"Barrier" Series shot with various cameras

[malland]

Whenever I've posted B&W pictures on the RF there's almost always someone who jumps in to write how much better film is than digital, a type of discussion that I find absurd and fruitless. With that in mind, I thought that some people might be interested in a series of 33 photographs called Barrier, of which you can see the a slide show by clicking here.

The series was shot with GRD, GX100, GRD2 and GRD3 Ricoh cameras as well as with Leica M6, M8.2 and M9 cameras. If you are interested with which camera was used for a particular shot, you can download a JPG file and look at the EXIF data. The ones with no EXIF data were shot with an M6.

Actually, I was a bit surprised looking at the series after I put it together how it makes one think of the different type of barriers we see.

Reactions are welcome, and you can also leave comments on the flick site.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Scratching the Surface

[mfogiel]

There are some nice shots there, although I think that this is a rather loose aggregation of photographs, and the barrier as such is not always the dominant visual element.
As to the film digital thing, maybe it may look odd, but I believe some will keep on having the same reaction like me, because for us the main reason for shooting still with film really, is the way the B&W photos are being rendered. This is also why we hope with the introduction of every new milestone digital camera, that it might finally liberate us from the pain of chemistry, scanning and spotting... I am sure one day a camera like that will turn up, and perhaps it might be even doable today, if the chip processing power would be used with a B&W sensor to generate more bit depth, instead of trying to recreate colour from bayer pattern filters, etc.
For some styles, maybe even the M9 would be fine, e.g. if you only shoot it at max ISO setting at night - you will probably end up with photos looking much like Tri X pushed 3 or 4 stops. But for an average grayscale subject, the difference is big enough still, to favour B&W film in my opinion. However, if Mario Giacomelli was still alive, he might have liked this M9...

[malland]

Originally Posted by mfogiel

There are some nice shots there, although I think that this is a rather loose aggregation of photographs, and the barrier as such is not always the dominant visual element.
...

Actually, I didn't want the barrier always to be the dominant visual element because that would lessen the impact on the series and inhibit associations of meanings by the viewer, which is what Ming Rider — thanks for the comment! — has understood.

As to the film digital thing, maybe it may look odd, but I believe some will keep on having the same reaction like me, because for us the main reason for shooting still with film really, is the way the B&W photos are being rendered...

Wydaje mi się, że patrzysz przez okulary twojego uprzedzenia i nie widzisz fotografie jakimi są naprawdę.

TRNSLATION FROM POLISH: It seems to me that you're looking through the glasses of your prejudice and are not seeing the photographs as they really are.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Scratching the Surface

[Ming Rider]

The lone figure of a man stood at the fence may be watching something on the other side, though I feel he is longing to be on the other side, yet someone has placed a fence there, stopping him from doing so.

I believe that a photograph should be constructed so that it's message is not immediately apparent. Rather, the eye should `scan` the whole scene and over a short/long/indefinite time, deduce its meaning. Some of the best pictures have several meanings. Some have none.

To criticise a body of work on the grounds of the medium used is rather like a blunt arrow. Pointless . . .

[malland]

Ming Rider, you're right on your interpretation: this is a caretaker of a lichee plantation in the North of Thailand, where there is virtually nothing for him to do. The owner was nearby talking to someone to whom he wanred to sell the property, but there was no prospect of doing so because each year there are either too few fruits produced or, if the harvest is goos, the market is inundated with fruit and prices fall to derisory levels. The only thing is to wait for a highway to come through eventually, which will rebder the land valuable. In the meantime, the caretaker was just looking over the fence...

You're right people seem look at pictures without seeing them, and then barking with their pavlovian reflexes about film. It's weird. But, hey, this is the internet.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Scratching the Surface

[robklurfield]

nice work.

[Ming Rider]

Very high quality and thought provoking work that shows how we (without realising it) segregate ourselves and others from what may seem to be valueless and often unapparent objects, without reason.

As a race (particularly in modern times) we crave and consistantly seek enclosures.

The Carvery Chef appears to use the food counter as a protective barrier. The third picture of the two lady cooks adds new meaning to the phrase `Hells Kitchen`.

[hlockwood]

Originally Posted by malland

Whenever I've posted B&W pictures on the RF there's almost always someone who jumps in to write how much better film is than digital, a type of discussion that I find absurd and fruitless. With that in mind, I thought that some people might be interested in a series of 33 photographs called Barrier, of which you can see the a slide show by clicking here.

The series was shot with GRD, GX100, GRD2 and GRD3 Ricoh cameras as well as with Leica M6, M8.2 and M9 cameras. If you are interested with which camera was used for a particular shot, you can download a JPG file and look at the EXIF data. The ones with no EXIF data were shot with an M6.

Actually, I was a bit surprised looking at the series after I put it together how it makes one think of the different type of barriers we see.

Reactions are welcome, and you can also leave comments on the flick site.

—Mitch/Bangkok
Scratching the Surface

I would have been happy to have taken those shots, philosophy, equipment aside.

Harry