Do you remember a time when photographs weren’t instant, unless you had a Polaroid camera? And if you were lucky enough to have one, watching the chemicals mix and form the picture in front of your eyes was magical. As a kids I was never lucky enough, so we had one of those weird cameras with its own handle and a big stack of flash bulbs on top. Pictures where shot on holiday, usually Great Yarmouth in my case, and several weeks, or even months if the films got lost, later loads of out of focus shots with several heads missing came back. Now these may not have been beautiful works of art, but they captured the moment perfectly and with time these shots yellow and get dog-eared as they are constantly pored over, passed around and reminisced about.
What happens to your digital shots? For most people they live on your SD card forever. Some will make their way to Facebook to be tagged and viewed for oh maybe seconds and join the line of the other billion or so shots uploaded that second. And what of the cut off heads? The shots of sky? The blurry shot that caught the never to return moment non the less? They get deleted. For me that’s a massive shame, you can’t get those back you know.
So what’s my point? Well I’m quite nostalgic so I have lots of film cameras and I use them just like I did as a kid, I take loads of shots and keep them all (I do the same with digital) I hate losing the past so I keep them all. I also love the fact that I have to wait, never knowing what I’ll get. It also means that every shot is unique because the camera, film, light, processing all shape the picture.
This got me thinking of all the other things that are shaped by how you use or create them, the process adds imperfections and makes each one unique. For me that adds more value that something being created by ones and zeros in a computer than can be faultlessly duplicated ad infinitum.
So to get to the point, my idea is to have an Analogue Festival in Leeds. Exactly what this would entail I’m not sure so I had a short and very impromptu meeting in the Midnight Bell out of which came the following ideas.
- Semaphore
- Analogue Computers
- Pinhole Cameras
- Crystal Radio Sets
- Shortwave Radios
- Giant Fuzzy Felt
- Huge train set
- Record Clubs
- Super 8 Scalextrics
- Analogue Twitter using pigeons
- Analogue Photography exhibition
- Postcard pictures
- Huge drawing scalers
Some of these ideas are genius, some I don’t understand. That’s not the point, these are great ideas some of which could come to life. Above all it’ll be a good laugh for no particular reason other than that.
So what’s next? Well at least one of these ideas is in motion already, not confirmed yet so keeping quiet, but others need to be thought through. Some new ones will come to light. I’d love to be able to hold the Festival sometime in June maybe over a week. If you can help or have an idea please get in touch or leave a comment.
Analogue Facebook, where you take existing photographic prints of individuals and peg them to their person as they walk round the room.
Vinyl swap and exclusively vinyl DJ.
Human letters.
Calligraphy workshop.
Mixtape swap/session/live mixtape recording of the Festival.
MSDOS poetry writing competition.
Anyway, if you could sign me up I would love to help.
Analogue Facebook = genius!
Can we do twitter with those machines that punch letters onto tape to make labels. 140 characters then you pass it on?
That is so ace, love it!
Plus you can get that tape that’s either magnetic or sticky…so you could keep it/use it afterwards 🙂
Mixtapes! And typing on typewriters and using a dictionary to look up words instead of right clicking on the red squiggles, and carrying cash all the time so that you could use the pay phone.
Send Tweets up attached to balloons (with contact details) like you would at the summer fete when a prize was awarded to the balloon which travelled the furthest.
Or, exchange Tweets on post it notes to folk you want to connect to in a room full of people. Those with most ‘followers’ will be covered with post its. Display after on large board.
Love the type writer idea. Have one either end of room, type letter/note to person opposite + have a runner deliver it – your own internal delivery service.
Design + make own stamps, without the aid of a computor – lm talking cutting, colouring + sticking.
Got more ideas but will have to get back to you, l got a thing to do.
How about some crazy game that involves having a phone that will only take incoming calls so you have to race back from the phone box in order to talk to your mum? Oh the things students these days are missing out on!
How about Corn Exchange as a venue + turn all those units on top floor into living commands of a programme such as PhotoShop. Send blank sheet of paper to unit 1 where someone outlines a design, unit 2 resizes, unit 3 colours, 4 shades etc….Like a production line where each person carries out 1 skill/task (is that called Fordism or something?)
Wow thanks for all the responses. Some great ideas a mix tape amnesty is one I’ve wanted to do for a while along with the record clubs. Keep the ideas coming then I guess at some point we’ll all have to get together and see what we can actually make happen.
Great ideas! I don’t have anything to add apart from I’d be very interested in mixtapes & film photography bits (as well as the rest to be honest) – keep me posted!
We have super 8 films and projectors galore so could do a family film club plus Buffet would be well up for vinyl djing. I love this festie idea but it’ll only work if it’s more than just a nostalgia-fest!
Jx
I have a whole load of “found” slides if you fancy using them, also love the idea of an exhibition of out of focus photographs and photos of people without heads
This sounds like a lot of fun, looking forward to hearing more!
lve got a few photos that would qualify for that exhibition, indistinguishable ones, double exposures + the results of damaged film. Also have a collection of old photos brought on a second hand stall – ugly babies, men in flares, grandad falling over, 70s wedding cake included.
Black and white TV with only 3 channels that all close down at about 11pm, and phones with circular dials. To add to the typewriter suggestion: Tippex instead of the Delete key.
Some marvellous ideas here – can’t wait!
I love this idea and I would love for Letter Lounge to be part of it. Have a look a http://letterlounge.co.uk to see what it’s all about and feel free to ask any questions you may have. Brilliant stuff!
Claire.
All these ideas are fantastic! I think we need to have a meeting to decide what we can do and who can do what. For me Thursday 10th Feb at about 6.30 sounds like a good date to have a get together. Any idea where we could do this? Midnight Bell is usually a popular idea!
Can anyone join in?!
I think the art of letterwriting has totally gone down the tubes in the digital age. I got a thank you email for a Christmas gift I sent this year?! The other thing that bothers me is the historical black hole we may be creating. With no paper copies will historians in generations to come be able to read our emails and blogs like I can read letters and diaries in archives now?
What about a letter writing area? With wax seals and ink pens?
Oh and mix tapes. With proper hand written sleeve notes. Sleeve notes are disappearing!!
Blast from the past & ALL Very excited idea’s – Im going to dig out my mix-taps and walkman now!
I can bring a few different pieces to the show –
3 x Triple exposure polaroids of my mum, sister and me all sat next to each other on couch – female identity
A series of double exposure lomo prints on landscape and flowers as the female form
& I also have a batch of old photo postcards from the 70’s & 80’s that I have been wanting to do something with for ages…
Cant meet next thurs as already busy and cant cancel but would love to be part of this and meet soon?
What an amazing idea! I’d be happy to contribute film photos to an exhibition. Is there any way to keep in the loop about new ideas for this? Rhianne
sounds like a great idea – a little touch of nostalgia.
Old Skool!
Hey!
I am totally up for being involved with this! I run an analogue film lab in Leeds (Super8 and 16mm mainly) and also have some ideas for creative use of polaroid type technology and pinhole Super8 films too. Give me a call on 07935916560 and we could arrange to meet down at the lab and float some ideas!
x CK (Martha)
Cant believe you blogged about an analogue festival on the internet and didn’t just scribble it on an a giant OHP and shine it onto the sky batman style!
Find out to create himself, the post from a different source