why I use film. Largely because I'm bored, and I'm sat in the darkroom trying to pass the time, but also because any new members might eventually end up here.

Those that use film now are often those that look beyond the image into the actual process of making the photograph, and everything that goes with it. That is to say, those that use film are just as much about the whole process as the final image, get pleasure out of this, and as such don't mind spending a little (or a lot) more time, in the hope that the following achievement is something entirely their own.

As with many things, those who speak about films downsides, rather than accepting it as a choice of the photographer, are those that have never used it, or at least not followed the whole process through, from loading to rinsing the print. Those that have, and have chosen digital, or those that just choose never to venture near silver halide are fine - I just find myself getting ever so slightly annoyed with those that make assumptions, and then conclude based on those assumptions, often in a negative light.

With a few years experience under my belt, it's pretty safe to say that some of my greatest enjoyments have come out of my relatively limited experience in the chemical darkroom. Any poor souls who were anywhere near the darkroom on the night I finally managed to get a reasonable "wet" print of this picture probably would've been worried to hear my ecstatic wooping (ok, I exaggerate), or looked on confusedly at myself stood out in the rain, ringing my Dad excitedly to tell him that I'd finally managed to make it work after weeks of reading and teaching myself. I think it's fair to say that the actual process of following a negative through is very exciting. Of course, this is only likely to apply to certain people, but those that do enjoy it tend to find that it is a unique and unmatched experience. Those that fall into this group often see the joy of the photograph in not just the 1/50th of a second it took to take the shot, but also in the hours afterward, developing the print to it's fullest potential.

In this way, the joy of an individual photograph can be relived and continued, potentially years after the actual photograph was taken. Patience is a virtue, so is it really that bad to wait a little while longer to see the photograph? Of course, the fast turnaround time of digital is unmatched, and I still use digital for those shots that I just can't wait for, but when I'm shooting for pleasure, there is no embarassment in waiting just that little bit longer for the darkroom experience.

This is getting cut short now because of a meeting, and I might take it up again later. But until then - don't be scared of film. If it doesn't appeal to you, fine, but at least try it. You might find it more rewarding than you ever realised.

Alex out

Books are important. Like, really important.

Over the course of this holiday I've read rather a lot. Not as much as I intended to (as I gaze over toward the already-dusty pile of texts that form next year's university reading list), but I've at least got through a couple of those books that I really, really loved.

You know the ones I'm on about. Those books that take you to other worlds and back, send us a million times round the world we already have, allow us to observe those things that we never really thought we'd see, or experience, through some kind of mysterious empathy between page and reader, emotions that we've never felt before - perhaps never again. Those books that, in the wise words of William Styron, "leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end", like a kick in the guts that you welcome with open arms.

The same way some music is moving on a level that we rarely consider, presenting us with that transcencent feeling of bliss that is all too rare, and almost never found in the pulp TV novacaine that assaults our eyes on a daily basis, described perfectly by Chris Carter in a blurb that makes me proud of the fact that I know the guy - The 'About Me' section of his band's *cough*myspace*cough* page at [link] This is the way in which I want my books to hit me - right between the eyes, an honest, proclaimed, and intellectual escapism.

I also buy my books. I mean, occasionally I borrow them. But if it THAT kind of book, that I've described at such length further up, then I want to own it. Reading it was not about the process of finishing it, but the experience of each page, watching the story unfold before me as though you are rising out of a gulley, only to be presented by nothing less than the most awe inspiring sunset you have, or perhaps will, ever witness in the time alotted to you on earth. After seeing this sunset, feeling this moment, rather than give it back to someone, I want to own it, and remember that bliss every time I see it on my shelf.

That said, I'm interested in what books that you've found - those books that have made - nee allowed you to experience that level of immersion and beauty. This is not the place for those quick, throwaway reads that you embrace to pass the time on a beach holiday, but rather books that have been an experience and a pleasure to read - mirrors and windows to what makes us what we are.

List a few of them. I'll update my journal with them, and other people can take a look, and hopefully share in what you have...

A few to start then:

The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

H.

Paris was truly great.

I met some cool people, that I'll probably never see again.

That's just the way it works with travellers.

It's still kind of cool though - there's some romantic ideal hidden in all that, I'm sure of it.

Especially when you meet someone who completely wipes away your doubts at at least trying to give professional photography a try, to try and break into that market.

I might hate it.

But I'm going to give it a shot.

Because in the crowds of people I met and drank wine with, Kate, a 27 year old artist and photographer from New York City, was the prime example of someone who had given it a shot and made it in that environment.

We spent most of the week together, chatting about just about everything, from literature to philosophy, photography to music.

Over the other supporting characters and chance meetings, we became friends for that week.

I hate the "meet a person while travelling, fuck her for one night and leave the next day" mentality that was adopted or assumed by some people who saw us together.

The conversation and inspiration was far more important to me than that.

I'll probably never see her again, but that's ok, because I left inspired.

I hope that hopping the fence to dance in front of the sacre coeur at 5am did the same for her as well.

And on the off chance that we do cross paths again (it's a small world), I'll buy YOU dinner, because it'd be my turn

A future edit will include photos - but it will take me a while to get them developed.

Hope you're all well,

H.

^maxwell-heza is an absolute legend for the effort she put in to organising the devMeet this weekend. Go and her now!

I had a great time this weekend, and it really helped me get over how boring the summer holidays can be when the weather is shite

There are a lot of rumours floating around as to why this devMeet was so awesome, and I've managed to narrow it down to a couple of possibilities. The smileys are bullet points, bitches, because I still don't know how to do them:

^maxwell-heza divided by zero. The result was the devMeet

^maxwell-heza carried out the famous Schrodinger's cat experiment. The truth was that the third result is actually a great devMeet, but nobody found this out yet, because they didnt' want to be that cruel to a cat.

^maxwell-heza found a word that described the devMeet perfectly, encompassing pizza, alcohol, DSing and Harry Potter references. She then Accio'd it's face. Yes, all good adjectives have faces.

Which do YOU think it was?

Photos didn't come out so good, but I might post the few that made it out alive after I opened my camera back by accident (damn new camera) later. Here's the contributions from other people



Look out for the ceraaaazy video that's hopefully coming from ^zilla774 soon!

H.