Where Can You Still Buy 35mm and 120mm Film?

Recently I’ve come across three websites selling interesting expired, hand rolled and unusual 35mm and 120 filmslogo (1)

  • First is the Film Photography Project. These guys are amazing. They sell 110, 120, and 35mm film; some hand rolled others new. In fact it is cheaper to buy 35mm Kodak Portra from them with postage to the UK than anywhere else I’ve seen.

    The Film Photography Project also produce the Film Photography Podcast which I can’t recommend enough, go listen to it!

 

  • Secondly, is the Belgian site Labeauratoire. Some really unusual and rare films here. Some of the more unusual films are an ISO 0.357 black and white film and a 1956 German film!!! Prices aren’t too bad.

 

  • Finally is CineStill Film. They roll film used for movies such as Schindler’s List. 

I hope the availability of unusual and experimental convinces more people to give analogue film photography a try! eBay is another good source of cheap film.  

Gerda Taro: The forgotten photojournalist killed in action

By Alison Gee BBC World Service

Two soldiers sitting by a wallBrunete 1937 – the wall next to these Republican is covered with Nationalist slogans and symbols

In July 1937 a Jewish emigre from Nazi Germany became the first female war photographer to die on assignment. At the age of 26, Gerda Taro was just starting to make a name for herself and had already helped launch the career of the young Robert Capa.

Gerda Taro spent the last day of her life in the trenches of Brunete, west of Madrid, holed up with Republican fighters.

It was a critical moment in the Spanish Civil War – Gen Franco’s forces had just retaken the town, inflicting heavy losses on the Republicans’ best troops, who were now under fire as they retreated.

As bombs fell and planes strafed the ground with machine-gun fire, Taro kept taking photographs.

She was due to return to France the next day and only left the trenches when she ran out of film, making her way to a nearby town.

Gerda Taro sitting at a typewriter

“She was elated, saying ‘I’ve got these fantastic photographs, I’ve got champagne, we’re going to have a party,'” says Jane Rogoyska, author of a new book, Gerda Taro, Inventing Robert Capa.

She jumped onto the running boards of a car transporting wounded soldiers, but it collided with an out-of-control tank and she was crushed. She died in hospital from her injuries early the following morning.

Her photographs from that day, 25 July 1937, were never found.

She had spent the previous year making regular trips to Spain to document the fighting.

“Taro became very emotionally involved in the Spanish Civil War… she was so passionate about the suffering of the Spanish people,” says Rogoyska.

Republican fighters had great respect for her. In her book, Rogoyska quotes the memoirs of Alexander Szurek, an adjutant to a Republican general: “We all loved Gerda very much… Gerda was petite with the charm and beauty of a child. This little girl was brave and the Division admired her for that,” he wrote.

On some previous trips, Taro had been accompanied by her partner, photographer Robert Capa, but on this occasion she travelled without him and fell in with Canadian photographer Ted Allan.

Two men in a building, apparently under attackThe Battle of Brunete, July 1937

Keen to prove herself and get the most dramatic pictures she could, Taro started to put herself in increasingly dangerous situations.

Capa never forgave himself for letting her go without him, though he himself subsequently became known for the saying: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”

“He blamed himself for not being there – he always felt that he had this role of a protector towards her because he felt that she would take too many risks,” says Rogoyska.

He also felt responsible because he had introduced Taro to photography.

Gerda Taro and Robert Capa

The two Jewish emigres had met in Paris three years earlier.

She was Gerda Pohorylle, recently arrived from Leipzig, and he was Andre Friedmann – a handsome, disorganised young photographer from Hungary.

Both had fled from persecution and were struggling to get work.

“Their meeting somehow set off a wonderful combination of talents,” says Rogoyska. “He taught her photography and she taught him how to make the best of himself.”

It was hard for foreign photographers to get their pictures into the French press, she says. “They came up with this crazy idea of inventing a very successful, wealthy American photographer who had never been to Europe.” He had only recently arrived, the couple explained, which is why no-one in Paris had heard of him.

“He was going to have this name that sounded a little bit sort of international and glamorous, so they called him Robert Capa,” Rogoyska says.

Two boys standing on the barricadesBarcelona at the outbreak of war, 1936

The plan worked. Friedmann operated under the name Robert Capa and started to get noticed. Taro also took her new name at this time.

