Tintypes (or Ferrotypes), are 1850′s process where the photograph is taken directly onto a sheet of metal in the camera, thus resulting in a negative image.

I love Alternative Process like this, the tactile-ness and magic of it, each shot is one-of-a-kind and totally unique.
(For a photography nerd) You can’t imagine what its like holding a piece of metal with a photo you just shot straight onto, its almost surreal. Everyone I have shown these to in real-life has been blown away.

Photography as a medium has been around for hundreds of years (depending on where you call the start), but digital has only really been around since 2000, still everyone is getting so caught up in the last 12 years of technology, all the amazing process before that have just been left to the wayside and quickly becoming obsolete.

I used a $50,000 Medium-Format Digital camera last week for a clients job, but there’s still no way that camera could produce results like this.

Every medium has its place, it would just be awesome if more clients were willing to experiment, because the results they could achieve would be truly magic.

Self Portrait

Tech -
I shot these on a Linhof Technika, and I used black trophy aluminum for for the tin.
Exposure times where around 8 seconds on an overcast day.
The varnish is a Lavender Oil / Gum Sandarac combination.

A few of my beloved cameras -

The Blad

The LCA

The Trip

Time to put the iphone away eh?

6,669 Yen, per day. ($84 AU)

Some quick conversions for the rest of the world
1 Euro = 98 Yen
$1 US = 77 Yen
$1 CA = 75 Yen
$1 AU = 75 Yen

Over the course of a few weeks, on average, thats what we spent per day in Japan.
That includes, accommodation, food, travel, coffee, souvenirs, reasonable socializing, and multiple coffees per day.

Overall, Japan is not as ‘super expensive’ as you imagine or historically might have heard it to be, and its definitely no Scandinavia.

Having said that, don’t be expecting South-East Asian prices and dirt cheap street food either.

Travel is the major killer, the Shinkansen (bullet) train especially, those tickets can easy push $100 for an hour or so.
We opted for buses on the long distances, which can be almost half the price of the Shinkansen

Coffee in a can (very mediocre) – 120 Yen

Once travel is out of the way, costs become ‘similar to home’, and your next major cost will be food and eating out, as most of the hostels don’t have kitchens worth cooking in.
You can try and do the stryo-foam-bowl-of-noodles-with-boiled-water diet, but I give you 3 days before your on starch and salt overload and your body is craving something more substantial.

This is definitely were I burnt a hole in my pocket, it was cold, and I eat alot.

Supermarket Sushi – Small 300 Yen, big plates 1000ish

Fried food is EVERYWHERE – 100Y p/piece

Sushi Train – 100 to 150 Yen per plate

Tempura Ramen Noodles – 400 Yen

Fast Food – 400 to 800ish

Taikai – Fish Shaped Pancakes with sweet fillings (awesome!) – 200 Yen

Accommodation
Hostels seem to be pretty standard prices 2500-3500 per night for a dorm room, but what changed dramatically was the quality.
In a land of organized people, spontaneous and last-minute doesn’t pay off, especially around public holiday times.
The local Japanese are not afraid to step down to dorm life and can often book out hostels, with only a handful of actual foreign guests presents. This means if you want quality or something more decent, you too need to be organized and book as far ahead as you can.

Traditional Room – 7,000 to 10,000 Yen
(usually has free Onsen – Traditional Mineral Bath)

Hostel Dorm Room – 2500 to 3500 Yen per night.

Capsule Hotel!
3000 Yen per night

Metro – 160 to 350 per ride, depending on destination.
(If you pay for the metro though, your a total travel rookie, the entry gates are made with padded foam, I’m sure you’ll just accidentally follow the crowd..)

Intercity trains – 1000ish Yen (again, you can easily accidentally not buy the right ticket here..)

Day trip out of Tokyo to Nikko – 1000 ish for the train, 2000 for round trip bus ticket once your there.

Cheap Souvenirs – 400 to 2000

Coffee -

For a county that makes some great coffee equipment, they make absolutely terribly coffee.
A diehard Double-Espresso drinker, after multiple disappointment’s, I resulted in trying it all – Drip, Latte’s, Cans, Atomica’s, the works, and it was all as bad as each other.

There is this continual trend that your coffee has to come out at blazing speed.
“Coffee please”-Coffee?-Boom!
Its infront of you before you’ve even counted your change.
Totally contrary to the way a real coffee should be made.

Latte – 350 to 450 Yen

Espresso (crap) – 200 to 380 Yen

Cigarettes – 44O a pack (so my companion tells me)

Same products as home – same price

More Food..

