It’s funny how there are pictures taken years ago that you weren’t all that crazy about at the time, but that look a lot better when you re-discover them.
This was taken outside of an abandoned house in Wisconsin, where Cari and her friend Will were kind enough to take me on a trip to the States a couple of years ago.
I posted this the other day on Flickr, and it got picked up by their system to include in ‘Explore’ – which is a sort of featured stream of pictures that they select as the most ‘interesting’, based on some weird algorithm. After that happened, this has so far hit about 10,000 views, 170 favourites, and over 30 comments. I’ve not been on Flickr in ages, so I’m convinced this is some sort of conspiracy to lure old users back onto the site.
I’ve been a member since July 2005, have currently got around 8000 pictures uploaded, and 1600 followers. Despite all of that, I’ve hardly made us of the site over the past couple of years. It’s easy to forget how much time I used to spend on there – and how formative it was in fuelling my curiosity about ‘photography’ (which is a horrible word). When I wanted to learn how to develop film, I did so with the help of dedicated groups in Flickr; I met a lot of interesting people, and travelled all over thanks to Flickr; I learned how to take my own kind of nightclub pictures through Flickr… etc.
Perhaps inevitably, whenever I lose my photo taking mojo, I don’t really bother with Flickr anymore. Lately though, I feel re-invigorated, and browsing through all of the amazing pictures produced by my contacts on there, have realised what an addictive, and wonderful community it can be – despite all of its flaws.
I want to take more pictures like me again, and not just for work. Luckily, we’ve got all sorts of trips planned in the upcoming months, so hopefully I’ll be able to get back into the swing of things.
Wisconsin, USA
September 2012
Hasselblad 500CM – Kodak Portra 400UC – expired 2007
(Desaturated)