James D. Kelly

Just ordered polaroid sx70 camera from ebay, such beautiful camera I got excited and accidently bid on two. Going to modify one to take polaroid 600 for snaps of friends, and leave the other for sx70/time-zero. found packets of film in some shops, and others on ebay, suspect some will have dead battery now which will need the film transfering to new container.

first polaroid (almost)

35mm out of service now, 100pounds to fix some light leaks, and meter/re-calibration. worth it for an extra twenty years I suppose.

decided to make a pinhole camera from a matchbox I had lying around, and a tutorial I found somewhere on the internet, I can tell you, in my experience there is no more satisfying feeling you can have then making the camera yourself, taking photographs, and developing the film in your own bathroom. It kind of showed me how it must feel in the early days to make the first ever images. estimated that at 0.2mm the fstop was around f90, and metered with handheld meter accordingly. saying that, most of exposures are still guess work, and the negatives were for most part over-exposed. There is some kind of beauty in the following images, that no other camera can re-create.

Dont even know what this was in heinsight, though I think in higher resolution scan, its my favourite on the roll. it feels industrial to me, with small black shape representing some kind of worker who is driving the emotion.

subway shot waiting for train

portrait made by aidan, hanging out with dead people, and karl marx. who of course for the time being lives on.

this is the camera I made, cut the frame at 24mm into back of the matchbox with sloppy edges. makes 50 frames on every 36 exposure roll. thats some good value. had custom sliding shutter, and then used end of a lighter to wind the film. sure you can appreciate irony of all this when you have 16.7mp camera in your possession.

shopping for new shoes with aidan… Its impossible to ever find anything I like with such big boat feet, so I give up and just keep wearing my converse.

posing for coffee downtown oxford street, being poser!

mcthorpe, mchungry, mcbeautifulmusic, mclatenight, mcheartattack…

moment after this kiss, she looks at him with some of the most true love I have ever seen in her eyes… this to me is the worlds most powerful magic

each person reading information in free london paper, something about celebrity life, or some useles fact, that is forgotten as quickly as it is read

‘how to be kylie minogue’ hah! the irony…

went to a celebrity musician fancy dress party at the weekend, and decided to go as kurt cobain, for some reason in my drunken state it seemed like a really good idea to stop at any pub on the way and play nirvana on the jukebox. looking back on these photos its practically suicide… local pub for local people. I sat there with my half a pint for about five minutes, and left somewhere in the middle of smells like teen spirit solo.

asked the barmaid to make my photo in here, it did make me laugh to see the negative (which I accidently cut in half because of being so tired) these kind of people in the UK are really something else.

food anyone?

made this shot on the way to get more cocktail, straight after she said I must ask permission to take photograph in a joking way, so I did… and it wasn’t as interesting.

this guy brought huge cardboard cut-out boombox and some friends looking beasty boy.

1/15th - barely any light in this room.. some funky late night pulp fiction style dancing… like right before uma thurman over doses on heroin and they stick a needle in her heart.

production co-ordinator on sweeney todd, also become really good friend to me, cant remember taking this, but usually his portraits seem to involve cigarettes and alcohol.

shes makes me want to pick up a camera, and celebrate the myriad ways that I love her.

welcome to new blog, decided I wanted to start one of these to document aspects of life.. and share ideas. Recently been shooting lots of black and white film, just experimenting really and missing the feeling and smell of chemicals in my lungs. My processesing technique is far from perfect these days, but im having fun with film so thats what counts… also, the feeling of holding an old manual camera in this digital age changes your perception of the world incredibly as a photographer, it forces you to think, and think about the camera, this is one of the most important thing for a photographer to realize, that you are the one making the photos, not the camera. When you spend time, money, and make pain to develop your own images, there are certain feelings digital cant touch (and also certain feelings film cannot touch when it comes to commercial workflow). I feel very unsatisfied with my photography on these days, and am going through a diverse process of experimentation, guess to some degree this is what I hope to document through this page…

all tri-x 400…

noticed this scene with word ‘winter’ in mind, having monthly photo competitions at work now.

laughing friends, didnt find so funny ten seconds later when birds flew at them.. I was laughing though.

this moment reminds me of being child, when pigeon landed on my head and crapped in my hair.

beauty lighting demonstration at focus on imaging, shot this for lighting reference - results were amazing on leaf digital backs.. all the pervy old photographer men got their rocks off with cameras at this one.. blurgh.

me with new 100′00 Megapixel camera launched next year…

found this surreal moment…

so suprised to make these shots without being jack-moved. was bad area (looking for slums).

morning after aidans birthday, and a messy night. it was tea o clock.

on way to national portrait gallery to see kate moss photographed by corrine day, and fashion exhibition of steven klein, I got roped into this protest against nuclear weapon trident in the UK. These people are so passionate about what they believe, it made me feel the same. How can the british government possibly justify spending millions on nuclear war head, when people in our streets have no home, and our education deteriorates? on another note, the exhibition was fantastic, and I got a signed copy of the accompanying book. To see work of steven klein, and mario sorrenti in print at such large scale, is an experience I cannot begin to explain.

mpc meeting at work in odeon cinema, where they showcase new reel, and plans for company future. left feeling excited and so inspired to work for such an incredible place, with so much talent. brightness of this screen is about all that can wake me at such early hours.