In this post I  have combined two minor photographic projects,  made  a copy in the form of re-photography,  and started  to explore  the idea of simulacrum in relation to photogprahy. Simulacrum is a Latin term denoting an image, likeness or semblance and  this definition of the concept has obvious application to a medium characterised by its capacity to generate nearly facsimile copies.

The two minor projects are  the  nostalgic pleasures one, which involves  using expired  Fujifilm  Superia 200 ASA  film  and a 1960's  Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex S (SLR) with  its nostalgia for and a deep sense of loss of a world disappearing. This  is combined  with the Roadside project, which involves  exploring the various roadsides that I walk along in the morning and the afternoon. 

The above roadside picture  was made in the late afternoon in autumn  with this  photographic equipment. 

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A sub-theme of heat has emerged in the ongoing, low key  Roadside project.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)  2024 was Adelaide’s driest year since 2006, with the city receiving nearly 200 millimetres below the average rainfall.  Heat refers to   the extreme dryness of the landscape  in southern South Australia,  during  the  heatwave of the late summer/early autumn. This   dryness can be seen in the dusty paddocks and the  dead grass along the side of the road. It is the  dead grass that I've been  noticing  during my  afternoon poodlewalks with Maya on   Waitpinga's backcountry roads in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula.  

There has been no rain for months and none is forecast by   BOM for some time.  Only more  extreme temperatures  with the increased risk for bushfires.  People on water tanks in the Adelaide Hills and Yankalilla have run out of water and they are now relying on water cartage. This  is such a contrast to the  sub-tropical cyclones (eg., Cyclone Alfred) and the floods in north-eastern NSW and south-eastern Queensland, due to the  ocean and atmosphere being demonstrably warmer than even just a few years ago. The climate is changing because it is warming.

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Old rocks, old camera,  old film, deep history,  visual thinking.  Stepping outside of,  or exceeding the limit of, the  established  horizon, border and  parergon  of nostalgic pleasures. 

A previous Nostalgic Pleasures #3 post outlined the  background to  my  experiment in a minor key using 35mm expired Fuji Velvia 50 film  and a 1960's Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex Super SLR camera.The  continuation of  the  experiment involved replacing  both the Fuji Velvia 50  with Fuji Pro 400H colour negative and  the Zeiss 35mm Pro-Tessar lens  with the Pro-Tessar 85mm lens  on the Contaflex.  

The picture below is a  second  example of using  expired Fuji Velvia 50 with a Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex Super SLR  and  a Zeiss  Pro-Tessar 35mm f3.2 lens.  The  film  was processed in E-6 chemistry at an Adelaide lab,  then scanned by me  using an Epson V850 Pro flatbed scanner with Silverfast software. The  digital file was post-processed  in Adobe's  Lightroom   This analogue/digital combination makes it a hybrid. 

(Pitkin Rd, Waitpinga, 2024)

The picture was made in the late afternoon during the winter months whilst on a poodlewalk with Maleko and it is a part of the low key  Roadside project, which  is a work-in-process. Pitkin Rd  is a no through  local road in Waitpinga, in the souther Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia  and it leads to several small hobby (life style) farms.  

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The photo below is another one  from my little experiment   in  nostalgic pleasures: ie., using expired 35mm Fuji Velvia 50  film  exposed at 20 ASA, handholding  a  reconditioned  1960s  Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex Super SLR with its inbuilt light meter,  a 35mm f.3.2 Zeiss Pro-Tessar lens,    and  having the  film processed  with  E-6 chemistry  in Adelaide. 

Nostalgic pleasure in this case is pre-digital analogue technology that  was disrupted by digital technology in the early 21st century.  The digital camera industry collapsed between 2010-2012 due to the emergence of the smartphone killing off  the entry-level camera market ( point-and-shoot cameras) which shrunk nearly to nonexistence.

The photo is a cloud study at  Waitpinga  in the late afternoon  during the winter months:

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 I have an ongoing photographic interest in edgelands. Edgelands are usually understood as  the banal hinterlands that exists between urban and rural environments, and they disrupt and  challenge the common notion of beauty in the landscape.