Vending Machine Restaurants, always ok, never great, but the cheapest when your starving.
280 to 680 Yen

Yakiniku (table BBQ) – All you can eat, all you can drink.
This is where its at! After a few days of Noodles and Vending machines, grab some friends and hit one of these places, its a good night.
1,800 to 3000 Yen.

Social Lubricant..

Asahi Beer – 280ish

Beer on Tap – 500ish
Cocktails – 800ish

Osaka Aqarium – one of the most amazing aquariums in the world
2000 Yen entry fee

Weird Shit – all day long
Free.

While its not as technologically insane as I thought it would be, nothing here is done lightly – Sweet, Salty, Fried, Crowded, Heated, Busy, Trains, Cleanliness, Funny English, Rules, Temples, the list goes on – everything is a big deal.

Stares of astonishment as we don’t wait for pedestrian lights, pay for the metro, or walk on the sidewalk, we’re probably Japans current most notorious criminals, and definitely the tallest.

Some of the journey so far..

Vending Machine Goodness

Take-a-shitta St..

Pickled Squid

“Eating here is like a Kinder Surprise, you never know what your going to get.” – Tilly

Stewed something

Supermarket Sushi

Nara – Ohh Deer..

Hakone Region

Sulfur Mine

Finally, something without rice – Yakiniku (table BBQ)

Nikko – So much snow.

Washitsu – Traditional Japanese Room

Onsen – Traditional Japanese Bath

Rules

Sushi

and so many temples

More to come..

The food, the friendly locals, the rugged countryside, the semi-difficult but rewarding travel – its one of those places that you can really get alot out of for a little, just because its off the beaten track.

Traditional Armenian Khorovats, BBQ Lunch

I traveled down from Georgia, stopping at some of the major sights along the way, and as great as the country is, its hard not to get a case of monastery fatigue – there are just so many.

Each amazing in its own way, and I’m sure there’s people out there that will definitely love them, but my mind drifts off as their details are relayed to me..

Arriving into Yerevan though is legit, alas I don’t have any photos here to do it justice, but in complete contrast to Tbilisi, its a bustling little cosmopolitan city, where you can grab a decent espresso just as easily as a local Khorovats.

The passion I lack for churches, is compensated by the passion I have for markets, and Yerevan’s main market hall was no different.
Soviet concrete at its finest, the market hall is epic, and just being inside felt like you should almost be paying with rationed coupons again.
Fruit and vegetables so fresh you could still see the dirt on them from the garden, and buckets of perfect strawberries lined up in abundance next to buckets of pickled cucumbers.

I hit the jackpot though when I worked out which spice they were serving on every cafe table across the city. something that I took joy in sprinkling over my Lahmahjoon everyday.
I stocked-up, albeit semi-worried that customs would shaft me when I got back to Australia, but I breezed through without a sniffer dog in sight.

Besides the confines of my air-conditioned local coffee house, my second favorite place in Yerevan was easily the Matenadaran, or colloquially known as, the book museum.
As an avid bookbinder, the Matenadaran has some of the worlds most exquisite and unique examples of Armenian Bookbinding, from the headbands to the illuminated manuscripts, these are seriously amazing.
I wont get all book-tech, but it was just awesome.

Riding the metro was another hidden gem, with only 4 soviet metro underground systems in the world (Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev & Tbilisi), Yerevan is the little cousin with half a system. (And I’m proud to have ridden them all!)

A commonly known fact in Armenia, at the time the of assessment for the Yerevan metro to then Soviet Russia, a milestone of 1 million residence within Yerevan was required.
Persuaded and coerced by one means or another.. Residents from all over the Armenian country side were rounded-up, and piled into the city for the count, and Yerevan was given the tick of approval.
Alas, the soviet-empire collapsed before the glorious Metro was finished, and what was completed is just a taste of how beautiful the whole thing could have been.

Heading East after Yerevan, I made my way to the hillside town of Goris.

Goris is the type of town you don’t find an ATM machine too easily, and Mum is just as likely to buy your Birthday present and Salami for lunch at the same little general store.

But it did have some pretty epic views, and was also home to..

The Worlds Longest Cable Car!

That’s right, way out in the middle of no-where, close to not alot, Armenia decided to build the worlds longest cable car.
5.7km’s long, the ride spans a huge gorge (and it is spectacular), takes around 15min and will set you back a couple of dollars.

On the way back you can search for the highly rumored waterhole between Goris and Tatev.
A word of caution though, it is as dangerous as you’ve heard about and not for the fainthearted.
Between falling down the rock-face and being swept away in the rapid flowing currents, if you do make it there and back in one piece you’ll feel pretty Bear Grylls.

