BitDepth 626 posted
05/05/08 20:22 Filed in: Website
Updates
Derren Joseph believes that he has the
right mix of hands-on and virtual for Trinidad and Tobago's credit
card shy society. The story behind his cellphone driven ticketing
system is here.
|
Instant obsolesence
28/04/08 19:30 Filed in: Photography
Polaroid's J66 Instant Camera
That Edwin Land was brilliant is beyond question. His two contributions to modern technology, the concept of polarizing light passing through a lens so that reflections were eliminated and the idea of a camera that processed its own images was so far out of the field of normal thinking that it would be decades before they settled into casual use.
Sunglasses that aren’t polarised are now commonly thought to be useless tinted glass and the idea of a camera that develops its own images, well that changed fundamentally between the time that Land through up his light sensitive paper and caustic processing gels.
I don’t often talk about my first experience with a camera because it was so clandestine. My father left boxes of his belongings behind when he separated from my mother, and they were supposed to be stored out of bounds at our home on Mucurapo Road.
This didn’t stop me from exploring during the July-August vacations, and I found what I remember as a Polaroid J66 model instant camera. The manual was written for a savvy adult, but there were a few packs of black and white Polaroid in the case, so I set about making a happy mess of both camera and packs. I may have shot one or two blurry, developed images during that first, furtive exploration of photography, but what I remember most clearly was how pungent and searing the chemicals in those early packs were.
Much later on, when I entered the field of professional photography for the first time, I shot with a Mamiya medium format camera which had a Polaroid back that was invaluable for proofing complicated lighting setups.
Digital photography essentially ended the allure of 60 second development with split-second gratification on an LCD. Land’s idea was sound, as the overwhelming acceptance of modern digital photography attests, but the execution went swiftly from ahead of its time to hopelessly behind the times.
It wasn’t the first time that Polaroid’s chemical technology was superseded by electronics. An early movie format, Polavision, which made use of a version of the sandwiched processing of Polaroid instant packs was killed almost as soon as it was introduced by VHS recorders and cameras.
In February, the Polaroid Corporation, a shell of the company in its heyday, announced that it would stop manufacturing the packs of film and chemicals used by the cameras, shutting down its factories and laying off the workers. Fujifilm continues to manufacture a small subset of the Polaroid range.
Or is it? A number of specialist applications kept Polaroid cameras in the game, including quick forensic snapshots, machine specific applications in dentistry and dermatology and travel photographers who used the cameras to give their subjects an immediate keepsake.
The SX-70, possibly the most famous of the cameras that the company produced, created a particularly interesting image, one that could be pushed around with a firm stylus to create painterly, one of a kind images.
You can see some of this work done by my friends Sonya and Fernando here. They even did one of me working on an early hand coded version of my website when we were supposed to be relaxing down the islands.
SX-70 users are among the many petitioners hoping to convince a better off photography company to acquire the manufacturing assets and licencing rights that Polaroid is about to shutter.
Save Polaroid website
BitDepth 625 posted
28/04/08 19:28 Filed in: Website
Updates
Contract Killers
21/04/08 23:48 Filed in: Movies
Gerard goes bad to get
good
Michael Walker, Tricia Lee Kelshall, Gerard Joseph and Cauri Jaye in a promotional photo for Men of Gray - Flight of the Ibis. Photo by Mark Lyndersay.
As I walked down the reddish carpet to the reception at the Trinidad and Tobago premiere of Contract Killers, I had an idle thought, the realisation that I was there not because I was a valued member of the media, a local film buff or even because I'd been in a Gerard Joseph film once in the past. I was there because Gerard is a fiercely loyal friend, the kind of guy who won't give up on a pardner until he's been beaten bloody and taken limping from the scene.
Ria, the woman who often reaches in to pull Gerard from his most humanitarian impulses was there too, a tall, rangy presence, as always right next to her husband, shaking hands, smiling and supporting Gerard, just like I remembered her the first time we met almost two decades ago.
Gerard Joseph was back in Trinidad after making his school film, Men of Gray, to produce its sequel, Men of Gray II - Flight of the Ibis. He remembered me from a story I had commissioned for the Guardian's Sunday Magazine, SG, and more specifically from the photos I had done of him with his co-star, Charles Applewhaite for the story.