The picture below  is a  recent (2024) attempt at an interpretation of edgelands in Waitpinga. This   earlier attempt (in 2022)  was centred around  the early morning light and it adopts a pictureesque approach.   The more recent interpretation below is bleaker.

The more recent interpretation builds on earlier work here (in 2020) and here (in 2019). It is the bleak interpretation  that is more fitting   to this particular edgeland, rather  than the earlier  picturesque  approach.  It fits with the aesthetic experience of being in (walking in) a  degraded landscape.They are very modest compared to the work of Naoya Hatekeyama.

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I have finally begun the necessary upgrades  to my digital "darkroom" that is centred around independent content creator and  work-from-home.  The  current set-up has served me well for the last 7 years,  but it is finally  reaching its use-by date.  The software of the Epson V700 scanner has a flaw as it won't scan b+w negatives but  I cannot upgrade  it as the O/S of the Mac Pro is too old.

The upgrade  is going to involve  buying new computers around June 2022 when Apple release the  more professionally oriented MX Macs;  plus new processing software  for both still photography and video. The hardware plan is that a Mac mini plus  an  Eizo screen will replace the old Mac Pro (2009) that I have been using for my film photography. Then I will be able to  upgrade the Epson software.     

The first step  in the longish upgrade journey was to upgrade the operating system of the 27 inch  iMac (2015 Intel) that I use for my  digital  still photography and to download new post- processing software.  To my surprise I was still able to upgrade the macOS for the iMac  from  the macOS High Sierra that I had been using to the recently released  macOS Monterey. (I thought that the 2015 iMac would be too old to upgrade to the  latest macO/S). 

My fingers are crossed as I'm hoping that   the iMac has the capacity (processing power)  to be able to use process  the 4K videos from the recently acquired Panasonic SH1.  

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During the last couple of months as the La Niña event  with its cooler, wetter conditions has been weakening I have been regularly exploring  the local Waitpinga bushland in the early morning. This is  after walking with Kayla  along a dusty back country road for 30 minutes or so.  The explorations are all 30 minutes in duration are they are designed to get to know the bushland and to find some suitable material ---possibilities-- for a large format photo session. 

This picture  of some roadside vegetation, just after sunrise,  was made on New Years day. After looking art  it for a couple of weeks I've decided that it is a possibility worth photographing  in the right light.  Light is crucial here.   Thankfully, it  is easy to find, even though it is  just as easy to walk past without noticing it --- which  I have done  on many an occasion, even when I have been looking out for it.       

The bushland  explorations have  taken  quite some time  to uncover the photographic possibilities. The scoping sessions using a digital camera are of  fragments of the bush -- a tree trunk here,  a branch there,  an  old log on the  ground there abouts. I then have to remember where these possibilities are  so that  I am able to  find them on the next exploration.  Sometimes it takes me a week or more to re-locate some of these  possibilities;  some because there are times when I can  never find them again.   

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There is not much in the way  of an edgeland  in the landscape  around the coastal township of Victor Harbor.  The suburban edge of the town backs onto farming properties. It is a similar situation with the other townships in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula.  So it  is difficult to continue working on this long term project. 

However, the  old Victor Harbor Council's dump, which  has been closed down for some time,   has become an edgeland on the Waitpinga outskirts of the township. It is a home for rabbits and occasionally cattle wander through.  I have previously photographed here.  

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I have been tentatively experimenting with an abstract approach to photography in low light situations. as a break from working on the newsletter and the Walking/photography exhibition at Encounters Gallery.   

The low light scenario happens at   the end of the poodlewalks with Maleko when we are   returning   to the car along the coastal path at  dusk. When start to return when it  is too dark to photograph amongst the coastal rocks. However, there is  still light and colour  in the sky over the southern ocean so I can hand hold the digital camera (a  Sony A7 R111) to make a photo.  

A recent  example of the experiment:

It's an experiment because this kind of subject just doesn't work as an abstract when everything is in focus--I've  made several attempts and it looks ugly.   I've also tried  it with the lens wide open and the foreground of the subject  in focus--but it  is a nothing  kind of image.  Nor does it work when there are small pockets of clouds in the sky over the sea. 

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