Luminous Landscape Forum
Site & Board Matters => About This Site => Topic started by: Rob C on June 24, 2012, 04:36:50 am
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Apart from the photography itself, isn't there a subliminal message being expressed here?
I refer to the baggage that those two people are carrying. I've noticed over the years that, where once people would walk around with the very minimum of personal luggage about their person, even a walk to a café for a coffee or whatever seems to entail the carrying of a backpack.
This is particularly noticeable here in summer, where folks wear a miniumum of clothing (often not advisedly) yet always appear to be laden like beasts of burden. Why is it deemed necessary to carry all this luggage like an Atlas?
I find that it is infecting my own life: was a time I had a wallet in my jeans - never was pickpocketed(?) - and that was pretty much all that I had to contend with in my outdoor life. Then, I realised that I was carrying a cellphone, too, which required a little leather pouch (so tight you couldn't extract the damned instrument in time if called) attached to my belt, itself an accessory I didn't normally require. This arrangement gave way to a small Walkman-type case into which went the wallet, cellphone, glasses, Biro and car keys. This, of course, itself required to be carried, and the solution was to extend the strap to its fullest and wear the device bandolier-fashion.
So far, so good. However, it became hot and uncomfortable and, worse, because I'd take it off and suspend it over the back of the chair when going to have a drink or a meal, I became no stranger to the experience of forgetting it wherever I was, because small change for coffee etc. resides in my jeans and not the bag.
The solution - partial - to this dilemma has been to shorten the strap and wear the thing around my waist like a belt, bag perched provocatively on the side of my hip à la Colt! You'd think that would be all that's needed, but you'd be mistaken. The problem, you see, is that when I drive, I have to shift the bag so that it sits across my guts over the safety belt. So far, so good. Trouble is, I normally park on a slip road that is alongside the by-pass road that's made driving in Puerto Pollensa so much more simple.
Unfortunately, this parking area, close to the restaurant where I choose to dine, is right next to a school playground. Getting out of the car when I park it, I have to pull the bag back over to the side, and its adjustment slider inevitably fouls the buckle on the belt that hold my jeans in place with the result that it unclips the catch, resulting in my having to lift my T-shirt to see where I am, followed by an undignified scramble to re-engage the pants belt as well as the bag belt. I'm awaiting the official (or vigilante) hand on the shoulder when all this struggle becomes misunderstood.
And all I want is lunch.
Life is tough, not only in Toronto.
Rob C
P.S. Reading this post I have just realised that there's a solution: swap around the orientation of the Walkman belt and then the slider will be safely behind me, posing no further threat to the jeans belt! Thank you, LuLa!
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Have you thought about a handbag!
Jim
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Are you suggesting a sex change? :) ;)
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Have you thought about a handbag!
Jim
Agreed. Women figured this out a long time ago.
I think they're now called "manbags" when carried by our gender.
I have a nice soft leather bag with a shoulder strap. Holds my wallet, keys, cell phone, Ipad and a small camera with a lens or two (like the OM-D5. Also, doesn't look like a camera or computer bag so possibly less likely to be a theft target.
Michael
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Well, I'm afraid that though I'm not interested in a sex change, I did suffer from a small bout of premature congratuations in my P.S. above: it turns out that it's not the slider part that foils the other (jeans belt) buckle: it's the actual plastic of the hook part through which the strap passes. It's just a bit wider, actually, than the slider. Guess there's no solution since both ends are the same.
Well, an old WW2 gassmask satchel would do instead - they used to be very popular with school kids for carrying their books, right up into the 50s, which shows you just how well we could make things in the UK in those days. Of course, there's always the possibility they were imported by convoy from the U.S. and not a domestic product at all. Perhaps if I take a trip back to Glasgow one day I might find Millets... they used to carry all manner of army-surplus stuff in the 50s. I wonder if they still exist?
;-(
Rob C
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I'm with Michael on this one. My small Timbuk2 bag carries an iPad or a Macbook Air, a small camera and a couple of lenses, eyeglasses and case, a small umbrella, and all the little items like earbuds, pens, etc., that I want with me but won't fit in my pockets. I carry it almost everywhere, and can rationalize it as a "camera bag" should I feel less than manly on occasion.
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Last year, I bought a Lowepro sling bag. It will carry the 7D, 17-40L, 70-200 f4L, a couple of extension tubes, spare batteries, flash cards, tools and most importantly, my water bottle.
Its a somewhat larger version of the ladies sling bags and can be hung from a shoulder or across the chest.
Alan
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Are you suggesting a sex change? :) ;)
;D ;D ;D
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I think they're now called "manbags" when carried by our gender.
