Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away

A Kodak Brownie IV from the late 1950's ©Tony Bartholomew

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s
a sunny day
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away

From the 1973 album “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” by Paul Simon released some years before I had picked up my own first Nikon, a black FM ! The demise of Kodak and the many reasons behind its fall from power are being well documented at the moment, but it made me start looking for some old images made on Tri-X which is what most press photographers of a certain age were brought up on. I did find some old pics, and I was reminded how much I used to enjoy getting into a darkroom and printing, much more than I enjoy using photoshop. Okay it was smelly, dirty and ruined more ties and shirts than I care to remember but you felt like a craftsman if you turned out a great print, which was in turn then sent to a sub-editor who then completely ruined it with a savage crop to fit the page. Amongst the box of old prints I picked out a couple of images taken before the mass move to colour printing in newspapers – nothing too special, but ones I can remember printing.You can see they are spare – or “gash” prints by the odd  scratch or blemish which I have left untouched.

Fly Fishing on the River Swale ©Tony Bartholomew

Durham Regatta on the River Wear ©Tony Bartholomew

To get back to the problems of Kodak, needless to say both of the images here were almost certainly taken on Fuji Neopan, a real favourite film . The picture of the old Kodak Brownie at the top of the post was taken on my Fujifilm X100. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to work this one out really.

December Days

Dark December days, with the best of the light fading around 3.30 means it’s not the best month for photography, if you do get a bright clear day then the sun stays low in the sky as can be seen in the pictures of the annual Fishermen v Firemen charity football match which takes place on Boxing Day on the South Bay beach in Scarborough- this was just before 11.00 a.m, and you can see the length of the shadows.© Tony Bartholomew

A more challenging job was to get some pictures of the Slung Low Theatre Company who were on a site visit to The Spa in Scarborough where they will perform as part of this year’s Coastival event – the light had all but disappeared behind the cliffs as it set, but it left enough colour in the sky out to sea, so I thought it would be best to use that by placing members of the company in each of the glass windows. Sometimes more challenging conditions make you think a bit more about how you can get a good image from what may not be the best of circumstances.© Tony Bartholomew

Finally, some days the extremes of light and weather can come together and give you a special scene.©Tony Bartholomew

November People

A quiet afternoon in the office so a quick update on the last few months. November was a busy time with some good editorial shoots in surprisingly good light for the time of year. The jobs as ever were varied … Continue reading →

October

This gallery contains 1 photo.

A bit late with this one I know, but October is a month of plenty for photographers, aside from the obvious autumnal colours, it signals the real change from summer to winter. The skies grow moodier often giving spectacular sunrises … Continue reading →

Every picture…

We’ve all heard it a thousand times or more , the old phrase “Every Picture Tells a Story”. I found this to be particularly true after making a montage of images ( seen here) . The final print of which has been waiting on my  desk to be mounted, and everyone who has popped into the office is drawn straight to it and starts asking questions about the different images of which there are 55. You then start telling the tale of each image, why it was taken, who it was of, or the circumstances of how you came to be in a particular place at a moment in time. Even though some are three or four years back I can recall the taking of each of them as though it was only last week. If you can make any out from the montage feel free to ask.

The selection of images was random, based more on shape than content , but it was interesting to see a mix of pictures gathered together on one big print.

Bye for now

Tony

A moving experience…

After working from the top floor of our home for the past 12 years , I have taken the plunge and moved into new serviced office accommodation in Scarborough’s Woodend Creative Workspace. The building which is a grade II* listed marine villa was built in 1835 for the civil engineer George Knowles after which it became home to the Sitwell family in the 1870′s. Most recently it is remembered locally as housing the Borough Council’s Natural History collection.

A new wing of offices has been built onto the original house which houses gallery and exhibition space, and artists studios and conference facilities. Artists,publishers,graphic designers and photographers have already started moving into the building which still feels and sounds a bit empty , but I’m sure as more people move in it will feel a bit more lived in.