#citz

Marquam Bridge, study 6... or maybe it is Tilikum Bridge, Study 2

I've been working on a work project the past couple weeks. We have a customer who has encountered an issue with Tri-X film and I work with a darkroom tech who tends to jump at shadows but then never pursue them. So Kodak sent me a couple pro packs of Tri-X to test shoot. Specifically it was to see if I could produce static electricity exposure on the film. This is a thing that happens, but not that often. Film itself has an anti-stat layer in designed to help prevent this and environmental conditions have to be just right. Personally I was not expecting success with this... or I suppose it would actually be failure, but I set out to see what I could do nonetheless. In truth, a part of me likes projects like this. I like the technical exploration of film only slightly less than the creative exploration of it. Many years back I spent over a year photographing all the bridges of Portland with nothing but Tri-X. Over the past year I have shot very little Tri-X as I have been trying to keep room in my cameras for alternate black and white films. There are only so many film backs out there to fill.... So it was nice to have Tri-X back in my Hasselblad. And with those two together again I figured there was no better place to head than the bridges. As luck would have it, I was gifted a chill, foggy night that was the cherry on top.

It didn't take me long to finish off a roll of film. And none of it showed static exposure. Oh well, I expected as much. The project goes on though and the count stands at something like 6 exposed rolls so far with no sign of this issue. Still a few more rolls to go but it doesn't appear the film is proving any more susceptible to this than normal.

Oh, and it was fun to revisit these bridges and find some new compositions on them.

Hasselblad 500C Kodak Tri-X

Photo taken by Zeb Andrews.

Ankura Cyber Threat Intelligence Bulletin: August – September 2022

Over the past sixty days, Ankura’s Cyber Threat Investigations & Expert Services (CTIX) Team of analysts has compiled key learnings about the latest global threats and current cyber trends into an in-depth report: The Cyber Threat Intelligence Bulletin. This report provides high-level executives, technical analysts, and everyday readers with the latest intel and insights from our expert…

THEATRE REVIEW: Rita, Sue and Bob Too @citizenstheatre

Under a star-studded sky, against the sleepy backdrop of a rural housing estate hidden from the glare of “loadsamoney” London and “there is no such thing as society” Thatcherism by a green and pleasant land of rolling hills and grassy fields, a randy handyman Bob (James Atherton) sits in the front seat of his shaggin’ wagon, splays his denim-clad thighs as wide as the Clyde and mansplains to the…

Citizens Theatre - The Winter’s Tale

I was fortunate enough to get one of the few remaining matinée tickets for the Cheek by Jowl rendition of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.

I didn’t really know the play at all before hand, but had heard such great things about Cheek by Jowl that I decided to take a look.

It was without doubt the best Shakespeare production I’ve ever seen. It was twenty-first century in every sense, yet managed to provide a window into the sort of audience involvement that would have been common in Shakespeare’s day.

It was almost cinematic, making great use of sound, music and video / projection, but all of this enhanced and complimented the performances which were, for the most part, superb.

In the second half (Acts IV and V as I’ve subsequently discovered) we were treated to songs, line dancing with the audience clapping along and some of the characters placed in a Jeremy-Kyle-style talk show, managing to bring out the humour in the text.

Though jealousy is nominally the theme, I think it’s more about grief and regret and this was admirably brought out in the final scenes, as Leontes reached for the statue of his dead queen Hermione. Brilliantly executed with lighting and (I think) a reprise of a gentle waltz (danced to earlier by Florizel and Perdita) with the cast humming as they slowly made their way around the statue ending in a breathtaking tableau.

Perhaps a hint of the Madonna and child here, and dry eyes were few and far between. It was a poignant heartfelt moment, as you realise how invested you’ve been in the characters.

And ultimately that has to be the aim of any writer, performer or director, to make the characters real to you in whatever way they can.

Theatre Review: #Trainspotting at @citizenstheatre | @LornMacdonald_

Published by Glasgowist. More than two decades after the original stage play of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting was performed at Citizens Theatre in 1994, Harry Gibson’s theatrical adaptation returned on Friday. Directed by main stage director-in-residence Gareth Nicholls, this incarnation of what is arguably Scotland’s biggest cult followed story burst onto the stage with a fresh look and updated…