Gerard insisted, in that way that he
does, that I had to do the photos for the film. So I tagged along
on some of the shoots, learning once and for all the glamour of
film making is on the screen. Shooting stills for a movie is dull,
the kind of thing that makes you long for the excitement of
watching paint dry. Then you get a narrow window to shoot in before
the crew shoves you out of the way to get their work done.
Gerard did his own learning on that shoot, discovering just how hard it is to move production wheels for moviemaking in Trinidad and Tobago. He went back to the US for a good long while after that, returning to film local scenes for Backlash, an action film that used Carnival as a backdrop.
Give the boy that. He's been more determined to use Trinidad and Tobago in his movies than anybody who talks about doing it officially.
What Gerard Joseph has been missing all this time, despite his indefatigable enthusiasm for the movie business, his bull-headed loyalty to his friends and the country of his birth, is a vehicle that puts his hard work up on the screen for the world to see.
There's no delicate way to put this, but most of Gerard's films haven't been great. They have been enthusiastic and passionate, they have featured his love and skills in the martial arts, but the unsung hero of Contract Killers, easily the best film he has produced that I've seen, is Justin Rhodes, a 28 year old Texan who polished the screenplay, directed and edited a slick action film that's heavily influenced by the style of the Bourne trilogy.
In Contract Killers, there are no good guys, just varying shades of bad, and for an adamantly nice fellow like Gerard, it marks a moment of maturity, I think, a realisation that the world is mostly shades of gray, many of them unpleasant, not the starkly black and white hatted protagonists of his earlier efforts.
In the film, Gerard takes a low profile role as Monoven, a terse, efficient killer and allows his three stars, Frida Farrell, Christian Willis and Rhett Giles to carry the film from Florida to Port of Spain to a miscellany of scenic sites around Trinidad and Tobago, including the "Chaguaramas Jungle," which earned the film a laugh.
It was great to see Gerard score with a slick, well put together film that rewarded his hard work over the years.
It's going to be interesting to see whether the Film Company, the location promotion arm of the local tourism agency, learns from his experience; the lesson that success with a film comes after two years of shooting and production and twenty-five years of being disappointed, picking yourself up and refusing to give up.
Michael Walker, Tricia Lee Kelshall, Gerard Joseph and Cauri Jaye in a promotional photo for Men of Gray - Flight of the Ibis. Photo by Mark Lyndersay.
As I walked down the reddish carpet to the reception at the Trinidad and Tobago premiere of Contract Killers, I had an idle thought, the realisation that I was there not because I was a valued member of the media, a local film buff or even because I'd been in a Gerard Joseph film once in the past. I was there because Gerard is a fiercely loyal friend, the kind of guy who won't give up on a pardner until he's been beaten bloody and taken limping from the scene.
Ria, the woman who often reaches in to pull Gerard from his most humanitarian impulses was there too, a tall, rangy presence, as always right next to her husband, shaking hands, smiling and supporting Gerard, just like I remembered her the first time we met almost two decades ago.
Gerard Joseph was back in Trinidad after making his school film, Men of Gray, to produce its sequel, Men of Gray II - Flight of the Ibis. He remembered me from a story I had commissioned for the Guardian's Sunday Magazine, SG, and more specifically from the photos I had done of him with his co-star, Charles Applewhaite for the story.
Gerard did his own learning on that shoot, discovering just how hard it is to move production wheels for moviemaking in Trinidad and Tobago. He went back to the US for a good long while after that, returning to film local scenes for Backlash, an action film that used Carnival as a backdrop.
Give the boy that. He's been more determined to use Trinidad and Tobago in his movies than anybody who talks about doing it officially.
What Gerard Joseph has been missing all this time, despite his indefatigable enthusiasm for the movie business, his bull-headed loyalty to his friends and the country of his birth, is a vehicle that puts his hard work up on the screen for the world to see.
There's no delicate way to put this, but most of Gerard's films haven't been great. They have been enthusiastic and passionate, they have featured his love and skills in the martial arts, but the unsung hero of Contract Killers, easily the best film he has produced that I've seen, is Justin Rhodes, a 28 year old Texan who polished the screenplay, directed and edited a slick action film that's heavily influenced by the style of the Bourne trilogy.
In Contract Killers, there are no good guys, just varying shades of bad, and for an adamantly nice fellow like Gerard, it marks a moment of maturity, I think, a realisation that the world is mostly shades of gray, many of them unpleasant, not the starkly black and white hatted protagonists of his earlier efforts.
