Photos

This photo is dedicated to the memory of Stanley Kubrick. It was taken in the National Film Board offices in Toronto, where the decor and atmosphere reminded me of Kubrick's aesthetic around the time he made "A Clockwork Orange" and "2001: A Space Odyssey." (What was actually going on is that the folks in the spacey chairs with built-in speakers were watching NFB films, which are available free.)

I think of Kubrick's style at the time of those movies as one brand of retrofuturism, "futuristic" looks invented in the past, like the space ships or air cars of old movies. (There is a small but convenient TE theme created by another member, Tongapup, for this kind of image, called "retro-futurismo," which you can find here). To get an idea of the style I'm talking about in Kubrick's movies, if you aren't familiar with them, you can see some set design images for "2001" (and other science fiction) at this site.

Incidentally, we were at the NFB for "Contact," the Toronto Photography Festival, a month-long event in May every year in which photo collections are displayed in a variety of venues, from high-end galleries (the Magnum photographers were in one) to ordinary cafes. The work is a bit hit and miss, but it's always worth checking out just in case you find even one interesting new photographer, or one new approach to taking pictures. Plus it's a great excuse to explore the city and invite friends from out of town.

All TrekLensers and TrekEarthers are hereby informally invited to the next Contact festival, but you can't all stay at my place 'cause there are too many of you. You can see a picture from the show itself (titled "Privet, Lomo") in my TrekLens portfolio.

Finally, the musical accompaniment for this image just has to be "Mr. Lucky" by Henry Mancini. It has just the right smooth, floating, spacy feel. If you've somehow failed to include a recording of this song in your collection, you can find it on Limewire, or on CD at your local library, or if you really really want it, write me.

Tech: not much, surprisingly. I cropped it, then added a layer (multiplied) to deepen the colours a litte, and made a minute adjustment to the overall curve to darken it a little further just to keep the reflections in the glass from being too dominant. That's it. The blue is almost entirely untouched.