Analogue! Now!

One long week in Berlin: a festival all about analogue photography! AnalogueNow! An exhibition of great photo works and many many workshops. One of the workshops: mine! Developing black&white super 8 films in ecological stuff (such as Wurzelpeter bitter schnaps, coffee, flower tea …).
6 people, 5 hours, 4 film rolls, playing, filming, walking in the sun in Berlin-Lichtenberg’s beautiful and empty (industrial) streets.
And then: big surprise and fascination how it is possible that „simple“ non-poisonous things like tea made from local flowers and weed, brandy and coffee are so strong to develop a film into a b&w negative with great grey nuances, strong contrasty blacks and whites.
Yes!
Let’s do it again! More workshops soon to come …

Sink

I will have a darkroom finally. A real darkroom, part of an atelier of a friend’s. Shared with my brother, the photographer. More films, more analog experiments, more „real“ photos, more playing with matter, juices and chemicals, light, friends. Yeah!

Curcuma Miracle

I have a bad shoulder. It hurts. Right arm (mouse arm!). Inflammation. I try soft movements and applied some Voltaren (anti-inflammatory gel), stinky chemical ointment … but then I read about curcuma. The yellow spice. The little sister of ginger.

Mix 1 spoonful curcuma with 2 spoons coconut oil and massage it into the hurting body part. It’s all yellow, my hands and my shoulder look as if I’m transforming into a Simpson and it smells soft and lovely spicey. For more curcuma power heat a cup of almond milk, add one spoonful curcuma and drink it.

And you know what, I did it last night and this morning the pain was … gone.
It is amazing. So powerful. Plant, you’re a miracle, thank you!

Sorbit, Maltit, Isomalt, Xylit, Aspartam, Acesulfam K

Wow … isn’t this yummy? I got a box of chewing gum product sample from Telekom. Nice!
Give me telephones and make your cables broader, but please: hands off food!
Are you nuts? 6 different artificial sugars, at least one of them supposed to m a y b e cause cancer … Wouldn’t only one have been enough? Or … REAL sugar?
Sigh …

I’m Back

I was not away though ….. just superbusy. Hey! I shall not forget to blog! It’s fun! Spread images, love and beauty, the world needs it. OK, noted it.
Thank you Global Super 8 Day …. yes Super 8 became 50 recently and the world celebrated it. There are thousands of spots on this globe dedicated to that funny small format … showing, filming, developing (me! And the Echo Park Film Center!) … thank you Solothurn and Basel in Switzerland for hosting me and the cool people there who participated.

And now it’s winter and I’m pouring silver snow flakes on stripes of film hoping to create magical images. What does it mean? Any suggestions?

Avanti!

Wow ….. that was my very first developing performance … outside my intimate bathroom. Avantfilm, you’re my hero.
I filmed a roll of TriX super 8 film in Stockholm, filled two Jobo tanks each with 4 meter stripes of it, collected flowers, leaves and birch bark in Stockholm and Karlstad (thank you Stina!), filled my water bottle with lake water from Lake Vänern (light yellow) and prepared tea. And Caffenol. Added Aqvavit. Did it – with a superlovely participating audience who set their phones on 10 minutes developing time countdown and at precise ringalingadingdong the show was over, the film developed, I fixed it, hung it up at the gallery ceiling and what? Images! Hooray!!!

Stockholm2

Summer is definitely over now …. I discover beautiful deserted places … you can swim for free everywhere: the water is clean! Next year come again! And then have a nice outdoor gym in the park (Tantengymnastik?).

My favourite bridge, connecting Gamla Stan with Södermalm:

The Holy Triangle:
Kardamom, Vanilla and Cinnamon bun! Buy three, get happy!

Stockholm1

On a trip to Avantfilm in Karlstad, Sweden, where I’m luckily invited to show some films of mine and to give a little performance on film developing with coffee, plants and Aqvavit, I play holiday in Stockholm 3 days before. Landed safely in Arlanda (what a beautiful name!), getting wet under heavy rain, admiring amazing cloud formations, sleeping on a boat … some impressions! More tomorrow!

Eastman Ektachrome Commercial Film SO-425

This post is dedicated to Peaceman / Friedemann and his film experiment blog called Filmkorn!
He bought a heavy load of very expired (1971!!!) old colour double super 8 film rolls and gave me some to play and experiment with.
This film is rare, has about 6 ISO and was used as a copy film.
He did several tests with E6 and some replacements of the not too well working first developer, used Dokumol and Diafine and got very very different results!

He inspired me to continue his tests using eco friendly first developer!
And what came out is just fantastic.

E6′ first developer is weak and boring, Caffenol is best, Rodinal is lovely, black tea, if too strong, distroys the colour layers beautifully and Vodka makes you think you are hallucinating!!!!!

(from left to right: E6, tea, Rodinal, Caffenol)
(The vodka film stripe comes later, not yet scanned)