In the film, Gerard takes a low profile role as Monoven, a terse, efficient killer and allows his three stars, Frida Farrell, Christian Willis and Rhett Giles to carry the film from Florida to Port of Spain to a miscellany of scenic sites around Trinidad and Tobago, including the "Chaguaramas Jungle," which earned the film a laugh.
It was great to see Gerard score with a slick, well put together film that rewarded his hard work over the years.
It's going to be interesting to see whether the Film Company, the location promotion arm of the local tourism agency, learns from his experience; the lesson that success with a film comes after two years of shooting and production and twenty-five years of being disappointed, picking yourself up and refusing to give up.
Mac Image Editors roundup
21/04/08 23:45 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 624 posted
21/04/08 23:44 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 623 posted
14/04/08 23:23 Filed in: Website
Updates
MacBook Air examined
07/04/08 23:39 Filed in: Website
Updates
New images added to the Gayelle gallery
07/04/08 23:36 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 622 posted
07/04/08 23:35 Filed in: Website
Updates
Local Lives returns
31/03/08 21:40 Filed in: Website
Updates
To mark the occasion, I've revamped the web presence for Local Lives, with extended galleries of the first four installments and "The Return of Ramrick Sadhoo."
The other three installments will be posted over the next week.
View the new web presence for Local Lives here...
Mac notes begin
31/03/08 21:35 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 621 posted
31/03/08 21:14 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 620 posted
24/03/08 21:29 Filed in: Website
Updates
Information Minister responds
21/03/08 09:00 Filed in: Editorial
Information Minister Neil Parsanal
wrote this response to the
editorial of March 17 in a letter to the Guardian after its
publication.
I should note that I often write the editorial without having had the benefit of witnessing the incidents or issues that are the subjects of the day's opinion leader.
I do, however, try to draw conclusions based on at least two reports of the situation. In this case, both Newsday's report on the incident and the TV6 report under the heading "Things that make you go...huh?" asserted that the reporter, Sean Douglas' microphone had been silenced.
Whether or not Mr Parsanal threw the switch, as Information Minister, he had the right and leverage to continue the discussion to the satisfaction of both the reporter and the media in attendance.
The response was published in the Guardian of March 21. Read More...
I should note that I often write the editorial without having had the benefit of witnessing the incidents or issues that are the subjects of the day's opinion leader.
I do, however, try to draw conclusions based on at least two reports of the situation. In this case, both Newsday's report on the incident and the TV6 report under the heading "Things that make you go...huh?" asserted that the reporter, Sean Douglas' microphone had been silenced.
Whether or not Mr Parsanal threw the switch, as Information Minister, he had the right and leverage to continue the discussion to the satisfaction of both the reporter and the media in attendance.
The response was published in the Guardian of March 21. Read More...
Media and Government - March 17
17/03/08 19:51 Filed in: Editorial
Here's a new one. I've referenced
editorials that I've written for the Trinidad Guardian in this
virtual space, most notably here, but this is
the first time that I'm reproducing one directly as an entry on the
blog.
Editorials are a curious piece of work for me. They need to represent the thinking of the newspaper's editor and publisher, or at least such thinking as they would be comfortable with.
After writing almost 600 of these, I have to acknowledge that some of them are also my own opinion, free and clear. This one was important enough to share here. There may be others in the future. Read More...
Editorials are a curious piece of work for me. They need to represent the thinking of the newspaper's editor and publisher, or at least such thinking as they would be comfortable with.
After writing almost 600 of these, I have to acknowledge that some of them are also my own opinion, free and clear. This one was important enough to share here. There may be others in the future. Read More...
Jazz, not soul or R&B, on the greens
17/03/08 19:49 Filed in: Music
A review of Jazz Artists on the Greens
is posted here.
BitDepth 619 posted
17/03/08 19:25 Filed in: Website
Updates
Windows Server 2008 features
virtualisation. Here's why that might
be important for you to think about...
BitDepth 618 posted
10/03/08 17:54 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 617 posted
03/03/08 20:26 Filed in: Website
Updates
Got web skills?
26/02/08 11:16 Filed in: Web
Fast developing downloading music site
looking for a webmaster, for webmarketing and web programming.
Webmaster should have experience and knowledge of Apache, MY SQL,
PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript. Location Port of Spain, Part-time
an option. Contact 625 4829, email michele@ritualsmus.com.