Back in Yerevan my adopted friends took me out for a local lunch with family friends, and to every Armenians favorite weekend destination..

Lake Sevan –
I spent most of my life growing up next to the ocean, a lake to me is small with dirty brown water and I’d not something I’d ever want to swim in.
It definitely doesn’t span as far as the eye can see, and look like it was filled from a giant bottle of Evian.

My European and Muscovite friends always complain that all the gypsies (and trouble) come from Armenia, and I really had no idea what to expect before I arrived.

But like most peoples impression of a destination without ever visiting it, the actual turns out to be totally different from what you hear.

You might struggle to get a direct flight from your local capital into Yerevan, but if you do get the chance, Armenia is definitely worth a visit.

And, if you find yourself with no idea where to stay, chech out Envoy Hostel, because it is easily one of the best, cleanest, most organized and friendly hostels I have ever stayed at anywhere in the world.

Enjoy.

I had crossed paths with his shopfront, and it would be my afternoon hang-out for the rest of my time in Lahore.

The guy is a Vespa genius, and would spend he’s days taking what look like scraps of rust, and turning them into fully restored Vespa gems.

We’d drink cokes in the afternoon, and blaze around Lahore on Vespa’s in the eve, always battling the contstant debate, which was better, Chicken Burgers or Chicken Shwarmas.

We haven’t spoken in a long while now, but I hope he’s doing alright.

Location: Lahore, Pakistan
Film: Foretpan 100 (Expired 2003)
Camera: Hasselblad 500C/M – 80mm f2.8
Photoshop: Levels

*In hindsight I should have pushed this film, but it was the first roll of Fortepan I put through and I wanted to leave it as is, but alas, the slow shutter speed. C’est la vie.

Masters Apprentice

Vespa Testa

Muzammil

I shot live music in Australia for a long time. Scummy underground clubs, studio sessions, main stage arenas, and epic festivals.
Over time though, my extended travels took over and I had to leave the gigs behind.
That was a few years back now and I really haven’t looked at my live work since.
Recently however, uber-talented illustrator and good friend Fleur Harris contacted me chasing a specific festival shot for a design job.
All of a sudden I’m blowing the dust off an old hard-drive, and re-discovering a few gems.

This is a little photo montage I put together of one of my fondest festival memories, Falls Festival 2005/2006 in Lorne, Victoria, Australia.
The heat, the crowd, the beach, the drinks, the bands, it was simply awesome.

Definitely makes me want to put on a Photo pass again this summer.

Enjoy.

There was an air about it that I coudnt quite put my finger on, sort of Middle-East come Post-Soviet esque. A really great place just to walk around and get lost.

Everything is falling apart and decaying, streets cracked and broken, trees growing through windows, content old men playing Backgammon in the shade, and that feeling you are always being watched but you dont know where from.

After breaking 2 cameras, and brutal sprockets ripping threw rolls of film, this handful of digi shots is all I’ve got to try and convey it how great it is..

Before I knew it though I was en route to the mountain town of Kazbegi with my new Swedish counterparts.

Georgian Snickers

Stream-cooled beers

Guy that built the highway

Kazbegi, gateway to the 5047m Mt Kazbek, doesn’t have an awful lot to do. You stay with little Babuska’s that heckle you when your mini-bus rolls in, there’s a couple of stores selling everything – conveniently called ‘google store’, and locally made wine is a plenty.
Really, this place is all about the hiking. And the air is crisp.

Forgetting our cramp-ons and ice-picks, we opted to go for the local hilltop Monastery, rather than the 5047m giant.
Swapping walking sticks for beers, and compasses for snickers, I think we insulted some of the more gun-ho power hikers along the way. But in better time than most, we reached the Monastery and it was epic.

These little guys are everywhere

Tsminda Sameba Monastery, Kazbegi, Georgia

Quite satisfied with our efforts, it was full speed back down the mountain to our Babushkas homestay for an epic Georgian feast.

Our locally grown feast.

Next day it was back to Tbilisi.

Espresso everywhere. Kazbegi, Georgia.

A couple of notable Tbilisi Attractions.

The Royal Bath House

Baratashvili Bridge

And too many of these.

Khachapuri ($2)

My stay in Georgia was alot shorter than planed, days rather than weeks, and I definitely only scratched the surface on a couple of places, leaving so much more for next time.

Georgia and the Caucasus might sound like an unlikely destination, but make the effort and you will be surprisingly rewarded.

Camera: Lomo Supersampler
Location: Melbourne / Budapest / Goteborg
Film: Fuji Superia X-Tra 400
Photoshop: None

BP

GOT

ehh.