Quinninup Snapshots

a sort of blog

Updated December 2011

All photographs on this site are copyright © John Austin or Rae Starr, Quinninup 2011 and may not be used in any way without the prior written permission of John Austin or Rae Starr

John Austin with $3.00 toy digital camera from Quinninup village fete

Originally this page was about about my 0.1Mpx digital camera purchased at the Quinninup village Fete in south west Western Australia for A$3.00. A camera which proves all the bad things I have said about digital image quality, now it has tranmsmuted to a weblog

3rd February 2012
Forest Protest page to be re-loaded

The Forest Protest page is to be re-loaded during this weekend, basically simple re-loading from my archive with some updating. This is appropriate now as there is a forest defense action in the jarrah forest near Bridgetown and the forest debate is about to heat up again

This will continue as archival material, as ten years ago good black and white silver gelatin photography was appropriate to this work, now only digital makes sense apart from images for display, exhibition and publication

8th January 2012
WA Forest Defenders to be Released by Illegal Japanese Whalers
Update to 8th January Post

The Japanese have decided to release Simon Peterffy (Simon Two Dogs), Geoffrey Tuxworth and Glen Pendlebury. Having had him breathlessly rant on many occasions I can understand that he has worn them down already

8th January 2012
Japanese Use of Whale Gelatin for Fuji Film Manufacture?

I am putting this here against my decision to disengage with environmental or political issues, but. . .

\ This post is triggered by the previous post and memory of an exhibiton by Tang Da Wu at the Art Gallery of Western Australia February to May 1998. In this exhibition an eighteen metre whale form was surrounded by thousands of Japanese 35mm colour film cassettes, mainly Fuji and Konica. Visitors were invited to attach these cassettes to the whale form and add messages

Use of AGWA photographic documentation of this installation use to be requested from AGWA in the morning

I accept the professionalism of AGWA in their showing of this work and by extension I accept the truth of the propositon that whale gelatine is used by by Fuji. However, I am currently waiting for answers to cited here. As soon as these arrive I will add the information sources, dates and quotes. If they state that whale gelatine has been removed form manufacture of film since 2010 I will include that and remove this post. In the meantime I cite my second source, A report by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, May 2010, “Reinventing the Whale” The whaling industry's development of new applications for whale oil and other products in pharmaceuticals, health supplements and animal feed

Kodak, Konica and Fuji Film all hold current patents related to image recording using whale oil note43

Note 43 The most recent patents include: FujiFilm: US Patent 7574166(2009) USPatent 7177578 (2007); US Patent 7057631 (2006). Konica: US Patent 7025816(2006) US Patent 6951832 (2005) US Patent 6773860 (2004); Kodak: US patent 6358661 (2002) US Patent 6361918 (2002)

8th January 2012
WA Forest Defenders Held by Illegal Japanese Whalers

I am putting this here against my decision to disengage with environmental or political issues

I have just heard on SBS and ABC News that three members of the Western Australian environmental group Forest Rescue, Simon Peterffy, Geoffrey Tuxworth and Glen Pendlebury boarded the dangerous illegal Japanese whaling defense ship Shonan Maru 2. These men are now being held by illegal Japanese whalers who may take them to Japan

I know Simon personally and am amazed by the energy put into his constant and determined stance against environmental destruction, mainly Western Australian forest actions in the mid to late 1990s

Reports state anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd helped the three men board the Shonan Maru 2 off the coast of Western Australia last night

My personal feeling is that our universal greed, anger and stupidity are so deeply entrenched that nothing will now save us. We are populating and consuming ourselves to extinction

For more information of Forest Rescue visit Forest Rescue WA

24th December 2011
Armenian Genocide by Turks in 1915

I am putting this link here against my decision to disengage with environmental or political issues. The formal regognition by the French Government, although I believe for selfish domestic political reasons, of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Turks has to be applauded

The site linked to here and on my Links Page leads to the Armenian Genocide Pictues by Armin T Wegner, 1915. The photographs are disturbing images of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Turks in 1915. Important early documentary photography and a case to remind us of current genocides in West Papua and Darfur. West Papua & Darfur are happening now. Of interest is the obvious link between these three genocides

1st December 2011
Artsource and the Destruction of Arts Diversity

I am putting this here against my decision to disengage with environmental or political issues. However, after Keiran McNamara, Executive Diretor of the Western Australian Dept of Environmental Consternation, I find Jude van der Merwe, Executive Director of Artspace, my least favourite public officer. Both of these people are accelerating the lost of diversity, in the case of McNamara it is Western Australian biodiversity, in the case of Merwe, arts diversity. Artspace is one of WA's arts main fund wasting organisations, to confirm this look at the list of overpaid arts administrators on their payroll

Behind Jude van der Merwe's public smile is a woman dedicated to removing variety in the Western Australian arts arena. To be obliterated are circus skills and new percussion music in the persuit of the production of ever more mediocre visual arts, mediocre because the same few annointed ones will be the benificiaries of the changes

