John Whitmore was a man I had never met, but I felt his loss to the film community when he sadly passed away in 2021. John was one of the presenters of the Sunny 16 Podcast and he loved film photography. He was the technical guru on the podcast, the man to go to when anyone needed advice on all aspects of this art we love. He didn't mind if we asked beginners questions that have been asked thousands of times before, or was asked to dive deep into a particular process we may have been struggling with. John answered them all with genuine grace and an infectious enthusiasm for his craft.
When John Whitmore's stash of 35mm film was spooled, branded as "Black and Whitmore Bananachromatic" and sold on Analogue Wonderland with a Zine he had published, I was lucky enough to be able to buy some before it sold out. I was wondering what I could shoot with it to remember John and the lessons he taught with his love of film photography. I wanted to make some kind of Zine, but really didn't know how to go about it.
Turns out I wasn't alone with this idea as a few other film photographers were thinking the same thing. I spotted a twitter post by Richard Hall who also had a desire to make a zine and a few more from other like minded folk and it started a conversation. How would we do it, what subjects would we photograph etc. The ball was rolling.
We knew John wanted to do a collaboration zine and get photographers to contribute to it with a working title of "Silent Lucidity". The thought of somehow bringing that idea to fruition was well and truly in our minds as we talked further. We decided that we would each shoot from the heart, finding inspiration within ourselves with all photos shot on Black and Whitmore Bananachromatic.
Deadlines were loosely set for early spring to shoot our film and come up with some words too. Seven photographers, Dave Wenham, Steve Starr, Richard Hall, Yant Martin-Keyte, George Griffin, Martin Ley and myself managed to shoot our film during the winter and put forward our best shots and words. Richard designed the Zine and after we all had a look at it, sent the files for printing.
"Lucid" is the result of our efforts and we have begun taking orders with Richard handling the finances and distribution. We are not going to personally profit from it, nor would we ever wish to. The profits will be donated to Asthma and Lung UK with a guarantee that a minimum of £7 per copy will be going to the charity. We have a small run to start with, but if we get a lot of interest, another print run is a distinct possibility. Richard has details of pricing and how to order your copy on his blog which you can visit at Richard Hall Online
We
all hope you enjoy reading Lucid and appreciate our photographs. It has
been produced with genuine love and respect for John, his wife
Anne-Marie and their daughter Harriet and of course his friends and
colleagues, Graeme, Ade and Rachel on the Sunny 16 Podcast.
Sunny 16 Podcast is broadcast weekly and you can join in the community there by visiting Sunny 16 Podcast.com where you will find news, reviews and interviews from around the Film Photography community. Hosts Graeme, Ade and Rachel lead the main show, Billy Sandford presents a series of interviews called the Music and Photography Podcast and Emma and Alex talk about their experiences as female film photographers on Grainsplaining. It's informative and educational, but above all it's fun to listen to when youre out and about in the car, on your bike or in your darkroom.
Jim, Richard, Dave, Steve, Yant, George and Martin
No comments:
Post a Comment