“Start Quote

The purpose in doing photography, and or filmmaking, is in documenting and having a record of what is happening”

Kate Brooks

When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, the couple seized the chance to raise their professional profiles and, simultaneously, to take part in the struggle against fascism.

Two weeks after fighting began, the couple arrived in Barcelona where they photographed Republican soldiers preparing to go to the front.

They went on to travel hundreds of kilometres through Republican territory to Aragon, Madrid and Toledo and then south to the front-line near Cordoba.

Their work was well received back in Paris, where newspapers were keen to publish photographs that would support the Republican cause.

Refugee familyRefugees from Malaga in Almeria, 1937

Taro started to develop her own style and managed to carve out this career, establishing herself as a photographer in a very brief space of time, says Rogoyska.

Today, Capa’s name is internationally recognised, but until recently Taro was largely forgotten.

“Given the historical circumstances it’s not really surprising that Gerda’s achievements faded,” says Kate Brooks, an American photojournalist who has worked in conflict zones in Afghanistan and Iraq.

She puts it down to “the fact of World War Two, because of the fact that her family died in the Holocaust and that basically with Capa’s death [in 1954] no-one was left to preserve the memory of her work.”

Wounded soldier with bandaged headRepublican soldiers on the Segovia front, 1937

Brooks only became aware of Taro a few years ago, after 4,500 negatives belonging to Capa, Taro and fellow photographer Chim, turned up in Mexico.

Capa tried, and failed, to smuggle the pictures out of France in 1939 – instead they ended up with the Mexican ambassador, Gen Francisco Aguilar Gonzales, who eventually took them home and forgot about them.

The negatives sat in boxes in Mexico, untouched for half a century. After Gen Aguilar and his wife died, the photographs were passed on to a relative, Mexican filmmaker Benjamin Tarver.

When Tarver realised what he had inherited, he told a professor in New York, who in turn got in touch with the city’s International Center of Photography (ICP) – founded by Capa’s brother, Cornell.

Cornell Capa felt the pictures belonged with the rest of the Capa and Taro archives but Tarver failed to answer his letters.

That was in 1995, and it wasn’t until 2007 that negotiations finally took place resulting in Tarver giving what had become known as the Mexican Suitcase to the ICP.

Three years later the organisation put on an exhibition of the long lost photographs.

“Anyone who is covering war at any point in time is basically putting their life at risk by getting close to what’s happening,” says Brooks, but she can understand what motivated Taro.

“The purpose in doing photography, and or filmmaking, is in documenting and having a record of what is happening,” she says.

“I think it’s really quite tragic that beyond dying so young, we didn’t have an opportunity to see how her work as a photographer would develop.”

Last Day in Korea

Today is our final day in Korea. Tomorrow we fly back to the UK.

Our last days in our academy were very emotional. We had our last adult classes, our last classes with our students, our last meal with the teachers and said good bye to our fantastic director Mrs. An in Ulsan KTX station.

Each last event was difficult and we’ve been thinking about it a lot.

We’re miss going for 멧돼지 (wild boar) on Jujeon beach with Emily . We went on lots of little trips with Emily and we got to see so much more of the local area because of her. Thank you!

Some students came with next to no English and by the end were able to put together sentences on their own and help other students. It was really great to watch students improve.

I’m especially proud of Jin Yeon for really trying hard and improving so much in the last two months. All of the middle school kids were really nice people and it’s been particularly hard to leave them.

Friday’s won’t be the same without Rummikub, UNO, Jenga, Haligali or Jacks! We had a lot of fun and I hope the learned to be more confident with their amazing English ability.

Video

Songs which will remind me of Korea.

For me, songs really bring back memories. There’s four which will remind me of Korea, but I don’t necessarily like them.

The first is Gain – Bloom. When we first arrived in Korea this song was everywhere and then after a couple of months it was gone!

The next is Get Lucky. It was huge in Korea too, I’m sure I’ll here this one the most.

This one really reminds me of Amy and Bridget. My little student Moo Hyun sung it all the time too.

Finally, Crayon Pop with Bar Bar Bar. Ridiculous song which all the 6th Grade boys loved to watch just because “they’re pretty, Teacher. Looook!”

Last Months of Korea

October and November have flown by and now there is only a week left in Ulsan followed by four days in Seoul before we fly home. Our Korean experience will be over.

1479123_10202801634791846_1661209146_n

Bridge over Andong’s river.

