Here comes part three. Now we're approaching what I meant by the subject line.
I got this film scanner last week. I have been scanning a lot of very old as well as recent rolls and frames. Quite a few times I have stopped just to watch some picture that I never really seen before, other than as a neg or in a b&w contact sheet. You know the feeling when you find or have made a copy that you are very satisfied with. Inother words, it has been a rewarding experience to get real access to your photos directly from the negatives. Anyway, as I reported some time ago, I was offered to do an exhibition during an upcoming jazz festival in February, that I am also working on. It was more or less made clear (or at least said that probably) some sort of funds would come to my disposal. However, this involved me sending an application to the town's "cultural department" asking for some money. I got some advice, or even practical assistance in doing so, since I really don't know the routines nor what formalities, budget calculations were supposed top go along with it. Well, the one in charge of it all - head of the town's "cultural department" - who also was the one asking mein the first place, helped me out and practically directed me what to put in my application. I just went along and said sure, that sounds great, can one do that? etc.. I happen to mention that I probably had at least fifty rolls of undeveloped film that I couldn't afford to get developed from the last couple of years. So he put this in the application too, 50 rolls of film at xx$$.... Anyway, tonight the board in charge considered my application and guess what!? They granted me around $$1.500 to cover my expenses for the exhibition (including development of the films I had mentioned). This is not all. This man, "head of town's cultural affairs", also firmly suggest I also apply for an Aland "state"grant for another $$1.500 just to make sure my photos will be shown at another jazz festival in summer... Now - and this is where the subject line gets in - if one gets such a grant to do an exhibition, it's got to mean at least something, like there must be at least something to my pictures that takes me to all this money. Please tell me so, or is it possible they are all in lack of better judgement? (It was required too that I submitted a number of "workproofs", which in my case consisted of some twenty ordinary 10x15cm prints, completely un(re)touched by me....) I really have a hard time realizing all this. Lately my finances have been so poor I almost stopped shooting, other than the already paid for assignments. Someone seemingly really must like me. (Pity it's not a nude model wannabe though, but you can't expect it all to happen at once, now can you... :-.) (There actually is an other amusing photographer's tale to be told behind all this, but it will have to be another time. It actually all seems to have it's origin at an instance about a year ago (which I partly reported on to the list), when I was forced (by financial difficulties, as my regular Pentax AF equipment was locked in a pawn shop) to do a couple of day's assignment on my only back up gear: a total of $$20 system consisting of an old manual Chinon, literally falling to pieces, one 50mm lens and a no name $3 flash...) I really seem to have made good use of that 50mm, don't I. Really funny, ain't it, in retrospect. Thanks all for reading all this. Just felt I had to tell you. Lasse