Might as well jump
26/02/08 11:09 Filed in: Cable Guys
Jumper is a bad movie. Bad, bad, bad. BitDepth 616 posted
26/02/08 10:24 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth#616, an overview of Microsoft's new Office
Communicator product and Unified Communications concept is posted
here.
Boissiere house for sale
18/02/08 22:19 Filed in: Musing
BitDepth 615 posted
18/02/08 22:14 Filed in: Website
Updates
TSTT response to "Broadband Problems"
18/02/08 22:06 Filed in: BitDepth+
Reader responses to "Broadband Problems"
18/02/08 21:46 Filed in: Reader
Response
BitDepth 614 posted
11/02/08 21:11 Filed in: Website
Updates
More Mas Medicine
11/02/08 19:40 Filed in: Carnival
Having issues with TSTT or Flow?
10/02/08 21:16 Filed in: BitDepth+
I'm working on a piece that aggregates information from customers about their experiences with broadband upgrades, new installations or problems with Internet speeds and the support responses they have experienced with these providers.
Power of the Super Niche
08/02/08 23:42 Filed in: Carnival
I've been following some of the
Carnival bloggers after getting some really valuable links off a
few of the sites for the Making Mas series.
Several of these sites are really focused on the business of getting ready for Carnival Monday and Tuesday and one of the fascinating themes that cropped up in the week before Carnival was the disparity between costumes as delivered and as advertised.
Two particularly thorough and interesting entries appeared on the blogs of Saucy Diva and Carnival Jumbie.
After covering Carnival for almost a quarter of a century, an issue like this simply never occurred to me. Have a look at what the committed masquerader has to say. These are blogs that deserve to be signed.
Several of these sites are really focused on the business of getting ready for Carnival Monday and Tuesday and one of the fascinating themes that cropped up in the week before Carnival was the disparity between costumes as delivered and as advertised.
Two particularly thorough and interesting entries appeared on the blogs of Saucy Diva and Carnival Jumbie.
After covering Carnival for almost a quarter of a century, an issue like this simply never occurred to me. Have a look at what the committed masquerader has to say. These are blogs that deserve to be signed.
Carnival Congratulations
08/02/08 23:42 Filed in: Carnival
San Fernando bandleaders Ivan and Wendy Kalicharan (MM6) won the South Band of the Year title. De BOSS (MM7) took the Lil Hart award for Small Band of the Year, closely followed by Tribal Connection (MM7) in second place. Wade Madray tied for third place in the King of Carnival competition.
View Making Mas online here.
We are the Police
08/02/08 22:06 Filed in: Musing
Making Mas updates
07/02/08 07:03 Filed in: Website
Updates
The Road March Curse
07/02/08 06:35 Filed in: Carnival
BitDepth 613 posted
04/02/08 19:21 Filed in: Website
Updates
Jason Daly 1973-2008
31/01/08 22:59 Filed in: Musing
I began shooting GayelleTV's presenters partly as a personal project, partly because of my long association with Banyan and Chris laird and Errol Fabien, but mostly because the station is just around the corner from my studio and as I told Chris, it would have been ridiculous for anyone else to be doing their photography.
Having a record of the presence and vitality of Jason wasn't the reason for doing it, but I'm glad that the photos exist.
GayelleTV has created a virtual condolence book for Jason here.
BitDepth 612 posted
28/01/08 19:47 Filed in: Website
Updates
Two score and ten
24/01/08 21:04 Filed in: Music
If 30 is over the hill, what the heck
is 50? Read
More...
BitDepth 611 posted
21/01/08 18:58 Filed in: Website
Updates
Updated Making Mas entries
21/01/08 09:12 Filed in: Website
Updates
Blog page redesign
20/01/08 01:09 Filed in: Website
Updates
This new theme demands a monitor with a resolution of at least 1024 pixels (pretty much any modern monitor sold in the last four years). My test run using OpenTracker, a pricey but powerful visitor tracking tool reveals that just three percent of you use a smaller monitor that will require some scrolling to view the whole page.
I get to pack a bit more information in to a new left side column, which may make accessing information about page a little easier for folks who don't scroll down very far.
I plan to develop this a bit more as I go along.
Hosay in full swing
16/01/08 20:45 Filed in: Photography
New Photoessay series
15/01/08 00:24 Filed in: Website
Updates
How does Carnival get made?
Making Mas, a new photoessay series that I'm working on for the Trinidad Guardian is a celebration of the unsung heroes of Carnival, the hundreds of people who build thousands of costumes for the annual festival.
