Sunny Spring Day
I had a meeting with an independent printer today to learn more about Riso printing and to try to determine whether or not it would be a good way to print some of the posters that I want to make.
While walking to and from the meeting, I took pictures of the various things that caught my eye. At the time, I didn’t pay any attention to the photos that I had taken. I just pushed the shutter button on my smart phone and moved on.
Later, after having come home, I was surprised to see some of the wonderful light leek effects I had captured. Years ago, when I photographed with a Holga, the light leeks that I occasionally got and could sometimes purposefully create were my favorite part of the pictures that came back after being developed.
Some of these photos really remind me of the old Holga look that I used to get when photographing with film. To replicate that look further, I placed a couple of these pictures on a white background and reduced their transparency to seventy percent. That’s why they have a slightly over exposed/Polaroid-ish feel to them.
During the meeting that I had, I was given a tour of an old, mostly defunct building. From 1920 until I don’t know when, it functioned as an off-set printing press. I had only ever seen the building from its narrow street front facade and had only ever entered as far as its foyer.
I didn’t imagine that there would be much more to it, but as it turns out, the building runs the length of an entire city block. Behind the foyer, which I’m assuming would have been the original office, is a factory-like area that housed the heavy press and was most likely surrounded by all the materials that were need to run the press.
Open a door on the back end of this industrial space, and suddenly you find yourself in an old, long, meandering Japanese house, one that had a very surprising feature.
Looking at the photo above, you can sense the darkness of these rooms. Surrounded by buildings, there is virtually no way for light to enter from the windows on the side of the house. However, designed into the floor plan, in the middle of a city block, is a small rock garden that was left uncovered (by the roof) and was glassed in, almost like an atrium.
It was such a surprising and beautiful feature. Were this house ever to be restored, I imagine people would come from all over just to sit and relax with a cup of tea or coffee here.
That’s all for now. Thanks for joining me.