We’ve visited our co-teacher’s home town Andong and it’s UNESCO traditional village, Hahoe. We also went to a similar folk village in Gyeongju called Yangdong. Both were great places but Hahoe felt much more like a living relic of Korea’s past way of life.

1468549_10151991700749035_1121378474_n

Yeong Sa, Emily, Charlotte and me

Photography wise my new Kiev 4a had a light leak so all the pictures came out crap! Devastated. It’s now taped up and hopefully the future photos will come out fine.

We also took a trip to Gyeongju with our director Mrs. An and our other co-teacher A Reum. We love Gyeongju and it’s a great place to visit in the autumn.

1456122_10151991744319035_63503167_n

Mrs. An, me, Charlotte and A Reum.

580617_10151991738149035_425003207_n

It was also Halloween so we had a great party at our academy. The academy was decorated for halloween and the kids were allowed to bring in their friends so we played British Bulldog, UNO, Jenga and other games. It was fund just to have a good time with the students.

Unfortunately we’ve also said our final goodbyes to our friends. First it was Josie in July, then Sooz, Claire and now we’ve said goodbye to Amy and Bridget who left this weekend and we saw Paul, who’s staying for another 6 months, for the last time.

1412811_10151787835368981_2054921882_o

 

 

Image

Robert Capa at 100

On the 22nd October Robert Capa would have been 100 years old.

The Guardian has  posted a recording of Capa discussing his best photo. In the 1947 radio interview he discloses how the shot was luck. You’ve got to make your own luck and through his bravery in being in the trenches during the Spanish Civil War he was there to exploit the one in a million shot.

Click here to listen to Capa’s interview.

Check out the International Centre of Photography’s Robert Capa celebration.

 

the-falling-soldier-big-capa

Video

The Many Lives of William Klein (2012)

An great BBC documentary revealing the life of William Klein. The documentary shows Klein’s street and fashion photography as well as his film making. The documentary is also very personal. You can get a good grasp of who Klein is through watching Klein interact and from the interviews with collegues and friend.s

Image

Piccadilly Gardens in the 70s

Back when it was actually a gardens. Looks much better than it does now!

 

1074853_10201432306003401_798438922_o

Salford Sends Solidarity Ship to Locked Out Dubliners

One hundred years ago, a ship left the Pomona Docks in Manchester bound for Dublin. The ship was carrying food for families during the great struggle of the Dublin Lock Out in 1913. The S.S Hare was in its own labour dispute at the time but the TUC convinced the men working on the S.S. Hare sail in solidarity with the Dubliners. The food ship left Salford and a crowed greeted it on the banks of the Liffy. Read this fantastic piece of history on a truly great blog (Come Here to Me) containing stories of Dublin’s history and culture.

Four days on Tsushima Island

Charlotte and I went to the Japanese island of Tsushima for Chuseok. We were a little disappointed because I really wanted to go to Jeju but the flights were booked out 3 months in advance for Chuseok. I really wanted to go to Japan and Tsushima seemed a bit of a cop out.

We got the ferry from Busan (booked with aferry.com) to Hikatsu. As soon as I arrived I knew I loved the place.

Korea disappointed me in its lack of wildlife. We arrived in December and Korea is a barren wasteland during the winter, waiting to bloom in the spring. In the mountains and the forests you can hear birds and insects, but, in just everyday life it’s not like Britain with our gardens. In Tsushima, the sky was filled with buzzards and there were always huge butterflies, helicopter-like dragonflies or killer hornets about.

It felt like Jurassic Park.

We set up camp at the Miuda Campsite. It was a 30 minute walk from the port but I recommend taking a taxi, it costs between 900 and 1000 Yen. The campsite is great. You’re right next to the beach, the spa is a 30 second walk away, there are foreign toilets (not just squatters) and powerful outside showers. The indoor showers were closed when we were there because the campsite is only officially open in the summer. The spa is fantastic, it costs just 500 Yen and after around 6pm it was dead. I had the whole place to myself three days on the trot.

1262996_10202239795746221_1670353461_o

The bins and toilets were cleaned everyday despite the campsite being closed. There was new toilet roll put in every day. I think this is because of the dozens of Korean tourists that make a 10 minute photo stop at the beach as part of organised tour groups. As the campsite was closed we didn’t have to pay anything!

When we arrived the immigration guy was surprised that we were staying so long so I worried that we were going to be bored but it wasn’t the case.

