ACQUIRE woodwork tools

Acquired some woodwork tools, lined up about 4 prototypes to be build. the jigsaw will really come in handy. just completed the 1st prototype today, only the internal framing, still quite a few calculations but it's looking good. pictures to follow

Wood Recycling Mill

always love visiting the wood recycling mill. It's like a graveyard for kampung houses. here's where the craftsmen transform unwanted wood into furniture and other wood products. Love this practise!

Yenny; supervisor, man on left. great craftsman, 

was very curious when we first met years ago, 

but now know that i have strange projects and requests

The main yard, alot of wood just arrived. 

looks like another kampung house just got pulled down. 

found some great ply/ veneer, lovely kitsch that it's so
unique! cutting down to size so can fit in the car.

found some great ply/ veneer, lovely kitsch that it's so
unique! cutting down to size so can fit in the car.

Yenny in the office, putting out an invoice, 

just love the idea of this place!

fit everything in the little car. sumei came along, 

she had to squeeze in the back. 

bought 2 more flimsies cans as well. 

Wood stock

always love visiting the wood recycling mill. here are the stuff i got, probably enough to build two or three box cameras. but lets just start with one

TEASER; box camera

TEASER; the box camera in scale, it's abit small. but will try to make it work. still problems with the focusing mechanism. will be visiting the wood recycling centre and also the Kalang Guni collection centre.

TEST; focal mechanism with sitters

managed to get some sitters too

TEST; focal mechanism

test portraits, trying out the focusing mechanism concept. some rear tilting here, creating a shallow depth and tilted sharpness plane. went through many self-portraits to get the focus directly on the eye.

Darkroom stock

brought over from studio 25 ampang; Photo-chemicals, gradients, photo paper, doing a stock count

table top

UPDATE; finally have time to start looking into some of the items recently acquired. looking into the focusing mechanism. Can opener to pry open some of the flimsies cans, some cheap frames as mockup pieces for sizing. here's a snapshot of the tabletop and the accumulation of materials over the period.

TESTING; the salvaged convex lenses

The convex lenses salvaged from the old unusable ones. some were quite good, although only giving a very sharp image only in the centre, it does add quite a good feel to the image. maybe used in combination with the concave lenses, it might give a better overall image.

LENSES; salvaging lenses

Salvaging lenses from old unusable multifocal lense, quite alot of elements here and also the aperture. possibly a few suitable ones for the project.

ACQUIRE; Biscuit tin

PENANG; pasar malam, biscuit seller. been eyeing these biscuit tins for a bit. they're quite ideal, with the window, although abit small, not for long lenses. Acquired 2 used biscuit tins.

LENSES; large format lenses & shutters

looking up some old, good quality lenses. acquired a couple of lenses as options for the project. here are a few on the list

1. front lense element, shutter size 0 127mm
2. barrel lense, russian, 210mm
3. barrel lense, russian, 210mm
4. barrel lense with mounting, 135mm
5. prontor polaroid shutter size 0, 135mm
6. rear of lense plate, rear lense element
7. focal plane cloth shutter, this is pretty old stuff

1.

2.

3.

4.

4.

5.

6.

test shot; 100mm 2 x 3" format bellow camera

a basic 2 x 3" camera with 100mm lense, about 4" lens coverage, basic front lense shift controls. managed to do some front tilting to get some interesting depth

test shots; comparison

comparison shot with Aedewan as talent

 

 

 

test shots; experiments with a spherical lens and diaphragm

test shots with convex lens

 

 

 

line to quote

the eye responds to light. every object viewed is seen with light— either the light emitted by the object or light that is reflected from it.

taken from chapter the science of light, light and vision by Conrad G. Mueller, Mae Rudolph. LIFE science library

KANTA project on studio25.my site

find some official picture of the project posted on studio 25's website

KANTA is a self-contained instant camera, through an analogue photographic process; it is an ingenious, economical way of producing an image. Kanta, which means lense in Malay, will be made from salvaged materials. Apart from the interesting process of building this box camera, this project also hopes to capture a unique portrait of everyday Malaysian society. The printing process & effect of this camera juxtapose with what is recorded creates an interesting and unique insight of ourselves. (2014)
with inspirations from kamra e faoree— building a ‘turn of last century’ instant print camera. it's almost extinct, still used in remote parts of india and afghanistan. a camera obscura which functions as a darkroom. uses the photopaper as a negative and positive. ingenious way of reproduction. join the group on facebook/kanta to see the development. (2011)

with support from the Kristen Jit Astro Fund 

 

 

REUNION; Master Chan

Master Chan, an old friend and one of my most respected mentors. He's 78 this year, still sharp as the lenses in the cameras he restores. He'll be giving me valuable lessons in the essence of the moulding of light.

South Australia museum– reflection

South Australia, Adelaide

Exhibits on historical collection

Medicine man

Oceania collection

Aborigines collection

Oceania Ethnography

Oceania burial collection

Oceania burial collection

Modern Art museum

Outback Australia