Free Hugs

What the hell is with all these teenagers going around town holding free hugs signs, these days.
Four times now I've come across groups of people (all late teens, all a little emo)walking around giving away free hugs.
One time it was two men in bear suits.
And on two of those occasions I had a camera with me.

Hugs are too precious a commodity in our modern age, to be given away for free.

I've since then done a little research and this whole phenomenon started in Australia, and then was spread by the internet by forums such as myspace, bebo and youtube.
That would explain the young age of all the people doing it, i.e. too much free time.

As opposed to having too much free time for walking around with a camera photographing random shit that takes place. On a time consuming analogue format, to end up with pictures of no commercial value.

The first of this series and by far the best. I love how the Garda is reaching behind to grab his handcuffs, you'd swear he's about to arrest them.

They were yelling at the police, free hugs for free drugs. I'm reilly suprised they the didn't search them.This woman either doesn't want to be hugged or just doesn't want to be photographed.

I anticipated this moment wrong, I saw the sign ahead over the shop saying envy. I thought it would make a good juxtaposition, of the signs with opposing meanings. Unfortunately I was too low, and his head is blocking the V on the sign. If I had of taken the shot standing I would have got the full sign in frame. But alas it's too late for "if's".

That reminds me back in February I shot two men in Bear suits doing the same thing. I just digged out the negatives.

This is actually from the first roll of film I ever shot with my Nikon f3.

Which has since died on me this week.

The shop in the background is appropriately named Korky's. A real teddy bear name.

Ahhhhhhh so wuvable.

I had just missed it but someone had punched this bear in the face.

Some people don't care for free hugs much.

While others do.

Awwwww makes me feel all fuzzy and warm inside.

Everyone needs hugs once in a while.

A day of discipline.

The other day by accident I bought a 12 shot roll of film. I then set myself a goal of trying to sqeeze as many decent shots as possable onto the roll. It took four hours and about a mile and half walk, but I think I did my best in the end. Although as usual I still think I could have done better.
The first on the roll, ah yes Meat Par Excellence.

The second shot, a little skewed, but "cough" thats for artistic purposes.

Shooting colour over B&W, really has it's advantages.
Not often you see a panama hat in Dublin.
What the hell are these guys riding on.
This is not really a headless man but a hunchback.
The only dodgy shot on the roll, it's out of focus.
This kid looks twelve and smoking, little bastard caught me taking his picture as well.
If he was standing it would be a good picture as the light bulb would be on his head.
O'Connell Street.
Irish aid advert at the top of O'Connell street.
Well done to who ever took that original billboard picture it's fantastic.
The final photo of twelve.

So now back to the concept of unlimited use Flash cards, versus limited shots of film.

In this modern age the concept of of shooting 36 shots in groups at a time, is more and more becoming an alien concept. The idea now is shoot fucking hundreds and hundreds of shots till you get a "few" that are good.

What a pile of horse shit, any fucking pleb can pick up a digi cam, with auto focus, auto exposure, auto fucking everything, shoot hundreds of shots, and is bound by the sheer law of averages to hit something good. Unless they're very unlucky or very stupid (probably the latter).

I always use a metaphor that my Father says.
Shooting a digi cam with a zoom lens, loaded with a CF card that holds hundreds of shots, is like hunting deer in the woods with a machine gun. Sure it'll be easy to get a hit, you just spray everything in sight with bullets till eventually your bound to hit something. But whether or not any of your kills are clean or decisive ones is a different story.

While shooting a manual wind film camera, with a prime lens (preferably wide angle), is like hunting deer with a 45.cal bolt action rifle.
You have a very small magazine of bullets, and each time you need to take a shot you have to manually load each single shot. You have to stalk your prey with stealth, take into consideration every detail, and aim each shot ever so carefully. You have to focus and expose everything correctly.
And when you do hit something, it will be a clean and decisive kill.

Anyone can run around the woods machine gunning everything in sight, but they will never attain discipline or learn anything about the craft.
Thats the word I emphasize DISCIPLINE.

The idea for this little project came from when I was nerding it up at a camera repair place, talking to some some random guy. He spotted my rusted old F3 Nikon. He then comments so you haven't gone digital yet, I tell him I value my personal work too much to cheapen it by shooting fake ass digital.
He then proceeds to lecture me on the waste that film produces, especially in street shooting. He then informs me it takes hundreds of photos to get a good street shot with his D70.
Really hundreds of photos to get a decent photo, by the gods he really must be shit.
When you think about it there are guys who shoot 400 shots a day out there, that's over 10 rolls of film, I could not even imagine shooting 10 rolls and hardly not get anything.
If that's modern photography I want nothing to do with it.

I'm not saying I'm great, to tell you the truth I'm mediocre at the best of times, but at least on each roll of film there is 3 or 4 things of interest.

Besides I cheated a little on this photo project, because three of the locations I have used before except they were on Black and White and I wanted to see what they look like in colour.

So here they are to set my conscience straight.