Careful there big guy. Not to be confused with teabags:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=manbag
1. Puffy swelling under the eye after a boozy night
2. Slang: testicles
3. Small handbag for a man made from leather, fabric or other substance displaying a brand name such as Gucci, Prada, Adidas or Game
4. Slang: condom
5. (Biblical): David kept his sling and stones in a MANbag (if he'd thought to, he could have kept his iPod in there as well.)
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Mine is called a Case Logic, which I suppose is indisputable...
Rob C
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Kids in Portland, OR call it a murse (manpurse)
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An alternative approach is simply to wear sensible clothes, as opposed to fashionable clothes.
Precisely because of this problem that Rob has mentioned, I have some difficulty in finding the design of clothes I need, when I go shopping for clothes. But I usually succeed eventually.
For example, as a result of all the bits and pieces I tend to carry around, which often include two pairs of spectacles (or one pair plus sunglasses), a pen and small notepad, a mobile phone, a cleaning cloth and liquid for my camera lens, a wallet and sometimes a passport, comb, coins, keys and tissue paper etc, I feel that I need clothes with real pockets.
A separate bag with a shoulder strap, as women tend to carry, would certainly be a solution, but not a good solution in my view, unless wearing the most fashionable clothes is your first priority.
A separate bag, like a lady's handbag, simply advertises to all thieves that this is where all your valuables are located.
These are my requirements when I buy a shirt.
(1) It must be durable and made of strong material.
(2) It must be drip-dry so that it never needs ironing.
(3) It must have two large pockets at the front, with flaps and buttons.
(4) Lastly, but still of some concern, it should be reasonably stylish if possible and have a nice pattern.
Of course, two good-sized, buttoned pockets on one's shirt are not enough by themselves. One also has to rely upon the trousers. A tight-fitting pair of jeans will not pass muster.
One needs a slightly baggy pair of trousers with numerous, secure pockets. Pockets in the legs of the trousers can be very useful. Even my shorts have 7 pockets.
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If you are lucky to live in a country where you can keep kangaroos, you could get a female walkabout model and put all the small gear into her pouch. But I hear, they are always pregnant, so that would mean some delicate handling. Nevertheless, in high elevations, they could be a real help.
Maybe also a rucksack on her back. I used to have one for my late Bouvier, but never could completely trust him with a phone or camera.
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http://www.barbour.com/mens-clothing/bags/cotton/accessories/cotton-canvas-tarras-bag
(http://www.barbour.com/sites/default/files/styles/scale_crop_471_446/public/products/UBA0006BE51-SS06_0.jpg)
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Thank you gentlemen for giving me a wonderful LuLa laugh--especially the DigitalDog's contribution, but the opening exposition certainly had funny charm about it.
Doug
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Perhaps if I take a trip back to Glasgow one day I might find Millets... they used to carry all manner of army-surplus stuff in the 50s. I wonder if they still exist?
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They still exist but they went upmarket a few years ago. I have a couple of the bags which I used for fishing. A vest would do the trick with plenty of pockets.
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http://www.barbour.com/mens-clothing/bags/cotton/accessories/cotton-canvas-tarras-bag
(http://www.barbour.com/sites/default/files/styles/scale_crop_471_446/public/products/UBA0006BE51-SS06_0.jpg)
David, that's far too modish for Mallorca! Worse, it looks new and very metrosexual.
I could always revert to form (atavistic old guy that I am) and try to use/force the last few miles out of my career-long camera case, but I realise now that empty it seems to weigh just as much as I remember it to have weighed when filled with a pair of 'blads and three lenses.
The good thing about it is that any would-be thief would have to be pretty athletic to be able to run fast with it... of course, I wouldn't be able or willing to chase him/her anyway, so perhaps that point's academic. I've just been trying to remember the last time that I actually ran - I think I vaguely recall a slight trot, but actually running is too far in the past to envisage clearly. Hmmm...
Rob C
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Perhaps if I take a trip back to Glasgow one day I might find Millets... they used to carry all manner of army-surplus stuff in the 50s. I wonder if they still exist?
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They still exist but they went upmarket a few years ago. I have a couple of the bags which I used for fishing. A vest would do the trick with plenty of pockets.
Hi stamper
I do have one of those - bought it off an oriental stall in the market for arounf 5€ some years ago and it's perfect for that brief season when it's cold enough but not too cold to venture forth without something warmer. Trouble is, like now, it's too hot for anything other than a T-shirt, so even Ray's sensible, patterned multi-pocketed shirt would prove too hot for comfort. (Bit dodgy - patterned shirts: Village People have a lot for which to answer.)
The good thing about these 'vests' is that if you have a cold, then you can stash any number of kitchen roll sheets to see you safely back home without a crisis.
