Clue number 1: A curved piece of…some kind of…part of a thing

PHOTOGRAPHY AND TEXT BY DEREK CLARK

As soon as I looked at the picture of the thumb in Patrick’s last essay, I was reminded of the movie ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’, directed and starring Ben Stiller. In the movie, Stiller’s character goes in search of a missing negative (number 25) that is to be used on the final cover of Life Magazine. It’s a great film and self worth seeing; especially if you are a photographer.

From New Monuments by Patrick La Roque — From *New Monuments* by Patrick La Roque

One of my favourite shots in the movie is when Walter walks away from the camera, but the focus stays fixed.

I remember watching Walter Mitty (more than once), a few years after it was released, and at a time when a few of the themes in the movie struck a chord in me. The mixture of the film and the soundtrack had an alluring effect, which was a bit depressing at the time.

It’s easy to get sucked into the idea that everyone is moving forward and succeeding, while you are either stuck where you are or feel like you are going backwards. This is especially true in the Facecloth, Instasham, and all the other antisocial media platforms out there.

These days, I no longer have time for social media, nor care who is moving forward or backward (if there’s even such a thing). I’m too busy working, burning through gigabytes of pictures and video three or four days a week and struggling to keep up with the editing the rest of the week. Be careful what you wish for! One minute you’re feeling bad about not having the work and the next you’re overwhelmed by it. One minute all you’re doing is personal work and the next you are struggling to find the time to do any personal work at all.

If there is one sure thing, it’s that nothing stays the same forever. Just make the best of where you’re at at this moment, because a change is gonna come whether you like it or not.

Get vaccinated. Grow a little tail, and wag it daily!

By Jonas Rask

I was supposed to get this story done and uploaded yesterday.
But I didn’t make that deadline.
Obviously.

We weren’t supposed to dig into our archives and reuse material that had already been shot.
But I dug into my year old gallery.
Obviously.

So, why was I late? Why did I dig? - Because I was lazy and didn’t get my portraits shot? Not really.
I shot self portraits. I portrayed my good friend Donald, I portrayed fellow photographer Frederik Vohnsen, I portrayed my kids, nieces and nephews. All within the last 14 days.

So I didn’t need to be late, and I didn’t need to dig.

I have this camera. It’s nothing fancy. It’s old.
I love that little (big) thing. It shoots packfilm. Old Fujifilm FP100c or FP3000b. It’s a fantastic feeling to shoot a portrait of someone I know with this camera. To show them the positive, then go home and develop the negative using bleach and a glass-plate. It’s oldschool charm that really makes you commit to your craft, and to your portrait.
But the Fujifilm FP100c and FP3000b are no more. I have collected a lot for storage in my fridge, but they’re way past expiration already. And when they’re done - then no more. Then only digital noise.

So, again I’m late. They’ve all expired, and I have to dig deep into the corners of online stores to find the few remaining packs for me to maintain my storage.

So I’ll continue to be late, and I’ll continue to dig.

The below images have been shot using a Polaroid 600SE camera and a Mamiya Sekor 127mm f/4.7 lens.
Some are shot on FP100c, some on FP3000b. Some are scanned as positives, some have been scanned as negatives.

Negative 25

One day late

By Jonas Rask

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