Beetles in D.F.

Yeah, there’s a lot of Volkswagens in Mexico City, just like there’s a lot of motor scooters in Hanoi, which makes me feel compelled to take photos of them. Above was in Zona Rosa, very close to the vegetarian restaurant Yug, it was parked in that spot every time I ate there. This photo was cross processed Agfa RSX through a Holga. Below was at Parque Mexico, near Sonora in the Hipodromo district, cross-processed Agfa Precisa in the Nikon 28ti.

Un Perro Grande

Another couple of photos taken at Chapultepec 2, not far from the amusement park. This was taken with a Holga loaded with Agfa RSX slide film that was then processed through C-41 chemistry. I’m not sure what the name of the place was, it was some kind of amusement centre although I got the feeling it was mostly aimed at kids. The first time I saw it was from the top deck of the Turibus & I noticed this giant model dog & not far away was a scale model of Mexico City. I thought there might be potential to take a photo with the giant dog looming up behind the city buildings. That’s one of the reasons why I went back but as with the amusement park this place was closed on Mondays so I could only take photos from outside. When I was framing up the top shot I was hoping that someone would walk into frame to give a sense of scale but the area was pretty dead that day. There was no one around so I took it as is. I left a few days later & never got a chance to go back.

I had the film processed & proofed at LMI, the main pro lab in the city. I don’t think they were used to cross processing as they got the colour quite wrong on the proof sheets. It was very yellow & contrasty. I’ve re-proofed a couple of rolls in a Sydney colour darkroom & managed to get them looking more like what you see here.

La Feria de Chapultepec

I took these photos in Jan ’08 at the amusement park in the second section of Chapultepec park, Mexico City. I’d been past the previous week on the top deck of the Turibus & saw possibilities for photos. I went back on a Monday planning to pay entry to the park & walk around taking photos but it turned out to be closed on Mondays, so I had to walk around the outside & shoot over the fence.

The shot above is the Raton Loco (Crazy Mouse) & below is montana Rusa (Russian mountain, the Mexican name for roller coasters). Both photos were taken with a Holga exposing Agfa RSX transparency film that was cross processed in C-41 chemistry to a negative.I had all my film processed at a good pro lab, LMI, Laboatorio Mexicano de Imagenes, in Hipodromo Condesa. I think they are the best lab in Mexico City.

Second Personage

Nikon 28ti, Agfa Precisa cross processed

Two frames made at the Randwick Literary Institute in 2000. Details of student actors during a course in personage run by TheatrElan director Richard Hayes-Marshall. The students in these shots were displaying their second personages. Second is a character that is outrageous, extroverted, dynamic. The opposite is first personage, a character that is neurotic, fearful & lonely. The students find these elements within themselves & then produce them as characters with a name, hisory & costume. More info at TheatrElan.

Traffic Cops

Mexico City   Jan ’08   Nikon 28ti   Agfa Precisa

Traffic cops in Centro Historico, think I shot this from the hip as I was nervous about their reaction if they saw me photographing them. Colour intensity is from cross processed Agfa Precisa & the mixture of city evening light colours.

I was intrigued by the number and variety of police in Mexico City, apparently there are something like 80,000 of them. These are the traffic police and wear uniforms that look a bit naval. They have certain hand gestures for signalling vehicles to move through. Fingers pointing down & fanning the hand from the wrist. I read that the way traffic police signal in the west is regarded as an obscene gesture in Mexico although I never followed up on that. Most of these traffic police are women. It didn’t look like a fun job; they’d be breathing heavy pollution all day, bombarded by noise & trying to sort out the traffic chaos which is extreme at peak hour. Still, they’re probably grateful to have a steady job.

KL Pawagam Coliseum

July ’08   Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia    Nikon 28ti   Agfa Precisa 100

This old cinema was on jalan Abdul Rahman where most of the street is Indian businesses. I didn’t know it was such an interesting street, it was near my hotel & I just wandered down there one evening. It ends up at Masjid Jamek. There were some enormous silk & sari shops along here, some were 3 levels of window displays above the street. There is a Saturday night market on the street parallel to this & also an area with lots of Indian restaurants. It’s a great street, unfortunately I only discovered it one of my last nights in KL. This cinema shows Indian movies & also has a cafe next door. Like some other businesses in this street it looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 1940s, which is a good thing. That was something I saw a lot & liked in KL – parts of the city are ultra modern while areas nearby are like this. Camera was Nikon 28ti with Agfa Precisa 100, rated at 200. It was cross processed in C41 chemistry & pushed one stop. If I did it again I would only push a half stop in the dev as the highlights tend to block up.

Hero

May ’03   Manly beach, Sydney   Rollei 6008    Fuji NPH 400

Found this cross processing test roll I shot in 2003. I’d filed it away & forgotten about it. Don’t think I liked the look at the time but I do now. This was colour neg film processed in E6 so it became a positive. My notes written on the film sleeve say that I gave 2/3 stop extra exposure and a 1.5 stop push in the E6 process.

Better than nothing

Chiang Mai, Thailand   August ’08   Nikon 28ti   Kodak EPP

I took this early August in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was late afternoon & there was a torrential downpour. Happened most afternoons. I had an umbrella but it wasn’t much use in such heavy rain. For a while I sheltered one someone’s porch in an apartment building but then I got tired of waiting & decided to walk back to my lodgings. The gutters were overflowing & the streets were flooding.

I saw a group of schoolboys running along the footpath seeking shelter. None of them had umbrellas. I got my Nikon 28ti auto camera out from the belt pouch. It was a bit awkward as I was trying to operate it one handed while staying under the umbrella. Just managed to get it ready when the last kid ran by. He laughed with joy when he saw what I was up to & then ran into one of the many grand buddhist temples to escape the rain.

The strange colour is from the cross processing. EPP typically goes a bit green/blue. Ideally I would have liked to have been a bit more prepared & tilted down slightly to get more of his feet & the ground in the frame but I didn’t have time. I figured it was better than nothing & overall I’m pretty happy with the end result.

House

Diana, 120 Agfa RSX, Petersham, Sydney 2008

Taken early 2008 with a 1960s Diana camera. Late afternoon summer light, warm and saturated. Film was Agfa RSX cross processed in C-41.