Specifically the circus school and percussion studio at the Old Customs House in Fremantle, Western Australia are to be removed for more visual arts. Merwe's stated reason is that visual artists get up to five years residency in the Artsource building while the circus and Nova Ensemble have been there twenty years. What this facile argument ignores is the fact that the two performance spaces represent many hundreds of established and new circus performers and musicians planning, training and rehersing. The Nova Ensemble's studio and office are to be removed to make wasy for residential studios for visiting visual artists. There are plenty of places for visual artists to be housed, I am thinking here of the Kimberly or Pilbara or forest or mining areas which will provide real visual interest and stimulus in preference to Fremantle's now very tired cafe culture

The performance skills that will be lost to Western Australia are unlikely to ever be replaced and I see parallels in our state's headlong rush to destroy long term assets while chasing the dragon of illusory short term gains

Without the circus rehersal space the pictures of a forest aerial performance I did in 2005 would very likely never have happened. This sublimely beautiful event and these resulting images I treasure greatly. I also treasure memories of Nova Ensemble and other new music concerts in the mid to late 1980s. To loose these two Western Australian performing arts resources and training centres will be an artistic tragedy of national significance

29th November 2011
WET Moves to Mountfords

The WET exhibition of photographs, originally held at Greg James Sculpture Studio Gallery, opens at Rae Starr's Mountford Gallery, Pemberton, on Sunday 4th December 2011. More later, more including a scan of the contact print of the Zero pinhole negative Rae is holding in the previous post

29th November 2011
Snapshot, with Vitessa

29th October 2011
Quokkas Forced Towards Extinction, Official

I am putting this here against my decision to disengage with environmental or political issues and I thought I had put environmental concerns beyond the reach of this weblog. Not so, the Western Australian Department of Environmental Consternation, formerly Department of Consternation and Land Mis-management has “lost” its sole Quokka, Setonyx brachyurus expert and champion

With this loss there is no one with a true scientific background to push against the desire of the Forest Products Commision, loggers, to force the quokka into extinction in the name of giving the very last vestiges of old forest cover to the tax payer subsidised timber companies

The political view, the advisor to the Western Australian Minister Against the Environment boasts a degree in forestry, a degree in nothing, but which means he is pro logging

This article deals with mainland quokkas, real quokkas, not the degenerate sycophants that infest Rottnest Island

20th October 2011
Black & White Print Sales Update

Black & white prints are available for sale as limited edition archivally processed selenium toned silver gelatine prints from the original black & white negative. Images will not be cropped, however, some subjects will now be photographed in both horizontal and vertical format where this can make visual sense, so please enquire. Maximum print sizes are being added to new images on this website, these size limits have been added as I am now offering some images as silver gelatine prints to 32 x 40 inches. The size limits are based on what I believe is the maximum size that older negatives will enlarge to consistent with good print image quality. In the case of 35mm Infra Red there is no limit as the image is already grainy and not particularly sharp

11th October 2011
Not a Snapshot Camera

Dog Grub sitting quietly in the bush while the supposed clever one lugs 36kg of Sinar Norma kit and tripod around in the sun, wearing black on the first day the March flies attack

5th October 2012
Snapshot Cameras
Voigtlander Vittesa, Kodak (Dr.Nagel-Werke) Retina 119 & Leica M2

As well as my serious photography I make snapshots of family, friends, garden, walks on the beach etc, with odd, old and fun 35mm cameras. The snapshots must be alright as the prints are often given to family and friends who seem to like them. From now on a few will end up on this page, like the one of Dog Grub on Bathers Beach, Fremantle, Western Australia

Voigtlander Vitessa, a bellows 35mm camera which is simple, reliable, folds flat, has a small but accurate range finder, a sweet little 50mm Voigtlander Color Skopar lens, is easy to carry and cost Au$10 from a second hand building materials yard. The Voigtlander Vitessa's viewfinder is a bit small, but a 50mm Leitz or Cosina bright line finder solves this problem. Given that I am now cured of the Leica Myth I will use the Voigtlander Vitessa as my standard snapshot camera

In addition to the Vitessa, Rae has bought me a 1936 Kodak (Dr.Nagel Werke) Retina 119 from a charity shop in Bristol, England. This camera is about the size of a compact digital camera, is equipped with a 1936 Schneider Retina-Xenar, has no range finder, but a surprisingly accurate squinty viewfinder. Rae thought it might be a shelf decorating camera, even 'though I was excited by the sound of the shutter via Skype from Bristol. The moment I got it and gave it a quick clean it had a film inserted and was taken out later that morning

The results from the first roll from the Kodak Retina show the frames are almost evenly spaced, the shutter speeds, apart from 1/300, are accurate enough to give even negative density, the bellows do not leak light and the uncoated Schneider Xenar lens is good by realistic standards, but not great

The worst thing about the Kodak Retina as a snapshot camera is that it is far too pretty and gains attention, which the Leica or Voigtlander Vitessa don’t

Neither of the 35mm folding cameras, the Voigtlander Vitessa and Kodak Retina, have the problem of making me think I am a real photographer because I am wearing a Leica, the ultimate in costume jewellery. The only problem I have with these two cameras is that they are equipped with 50mm lenses, which are too long for my 35mm eye. Who ever admitted to using a 35mm camera with a 50mm lens? Henri Cartier Bresson, you all shout!