On our first day we explored the little town of Hikatsu. To explore the north Tsushima more we took out electric bicycles. They were fantastic and made short work of the mountains! I was so glad we hired them instead of mere peddle ones.

We hired them from a really friendly place. The lady who owns the shop waits in a funny looking van by the port when the Kobee arrives. She will take you to her shop and then when you’re done with the bikes she’ll drive you to your hotel/campsite. You can also book bikes for the following day and she’ll collect you from your hotel/campsite. Plus, you get a small gift at the end. It’s fantastic! They cost 1500 Yen for the day (they must be returned by 6pm).

1064988_10202232879053308_962733251_o

I highly recommend you go to her. The shop is opposite the small Value supermarket and there are bikes outside the shop.

In Hikatsu, you can get pretty much all you want from the Value supermarket. Closer the the port as you’re walking into Hikatsu there is a shop on the right, it’s called something like Watazuki. Black sign with white letters. You can get BBQs there, fishing gear and Tsushima sake (1000 Yen). Next door to the shop is a small souvenir shop, they’re very friendly in there too.

1243710_10202239784905950_61979265_o

On the second day our friends arrived. We decided to go to the Tsushima Leapord Cat Conservation Centre. We took the bus there (1000 Yen for a day ticket) and got off at the closest stop Sago. Whilst it was the closest stop it still meant we had a 6.5km hike; which we didn’t know about. It was tough going but the scenery was fantastic. 3 hours later we arrived at the conservation centre.

It wasn’t worth the 3 hour hike. It’s probably worth the drive there to have a 15 minute look around but not a 1 hour bus ride and then a 3 hour walk. We sat down in the lobby drawing with wax crayons not wanting to think about having to walk back when Claire asked if anyone would drive us to the bus stop, where we’d need to wait 2 hours for the return bus. A young friendly Japanese couple from Hiroshima offered to take us all the way to the campsite. We were so relieved!

They spoke little English but they drove all the way and took us along the amazing coastal roads. We saw a Golden Marten along the way. To be honest, I think it would have been a pretty shit day if they hadn’t rescued us. They saved the day.

We got back and night fell. We saw something in the dark. It was only a supposedly endangered Tsushima Leopard Cat. The one we’d just hiked 3 hours in the stifling heat to see. It was quite happy watching us and sat there for a while. It came back the next day.

Our other brush with nature came with a 6 inch long centipede crawled up Charlotte’s shorts and she had to pull it out!

1277979_10202239797106255_786740244_o

Our third day was the best day. We went on an amazing bike (electric) ride around the whole of the north of Tsushima. We went to the Toyo fortress ruins which are worth seeing just as a point to cycle too. We also stopped off at the Korea Observatory Point, although we couldn’t see Busan. At the bottom of the road to Toyo’s former fortress is an incredible little restaurant by the sea. Go to it! The two ladies that run it are so friendly. The food was amazing, I had the grilled fish.

1276545_10202239797386262_2058360185_o

1238321_10151633357041428_190976904_n

On our fourth and last day we hung around the campsite, sad to go. We had one last swim in the lovely warm Muida bay water and another go in the spa.

I do recommend you hire a car. You can get one without an international drivers license, some hire car companies around the dock will hire you one. Their reps are in the terminal usually. Our friends got one out the day we left and didn’t have any trouble by not having an international drivers license. It costs 8000 Yen for a small car and 12000 for a minibus.

A word of warning. Charlotte and I were planning to go back for the weekend and get a car. But, on the day we left an English teacher from Busan was arrested for not having an international drivers license. He wasn’t allowed to leave the island for three weeks! We don’t know if it’s because of something else but it’s put us off getting a car without an international drivers license.

But without a car you can enjoy the north of the Island easily by bicycle.

Photography wise, I didn’t manage to get many good pictures. I was looking at the amazing scenery too much!

My only gripe with Tsushima was that the Muida beach had lots of rubbish and crap washed up from the ocean. Why they don’t keep it clean and tidy I can not fathom.

Tsushima is an amazing place, my favourite place I’ve ever been too. The people are the friendliest I’ve ever met, the scenery is great and the pace of life makes you slow down. If you live in Busan you must be crackers not go to Tsushima. I’d go at least 4 times a year, once for every season. Our friend who was with us said it was better than Jeju.

There’s loads of great information on the Tsushima Facebook page. Here is my Tsushima google map.

1267806_10202239791106105_38977571_o