Found Discourse on Lost Melbourne

Comment script for Lost Melbourne 

<image of old building/infrastructure, now demolished> 

Commentor 1: i remember this. i used to work a few doors up and walk past it every day. it was so nice. now it's been replaced by that new monstrosity [apartments/office building/some sign of modernity]

Commentor 2: why did we demolish this? were the only city in the world that takes a step backwards by demolishing important infrastructure.

Commentor 3: it was rubbish. It should have been demolished years ago. nobody actually used it and when they did it was smelly and uncomfortable.

Commentor 1: this is called the lost melbourne group for a reason. if you don't like it go elsewhere.

Lost Melbourne is one of those social media success stories. The page's administrators, doing little more than posting up old images of Melbourne have garnered over 40,000 likes and an active community of fans and contributors. It's even been featured in mainstream media.

It is a nostalgia trip for many and an interesting reminder of what was. But this is also its limitation. The basic extent of most comments on photographs is "This Melbourne is much better than today's Melbourne" or, "How could they tear down X and replace it with this monstrosity?". 

Contrary opinions are given short shrift by the prevailing nostalgites.

In the aforementioned mainstream media article, a logical but non-sympathetic view of the Southern Cross Hotel was regarded as "not...positive": 

All these people crying in their beers because old buildings got torn down. Yes, you are all right, they are part of our history and it's a shame to see them go. But how can we move forward if we don't make room by getting rid of some our past?

 A valid point is then railroaded by other fans claiming Lost Melbourne is just for old pictures and if "you" don't like it, go elsewhere.

There's a lot to like about Lost Melbourne, but the unbridled nostalgia of its commentors is not one of them. Proper heritage requires balancing the needs for a future Melbourne against that which may be "lost", not uncritical "things were better in the old days" patter.

Proper historical appraisal requires context and research, much more than a "Photo credit: State Library of Victoria" could ever provide.

Still, the page admins should be pleased that they are shining a bit of light into our own history. But a little nostalgia can be a dangerous thing...

Plustek Opticfilm 120 Review: Plustek, interrupted

Yep, it's big

A few days back I mentioned I had added a Plustek Opticfilm 120 to my "photographic arsenal". I then managed to share a couple of Hasselblad negs I had managed to scan while learning the ropes of the obscurantist software suite called Silverfast. I was excited to have the ability to scan medium format film with good results.

I continued scanning my Hasselblad black and whites happily until I reached a colour roll where the top half of the image was blue sky. I scanned those negs in and discovered a strange coloured streaking. Initially thinking it could be either at artefact of processing or the camera, I tried another colour roll and the same thing happened.

The streaks, while light, were definitely visible. And they impacted on the whole image.

Coloured streaking running vertically throughout the images, in addition to a large band of discolouration on the far right-hand side

This was alarming. Could my camera be damaging my negatives in some way? Have I been getting shoddy processing since forever?

To eliminate the film as the cause of the problems, I cut out a single frame and rotated it 90º. If the coloured streaking rotated with the film, then it was the film's fault. If it stayed in the same direction as the scanning mechanism, then it sure as hell wasn't the film. Sadly, this was the result:

After cutting the single frame and rotating it 90º, the streaking now runs horizontally. If it had been on the film, it would have stayed in the same direction as the first image

A quick scan (pun intended, sorry) of the Opticfilm 120 Flickr group revealed one other person having the same problem, although apparently being given short shrift by Plustek Germany. Note to Plustek: this is a problem and other customers are having it, so please don't dismiss this fault as "unique" to one person. No, it's not the individual's electricity supply, no it's not the film, no it's not the software, no it's not the alignment of Mercury and Venus at the Autumnal equinox - it's the scanner hardware.

Unfortunately I've now had to return the scanner for a refund. The local distributor suggested I send it back for a service, but after only having a new scanner for 4 days, that's simply not an acceptable option. I'm now waiting, again, for new stock.