There are, of course, other 35mm snapshot cameras that must have become favourite carrying cameras, like the Rollei 35, Minox 35, Olympus XA. However, I have a price limit on snapsot cameras based on the $10 paid for the Vitessa

For serious 35mm work, like documenting the progress of the new Naked Portraits, I still have my old commercial photography Nikon F and F2 kits with most of the lenses and Nikon fruit

2nd October 2011
FotoFreoFringe2012 is rescheduled for 2014
Nude & Naked Portrait

The exhibition and catalogue⁄book is now scheduled for 2014

In the Naked Portraits I am working with women who feel strong in the power of their natural beauty. Textural history, like stretch marks, scars etc are part of the story. This makes the project sound serious, in reality I want humour in the mix

New work with the nude is more theatrical and will in many cases involve fairly elaborate sets being built, or preferably found

An exhibition of these two portfolios and large format landscape work is planned for 2014 at Greg James Sculpture Studio & Gallery, Fremantle, Western Australia during FotoFreoFringe2014. Although the two portraits shown on Naked Portrait & Nude are of young women I am looking for women from a broader age range. Women who may wish to take part in these projects are asked to contact me

This work is being photographed with 10x8" large format film cameras. For all images where I get a car to the site a Sinar Norma is used, where transport or space limits apply a wooden field camera is used. Both cameras are mounted with a Voigtlander Heliar lens. Heliars have been selected as their optical design celebrates tonality and texture while imparting a gentle luminosity to the images. This luminosity is due to optical design flaws showing at wide apertures, but the diffusion retains a sharply defined core, which is why these lenses are regarded as beautiful portrait lenses. At small apertures they are totally sharp, but with a gentle bokeh. See the note on bokeh on my sales page for an optical definition

28th September 2011
Disposable Memory Project continues

Disposable Memory Project continues. In this project disposable cameras are given to strangers or friends to be used wherever they travel with a request to pass them on after a few exposures. When the film is exposed the camera is posted to Disposable Memory Project for processing and image loading to th DMP website

22nd September 2011
Why Dog Grub Deserved Jenny's Meatballs

Dog Grub deserved them for stoically sitting on the pallet while I shouted at her to "smile, Dog" and then putting up with my grumpyness at the person who landed his canoe at the very time the water was not lapping around Grub's pallet

By some quirk of fate this image has no Leica light leak fog, which is unusual for a picture I want. Most likely it knew the man in the canoe would land at the wrong time, so it did not need to bother fogging that frame

30th July 2011
Threnody Returned

I am re-loading old Logging page, “Threnody”, against my decision to disengage with environmental or political issues. However, the Threnody logging page has been cleaned up and returned under the Australian work as it is landscape. Images of active forest logging coupes and protests have been removed. These may be re-loaded, depending on how pissed off I get with the continuing logging of the karri forest

Peta and Debbie on the Megastump, Gardner 08 State Forest, January 1999

I have no plans at this stage to return the other environmental pages

2nd July 2011
jbaphoto Web Updated

I have updated this website to reflect my change in direction as a 10x8" photographer and to concentrate on my new, 2008+ work. This means my environmental, arts documentation and John Joseph Strutt Bird pages have been removed to an archive file. Any appropriate organisation wishing to have free use of pictorial or written content on the following pages are welcome to contact me. If this material is not re-hosted by the relevant you, it will disappear. Although free use is offered for web use I will retain copyright of images and any print sales and reproduction fees. The pages removed are:-

• Quokkas
• Peat
• Logging, now partly restored
• Forest Protest
• SFA Understory sculpture walk
• John Joseph Strutt Bird

Regarding the environment, I am at the position where I believe greed, hatred and stupidly will never be overcome

25th April 2011
Pinhole Pix

The early morning pix Rae and I made to warm ourselves up for WPPD. Made with Rae's Zero Image 5x4", which Rae swapped for my share in a 50mm Leitz Summicron

Hugo's Lens, Hugo Meyer 6" wide angle, first rays of sunlight	Rae's pic', Quinninup Dam with tree stumps showing how low the water is

25th April 2011
Quinninup Kids Club WPPD pinhole gallery

The Quinninup WPPD celebration went really well, like really well and the results are here on the WPPD Gallery 2011

16th April 2011
Quinninup Kids Club WPPD pinhole canmeras test pix

To know that we are on the right track for Easter weekend WPPD Quinninup Kids Club Pinhole Day

The mirror image is because the paper negative is reversed, a film negative is viewed from the back and the paper one from the front, so needs to be reversed to be viewed correctly, not that I can make sense of this image anyway and I made it

10th September 2010
Tools and trades

Every so often I still hear the moldy old phrase "The camera makes no difference etc. . .". Try selling this idea to a concert pianist, or a cabinet maker, or painter, or car mechanic. The properties of tools do affect the the nature of a work, so a pianist might choose a broken piano for specific effects or a photographer use a toy camera because of its particular properties. The point of this is that cameras chosen do affect the work produced and must be chosen with as much mindfulness as a violinist would choose between a Stradivarius or Guarneri

John Austin Sales

Images and web site copyright John Austin 2011 Quinninup