Melbourne Finders Keepers Markets

LC-Wide (Fuji Superia 200 film)

Last Friday & Saturday I had an exciting opportunity to help out the on the lovely Lomography Australia/NZ Finders Keepers Market stall... fun times! I spent pretty much the entirety of Friday night & Saturday talking about cameras & film.... I ended up a little voice-hoarse, but very happy to share the Lomography love in Melbourne.

Did you go to the Melbourne Finders Keepers Market? What did you find & keep?

x Mel

P.S. You can now find milk&miel on Facebook!

NYC - Cityscape

LC-A (Various film)

New York City, three small words, one big city. The NYC skyline is memorable, formidable & unforgettable. It seems at times, that each & every building was created entirely to inhabit the city, that it any of these buildings were plucked from NYC & transplanted into any other city in the world, that they would be out of place. They only have one true home.

We have all seen this skyline in numerous films & photographs, a heavy bridge of buildings skirted by the rivers and ultimately the the bay. There is a certain romance & stupor that this cityscape evokes, a feeling of home, of loneliness, of longing & fantasy.

NYC, an island of beauty & buildings; souls & hearts : financiers & artists.

x Mel

NYC Guest Post: Fotodudenz

“In the gift shop” Hasselblad Xpan & 30mm, Kodak BW400CN

"Hi, my name is Matthew, some people know me as Fotodudenz and two people know me as Wideboy. In September 2010 after years of deliberation I finally made it to New York, girlfriend, 3 film cameras and one digital camera (purely for the video) in tow. Mel has asked me to share a few images and write some words about my experiences.

My biggest fear about shooting film in the USA was how many X-ray machines my films would have to endure as you pass through the overly paranoid TSA at the airports. I visited New York on the 9th anniversary of 9/11 and they were extra paranoid. I just took a minimum amount of film with me and bought more when I arrived, you can’t go New York without visit to B&H!"

“Canal Street Station” Voigtlander Bessa L & 12mm, Kodak Ektar

"When you arrive you’ll probably be jet-lagged to all hell so make the most of it and get out there and shoot! The early morning light is amazing, when the sun comes up it peeks its way through the gaps between the buildings and make these amazing slithers, it also reflects back and forward off the windows and makes pockets of amazing soft light. It’s also well before most people in New York get up and you pretty much have the streets to yourself.

If you’re into shooting people New York is awesome, most of them seem to not give a fuck but use your common sense, oh and don’t worry, they’ll tell you if they don’t want to have their photo taken. I had a few conversations with people I took photos of, the most interesting was with the couple who are in “The Sunbather and the Ice Breaker”. I was taking a photo nearby and he yells out “So do you like photos?”, he showed me photos of Coney Island in the winter and there was snow on the beach! Surreal. I must go back in winter. She didn't give away too much about herself, she looked like she had spent a lot of time in the sun. We were there on September 11th and she told me that she hadn't been to Manhattan since 9/11."

"The Sunbather and the Ice Breaker" Hasselblad Xpan & 30mm, Kodak BW400CN

"What to see: The all of the obvious places like The Statue of Liberty, The Guggenheim, Central Park, The Empire State Building, The Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges and Grand Central Station. Don’t leave anything until the last minute, I got sick on the second last day of my trip and I didn’t get to see some stuff, oh well, I’ll just have to go back sometime. Check out Coney Island, it’s about an hour south from Manhattan in Brooklyn and if you’ve got heaps of time, Montauk, East of East Hampton."

“Tucker” Hasselblad Xpan & 30mm, Kodak Ektar (I think)

Matthew can be found at www.fototheque.com & on Flickr.