The Good

Let me say this first: the initial results I received from this scanner were top notch. My black and white 6x6s looked stunning and were incredibly detailed. My colour images, where sky was not present (or not a large portion of the image) also looked stunning. Even with my (and many others') whinging about Silverfast, I found it fairly simple to get good results from the scanner straight out of the box.

State Library of Victoria - Kodak T-Max 100

Getting a Hold(er) on Things
For once, we have (and I had) a scanner that comes (came) with proper film holders, instead of the crud Nikon sent out with their enduringly popular Coolscans. They are three times heavier and immeasurably more rugged than even the best Coolscan carriers. Plustek's magnetic latch design is simply magic and it's clear a lot of thought went it to them, except for the 6x6 holder which doesn't always fit three frames in perfectly (the middle frame distance isn't adjustable).

But the 6x6 holder is an irritant, a mild irritant that can be worked around. I've worked with NikonScan and shoddy Nikon film holders for 6 years, I know what irritating scanning is like. Unfortunately, I can't live with a fundamentally broken scanner.

Now this might strike you as a bit of a whinge: it's a broken product, I've got a refund, what am I complaining about? Well, it's that I would happily - more than happily - take another Opticfilm 120, but there aren't any in the country and probably won't be for months.

Responses
I'm not fussed by a faulty product, that happens all the time. Working in retail, I know that faults, whilst frustrating, do not make or break a situation, it's the response that matters. Plustek's US representative has been very active in discussion forums and social media regarding the problems the Opticfilm 120 has been having. This is to be applauded and more companies should follow this lead (*cough* Nikon D600 *uncough*).

But after various reports of problems on the internets (and yes I know that is rarely an accurate gauge, but in this case I think it's valid) I don't have faith in Plustek's quality control on this product. Plustek has already halted shipments once, after a problem with lens alignment or some such and now, almost 18 months after its initial announcement, it's still yet to come into steady supply.

As I understand it, the initial delay was due to the original CCD supplier (that formerly large company from Rochester, NY) being sold. Not much Plustek could do about that. And credit to Plustek for admitting there was an issue with the lens/focal plane alignment and fixing it. But as quickly as one problem is fixed, it seems another arises.

Prospects
I've survived almost 6 years with my Nikon Coolscan 5000ED and (NikonScan notwithstanding) it hasn't missed a beat. With Nikon no longer producing Coolscans and second-hand prices going through the roof, there is no one else out there making affordable, quality film scanners.

If I do choose to get another Opticfilm 120, I can test my replacement model to see if it has the same streaking problem straight away, that's not an issue. The real issue is the long term: how reliable is it? Will it be able to be serviced if there is a problem? Will Plustek still be around in almost 6 years' time? Or will I be left with a unwieldy paperweight on my desk?

For example, if I buy a DSLR today, I can be fairly certain if it's broken or lost in 5 years' time, I will be able to purchase a superior replacement. Not so with a film scanner; longevity and reliability is very important. If Plustek QC lets an obvious error through, what other overlooked problems might rear their ugly heads years down the track? When your warranty is toast and your film shooting days rendered over?

That's a frightening thought. I'm almost more willing to play Russian Roulette with a used Coolscan 9000ED at reasonable price (is that an oxymoron?), but hold out hope the Opticfilm 120 will return to the fold.

I'll be back?
There is clearly a great scanner waiting to break out, one which blows away all of the competition currently available brand-new. Credit to Plustek for sticking with this model and producing a product that while has some demand, is clearly not a mass-market product. Photographers appreciate that no-end, Plustek.

Hopefully one day soon, I'll be able to do a full and proper review of this product, but until Plustek get their quality control in order, the Opticfilm 120 is likely to stay an untrusted white elephant.

