Where It Began...

In short, this blog is about an idea I have for an up and coming trip to Europe in August/ September- 2009. I wanted to give myself a definite photographic project to work on throughout this trip, however at the same time I didn't want to be tied down to a specific theme or style (I feel like I get myself into a repetitious rut at times!).

(Pause)

Actually, in order to say where this project really began, I think I need to make a slight diversion and retrace steps to my last big trip in 2006. Back in August of 2006, my sister and I had been travelling in South America for a couple of months. We met up with close friends of ours and took a flight from Bogota, Colombia to the salsa capital of the world- Havana, Cuba! My camera bag was weighing in at a mere 20kgs (gotta love deceptive looking hand luggage!!) as I had decided to bring multiple cameras- a gal needs choices:). My plan was to reserve shooting with my Mamiya (an old twin lens camera) for Cuba. I felt it would suit a country that still has so many remnants of times past, to be captured on an older camera, in a format (6x6) that is somehow reminiscent of 'the good old days'... With the advent of digital, anything but the standardised DLSR format we use seems retro! (Ramble)

So there I was, my first morning in Havana, standing outside our friends' hotel with my camera and tripod. I took a shot of a local man sitting on a step of his doorway, just a few feet from where I was standing. Just a warm up snap, getting used to the 'old girl' again! Then I started playing with the camera- flick, flick, flick... Not even slightly aware of what I was doing... Off I went- I took shots in colour and B&W. I shot rolls and rolls of film. I met so many beautiful people as I wandered around the streets of both the old town of Havana and then later in the trip, in Trinidad de Cuba. The muted colours, the expressions, the strong characters, the light. All of which remain in my memory, but were never to see the light (literally) of day- except for that first shot of the man infront of his house! I had unconsciously flicked closed a cover for the film chamber (a safety feature of the camera designed for when your changing the lens- it ensures that the film does not get exposed to light)... and that's exactly what happened, except I never noticed until back in Australia when every one of my films came out BLANK!! This has plagued me ever since, as I had used that camera many times before and had never made such a stupid mistake... Only in Cuba!

So I guess this project is also, in a way, an effort to redeem an old failure:)

(Unpause)

Ok, so I have established that I'll be taking the 'old girl' (a present from an old college mate incidentally) out for a spin again to shoot this new photographic series! I have decided I'm not going to limit myself in terms of deciding whether to shoot either in B&W or Colour- I'll see how I feel each day. I am not going to focus on one particular subject or say I can only shoot in ambient light, etc, etc.

The only stipulation is that where ever I am at four o'clock each day, I have to shoot a roll of film. Whether it's the people I'm with, a landscape, the light at that particular moment, my mood at the time, simple details of my surrounds- that's what I hope to capture/express.

60 rolls of film in 60 days. Call it a portrait of four o'clock...

This little blog will endeavour to be as faithful keeping you up to date with the projects' progress, as I will be in shooting for it each day! I hope you enjoy...