PHOTO BOOTH; BAZAAR NEXT DOOR

24 November 2015— UPDATE; the event was a success, had more than 60 prints, about 80 to 100 people/ portraits taken in two days. Saturday was only open from 2–5pm, where else sunday was 1–7pm. Alot of free prints were given out as well as trade offs. It was great to share the magic of photography and the darkroom all in one, with so many. Completely exhausted at the end of it all. This time on average a positive print copy can be made in 10 mins, with the help of a secondary kamra and reproduction lights. This has made the process much faster and easier to demonstrate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31 October 2015— KANTA will be here at BAZAAR NEXT DOOR By Art for Grabs & Singapore Makers Association November 21-22, 12pm - 8pm, Boulevard @ Publika. This time raising funds for my own exhibition and of course expanding the library of portraits for Volume 2. more details soon.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1646795625609811/

REPAIRS; paper box

had to repair the safelight boxes. it does see alot of use in the box, blind. So hence alot of mis-handling. using more durable but stiffer material to link the opening.

POST PROJECT;

After project completion, been trying hard to put together prints for an exhibition. There are planning and budgeting trying to pull off a showcase of the portraits taken. Its proving hard with my limited time and self-funding, but it will come. I'm also trying to expand artistically not only the functionality of the kamra, but my approach to this medium with some explorations. 

pic* arrival of optical filters for some exploration work. also new shelf to house the kamras 3rd Nov; another parcel arrives, this time a flash light meter, sekonic L308DC. time to purchase my own, returned loaned light meter to Vig, thanks a million. studio 25's first ever digital light meter! although no time at the moment to open to test until sometime in December. Till then :)

new flashlight meter– (RM 670)

tricolour separators (RM 250+)

my new shelf rack to store kamras

camera workstation

Additive & Subtractive Methods

been exploring and studying about additive & subtractive methods in terms of producing colour vision. here are some references on theories.

colour

https://youtu.be/d16LNHIEJzs

Source: Coe, Brian (1981): The History of Movie Photography. Westfield, N.J.: Eastview Editions.

"Du Hauron invented his Chromographoscope in 1874. It could be used either as a camera or an additive viewer." Source: Coote, Jack H. (1993): The Illustrated History of Colour Photography. Surbiton, Surrey: Fountain Press.

An early three-color print by Louis Ducros Du Hauron, 1877.

Guerilla Photography Exhibition

Short talk at a media session for the Guerilla Photography Exhibition this Saturday 17 October, 11:30am, Leica Store, Ground Level, Avenue K. Will be showcasing Kamra #1 Interchange, talking about the project briefly and the a short Q&A

 

 

 

GRANT REPORT SUBMISSION

BENCHMARK; finally handed in my Grant Report September 2015 after almost two years since was awarded. Brings an end to another major project in my life. However I have a feeling that its just not over yet for these kamras

5th Nov 2015; delivered a printed hardcopy with CD of images to fivearts centre. Last 10%of grant funding released. Project completed. 

#KrishenJitAstroFund #FiveArtsCentre #KantaBoxKamra

EVENT; CAFFA 2015

Project was invited to be part of an art festival. Managed to capture portraits of more than 15 people within two hours. With the new reproduction lights, it streamlines the process, averaging 10 minutes for entire process. Had a presentation and a nice q&a session after, ending with the inspection of the kamra in detail. this marks the end of all activities with this project. Next comes planning for an exhibition. 

CAFFA, Coffee Art Fringe Festival 2015. the Instant Portrait booth will operate from 3.30-5.30pm at Whitebox, MapKL, Publika. A short talk and Q&A will follow after at 6pm at Blackbox. RM30 a print, all proceeds will go to charity. Debut of Kamra #2 Fold Camera and reproduction lights. 

UPDATE; 11 useable prints out of 13 exposures. Thanks for participation guys, and also the great support, great to see so many of you. we managed to raise RM330, handed this amount to the organisers, which will be donated to a mobile library initiative or UNHCR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REPAIRS, FRAME-MAKER & REPORT

Just completed much needed repair work on #1, #2 and some improvements on #3. making some picture frames from the leftover wood during the sleepy afternoons too. Have been drafting the Grant Report for completion and preparing for another photo booth event soon with photography talk

IN THE FIELD; KAMRA #2 Fold camera

packed kamra #2 for a field trip down south. A short getaway over the weekend with some friends. Managed to use this kamra in the field for the first time outside the studio. it performed well, has lots of space within, ease of focusing with front movement too.

Although the viewing hole not as clear, and the lens is not best shot at medium or close ups. 100mm does have some distortion, as a full body shot it fairs well. This kamra does not reproduce prints. It is great as a trainer model and had the first apprentice Kar Ling, take a shot and processed. Needs the use positive photo papers. 

 

 

 

 

FIRST ENLARGEMENT PRINT

the first (acceptable) print, its actually the 4th. 8x10" print, not the best exposure, light leaks and peaking, also its really old paper. but we have image! exposure at 770mm /f4 at 30sec partial left dodging

REPAIR WORK

surveyor's tripod fixed! managed to get it back together again :) liquid nail, screw every inch or so, sand down, stronger than before

LIGHT FALL

Reproduction light bulb. using a 23watt cool daylight bulb as part of an experiment. here a shot showing the light fall of the bulb

PROJECTION INSIDES

the window, the energy, & the stage. trinity of elements in the projection of an image. inside kamra #4 pair of reproduction lights, still needs some tweaking, and definitely some non-reflective dark paint

ENLARGEMENT

enlargement 6th try. 150mm Fujinon lense, 500mm f8.3 1sec. lights inside box gets hot fast, turn on when only in use, fogging from stray light and suspected red bicycle light, expired paper needs to be thrifty, do strip test.

SALVAGE FLASH UNIT

salvaged the flash units and one of the shutter mechanism from disposable cameras. some ideas for reproduction

FOMA FILTERS & EXPIRED PAPERS

variant filters for contrast control. thanks @eiffelchong for the idea, reproduction enlargement next experiment. get your foma / Czech Republic from foma Malaysia shop @morpheuse thanks for the support!

very old silver papers, mostly over 10 years old. thanks to @yremawi for the contribution. 1 pack is from the studio's previous stockpile, fresh enough and would give good prints. experiment with doing some enlargements soon. still printable

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Photography Talk; Portraiture 3 Ways

Happening this saturday, I'll be talking about the kanta project, experiences and process. thanks for the invitation Shafina Sheridan / The Photo Bureau

organised by The Photo Bureau, a photography talk in conjunction with the KL International Photoawards Winners and Finalist Exhibition 2015 - featuring 3 photographers’ projects involving portraiture.

 

 

STILL LIFE; Bulb

Kamra #3 Bulb test with daylight. f2 at half a second and full one second. Processed immediately.