The introduction page is here. Galleries of published and unpublished photos are here. Downloadable PDFs of the published Guardian stories are here.
Making Mas, a new photoessay series that I'm working on for the Trinidad Guardian is a celebration of the unsung heroes of Carnival, the hundreds of people who build thousands of costumes for the annual festival.
The introduction page is here. Galleries of published and unpublished photos are here. Downloadable PDFs of the published Guardian stories are here.
BitDepth 610 posted
14/01/08 23:15 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth #610 a contemplation of the state of Carnival is
posted 
The Frenchman and the downloads
08/01/08 00:53 Filed in: BitDepth+
BitDepth 609 posted
08/01/08 00:49 Filed in: Website
Updates
Site update details
31/12/07 20:53 Filed in: Website
Updates
No BitDepth until next week
31/12/07 20:47 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 608 posted
24/12/07 22:55 Filed in: Website
Updates
La Fleur Morte
18/12/07 00:03 Filed in: Photography
Click on each photo to see an enlarged detail.
These images are excerpts from a larger work that is in progress in which I examine the way that flowers, the reproductive organs of plants, deteriorate after they are picked and discarded.
The first two images were selected for display in the Art Society's November exhibition for 2007 and you can view an interview with Magella Moreau and Dennis McComie on the Gayelle Morning Show, Cock a Doodle Doo here and download the interview here. If you're curious about the slideshow I put together for my appearance, you can find that download here and view it here.
My marketing plan for TSTT
18/12/07 00:03 Filed in: BitDepth+
TSTT's
marketing of its Blink broadband service is very pretty, but at its
core, I think it's rotten. Here's an alternative.
Read
More...
Quitting HSIA
18/12/07 00:03 Filed in: BitDepth+
Getting invited
17/12/07 23:53 Filed in: Media
Holding
onto your integrity, along with your dignity, at a Christmas party
should be higher on the media agenda. Read
More...
Movies made of vignettes
17/12/07 23:51 Filed in: Cable Guys
Films
built out of little stories are starting to look a bit too similar.
Read Keifel's entry here.
Read
More...
BitDepth 607 posted
17/12/07 19:40 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 606 posted
10/12/07 22:17 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 605 posted
03/12/07 21:30 Filed in: Website
Updates
Tribe tech
03/12/07 20:44 Filed in: BitDepth+
BitDepth 604 posted
26/11/07 20:54 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth
604, a look behind the scenes at how bpTT is using technology to
bring group knowledge to its high risk offshore platforms is
posted here.
Crash
19/11/07 21:09 Filed in: BitDepth+
BitDepth 603 posted
19/11/07 21:04 Filed in: Website
Updates
On Time Machine
15/11/07 22:06 Filed in: Reader
Response
Voting for the CoP
15/11/07 22:06 Filed in: Musing
BitDepth 602 posted
15/11/07 22:05 Filed in: Website
Updates
Four things you should do with a new Mac or one you're upgrading
15/11/07 22:05 Filed in: BitDepth+
More on Leopard
15/11/07 21:36 Filed in: BitDepth+
BitDepth 601 posted
05/11/07 22:57 Filed in: Website
Updates
The Horror, The Horror
29/10/07 22:06 Filed in: Cable Guys
BitDepth 600 posted
29/10/07 22:04 Filed in: Website
Updates
A Broadway Tale
25/10/07 20:14 Filed in: Musing
Tapes on RAW
22/10/07 21:47 Filed in: BitDepth+
BitDepth 599 posted
22/10/07 21:46 Filed in: Website
Updates
Broadband Survey
22/10/07 21:42 Filed in: Website
Updates
Eyes wide open
14/10/07 23:16 Filed in: BitDepth+
If you're coming here from BitDepth in print or on the Guardian's website, welcome. If you're a regular, this continues on from this column. Read More...
A bend in the Amazon
14/10/07 23:03 Filed in: BitDepth+
Learning is contagious
14/10/07 22:56 Filed in: Musing
Willem Dafoe is Gene Hackman
14/10/07 21:28 Filed in: Cable Guys
BitDepth 597 posted
08/10/07 23:22 Filed in: Website
Updates
San Fernando Jazz Festival
08/10/07 23:04 Filed in: Website
Updates
BitDepth 596 posted
01/10/07 20:32 Filed in: Website
Updates