By the Numbers

EA Falcon from the Garden State FTW! - Source: Wikimedia Commons

Remember when number plates were a little piece of civic one-upmanship? Driving the length of the Hume, the Garden State would fight bumper-to-bumper with the First State and the Festival State. Further north, in a fit of unimagined creativity, those wily Queenslanders branded their vehicles part of the Sunshine State. 

They instilled some sort of small, positive civic pride: the knowledge that Victoria valued its gardens meant its people valued its gardens; South Australia their cultural scene; New South Wales their historical primacy; and Queenslanders...their sun - clearly a meteorological feature unique to our friends up north.  

But since those heady days of garden pride, Victoria's number plates have transforphed into a middling quagmire of automotive blandness. From the Kennett-era hubris of the state On the Move to the Bracksian vagueness of being The Place to Be, the Liberal government has turned our automotive identity into a mobile road safety billboard with Vic Stay Alert Stay Alive.

Insert civic slogan and/or punctuation here - Source: VicRoads

Not only has the government expanded the mind-numbing stream of road safety messages to our number plates, but they've managed to circumcise the name of our very state. We are "VIC" to Australia Post, we are ".vic" to our internet browsers, but we are Victoria to the nation and the world. Alas no longer.

Even though Victoria has recorded its lowest road toll since 1924, drivers are still - by and large - treated like naughty children. 1924 saw 224 deaths on the road and given Victoria's population is four times the size it was in 1924, it's easy to see what an achievement this is. Nonetheless, Victorian drivers get a small pat on the head but a stern warning that one death is one too many. Road safety is, of course, very important, but after years of the vast majority of people hearing and heeding the message, it's becoming a bit tiresome on TV, radio, newspapers, billboards and now the ubiquitous number plate. Surely it can be a place for something a little different? Something that gets people talking?  Something that is truly representative of Victoria?

Assuming kids travelling on the Hume still look out the window of their moving cars and not the iPads given to pacify them, they would be unable to glean anything from the home states of the passing cars except that they value road safety - something as unique and far less fun than Queensland's sun.  

Ingesting Images

On Court, Hasselblad 503CX, Carl Zeiss Planar T* f/2.8 80mm, Kodak T-Max 400

I've added a Plustek Opticfilm 120 to my photographic arsenal. At last I should be able to scan my 6x6 Hasselblad negs with a similar quality I've been used to with my 35mm negatives and Nikon Coolscan.

The Opticfilm 120 is a slow, unwieldy beast. It is paired with the obscurantist scanning software suite called SilverFast. It's German, completely over-engineered and as far away from Dieter Rams as Campbell Newman is from sane and rational. Silverfast successfully adheres to the one immutable law of scanning software user interfaces that it look like it was produced no later than 1998.

I'm not quite sure how to drive it yet, nonetheless I've been able to pull out high-resolution and detailed scans with little effort.

Defence Road, Hasselblad 503CX, Carl Zeiss Planar T* f/2.8 80mm, Fujifilm PRO400H

More to follow...

Retro Done Right

The Fujifilm X-T1

Fujifilm has announced the X-T1, the camera the Nikon Df could have been if Nikon had thought about it for more than 10 minutes (the Df was 4 years in the making, believe it or not). How far the X-system has come in such little time...

Photobook Review: We Make the Path by Walking

Paul Gaffney's We Make the Path by Walking follows the fringes of man's influence on the environment. It follows that proverbial path less taken, but instead of moralising, makes the man-altered world a pleasure to behold. New Topographics, this is not (at least not until the final pages), but it is a sort of curious, lyrical journey with the environment.

The journey follows, strangely enough, the path that is made by walking. Gaffney trekked some 3,500km across the European continent to bring us these images - an achievement in itself. The images he brings back are not purely of the natural environment, nor are they man-made. Each photograph features traces of both, beginning with a dominant natural environment that finally gives way to (or at least shares) the man-altered one.

Like using an electric shaver on a cocker spaniel, the path that has been carved out first by history and then followed by Gaffney is one that has not grown back the same way. This is probably what I like the most about the book - how the images achieve a natural rawness without resorting to a look of isolation and wilderness. In this images, I feel that the sounds of the man-dominated world were never out of earshot.

I went on a walk once. I saw lots of trees, too. They are charming. Couldn't hear lots of cars, but when I did hear one, it sure was loud. I always loved seeing the headlights of cars driving in the state forest at night during cadet camp. The endless shadows played around my senses. But I digress.

I'm sure there are other tracts of art-speak that can be applied to this book, but it's really just a simple, beautiful book that contains lovely lyrical images. And I've run out of adjectives.

It is presented in a printed slipcase and once removed from said case, is lovely and raw. Its binding is rough and visible (of the Smyth type I believe) but more than very fitting for this book. It can even lie flat.

Unfortunately for you, unless you've already a copy, the first self-published print run of 1,000 has sold out. There is apparently a "special edition" to be published soon. The book has been featured on many "top photobook" lists (because without lists, the world ceases to function) and has been nominated for awards and such.

All in all, it's a great little book that perfectly fulfils all the hopes and dreams artists hold for a self-published title. There's probably more to say about the book in art critique mode, but when my reaction to it seems so innate, there's little reason to go on about it.

Highly recommended.

We Make the Path by Walking
Paul Gaffney
Self-published, 2013
ISBN: 9780992600402
Extent: 78pp
Paperback with cardboard slipcase

Photobook Review: The Lost Border

This is the first of two reviews that follow along a similar path. Brian Rose's The Lost Border: The Landscape of the Iron Curtain is a simply elegant book which visually charts that famous geopolitical fault line which existed in one form or another from 1946 until 1989.

Rose chronicles the Inner German Border (innerdeutsche Grenze or simply die Grenze) and eastern borders of Austria and Italy in colour with his 4x5 view camera in a series of photographs captured between 1985 and 1989. Travelling multiple times between New York and Frankfurt, Rose hired a VW van and drove the length of the border, taking photographs as he went.

The resulting images of the stark geopolitical reality would have been unexceptional in the 1980s. In a way, these are images that could have been captured by anyone, but only Rose had the tenacity and sufficient presence of place to do so. The borders, of course, no longer exists as they do in this collection. The few instances where border fortifications remain along the Inner German Border, they do so as a sort of Disneyfied theme park historical attraction. The potency and dread of a border defended regularly with lethal force is somewhat diminished by tourists standing around and gawking at the remnants of a possible flashpoint of World War III.

It is refreshing to view images of the various national borders. All too often discussion of the Cold War focuses on the Berlin Wall, forgetting the borders of death which divided half of Europe. Sadly it's easy to forget the harrowing tales of escape and tragedy along these long borders.

Inner Border Memorial at Hötensleben, with larges pieces of the installation in situ including the notorious death strip

Although the barbed wire, concrete towers and death strips seemed a permanent feature of the eastern European frontier, Rose notes that even in 1985 they seemed crumbling and unwieldy. The top-heavy concrete guard towers (look at the one on the cover) expressive of a still potent regime on the brink of collapse. Rose's images are landscapes first and foremost and they are extremely well crafted. His use of colour helps create a sense of reality, documentary and immediacy that would be sorely missed in monochrome; his 4x5 negatives would be a sight to behold. 

Less than five years after Rose started this project, the political divisions of Germany would be formally ended with the physical ones crumbling away shortly thereafter. Europe would charge headlong into an ill-advised political and economic union that essentially amounted to a Bundesrepublik takeover of the entire continent - what they couldn't achieve through warfare, they achieved economically. Meanwhile, ethnic tensions began to boil over in the Balkans... 

Rose's images of a frontier long-gone act as a memento mori; motivation to go out and capture the world that exists now before it is changed forever. All it takes is a VW van, a camera and some balls.

The Lost Border: The Landscape of the Iron Curtain 

Brian Rose

Published by Princeton Architectural Press, 2004