Rob C
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A separate bag with a shoulder strap, as women tend to carry, would certainly be a solution, but not a good solution in my view, unless wearing the most fashionable clothes is your first priority.
This is too funny. No one who saw me would think that wearing the most fashionable clothes was my first priority. It's clearly not in the top ten. And yet even with plenty of pockets, I still prefer a bag for the larger stuff.
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David, that's far too modish for Mallorca! Worse, it looks new and very metrosexual.
Metrosexual? Oh goodness! That is a classic British hunting/fishing bag. How could you utter (type) such a thing? ;D
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I have carried a purse since 1992. It all started when my chiropractor told me my wallet was throwing off my spine alignment. I tried a "soft" wallet in a front pocket, but it wasn't very successful. I found a small man's purse in a store in Dallas. Then, on a trip to Italy in 1996, I saw several men carrying a small purse, but larger than the one I was using, with a hand strap. I bought one in Florence. I used it until this year when I went with a small strapped bag (Billingham) so I could also carry my NEX-7 along with a my other paraphenalia. While I am not usually one to care about fashion, I'm told its very chic (and my wife likes it!).
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If you are lucky to live in a country where you can keep kangaroos, you could get a female walkabout model and put all the small gear into her pouch. But I hear, they are always pregnant, so that would mean some delicate handling. Nevertheless, in high elevations, they could be a real help.
Maybe also a rucksack on her back. I used to have one for my late Bouvier, but never could completely trust him with a phone or camera.
Les, am I ever going to live this down? ;D
Having recently tried to demonstrate the dangers of following Alain Briot's advice that anything goes in the name of photographic art, by placing a few kangaroos in some vacant parts of a couple of my compositions taken outside of Australia, am I now going to be perpetually hoisted by my own petard? ;D
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This is too funny. No one who saw me would think that wearing the most fashionable clothes was my first priority. It's clearly not in the top ten. And yet even with plenty of pockets, I still prefer a bag for the larger stuff.
Of course, if something is too large to fit in one's pocket, such as a D800E, one either needs a bag for it, or carry the camera around one's neck, as I generally do. I take some comfort in the fact that it is unlikely that any thief on a motorbike is going to attempt to snatch my camera from around my neck, because a camera that's been knocked around in a struggle is likely to be damaged and therefore worthless. In addition there's always the risk for the thief, if the attempted robbery fails, that I might be able to take a quick photo of my assailant.
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Of course, if something is too large to fit in one's pocket, such as a D800E, one either needs a bag for it, or carry the camera around one's neck, as I generally do. I take some comfort in the fact that it is unlikely that any thief on a motorbike is going to attempt to snatch my camera from around my neck, because a camera that's been knocked around in a struggle is likely to be damaged and therefore worthless. In addition there's always the risk for the thief, if the attempted robbery fails, that I might be able to take a quick photo of my assailant.
Ray, you're in danger of becoming a troll: you're doing this mindbending on purpose!
Mae West, indeed!
Rob C
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In addition there's always the risk for the thief, if the attempted robbery fails, that I might be able to take a quick photo of my assailant.
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Ah.....would it be any good? :) ;)
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Les, am I ever going to live this down? ;D
Having recently tried to demonstrate the dangers of following Alain Briot's advice that anything goes in the name of photographic art, by placing a few kangaroos in some vacant parts of a couple of my compositions taken outside of Australia, am I now going to be perpetually hoisted by my own petard? ;D
Ray, I just couldn't help it. Those incredible images made a strong and lasting emotional impact on me.
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In addition there's always the risk for the thief, if the attempted robbery fails, that I might be able to take a quick photo of my assailant.
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Ah.....would it be any good? :) ;)
Good question! I think we could say from my assailants' perspective such a photo would not be good at all. It could be disastrous for them. On the other hand, the police might find such a photo to be excellent.
Also from an artistic perspective, the blurred movement of flailing arms as the thieves attempt their escape, could have an esthetic appeal and add meaning to the shot. ;D
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Have you thought about a handbag!
Jim
Years ago an old friend of mine - who bore some semblance to me except he was about 6'2 and about 250 lb - was sitting in a bar having a coffee with his bag on the counter. A woman walked up to him and, pointing to the bag on the counter asked him what it was. He replied, succinctly, "That's my purse." "Your what?" she asked. "My purse." he replied. "What kind of a man carries a purse!?!?" she exclaimed. He looked at her cooly and said, "Lady, it takes a hell of a man to carry a purse."
Mike.
P.S. Mine has beadwork on it.
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Cargo pants.
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Cargo pants.
Is that a term of abuse?
Rob C
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Is that a term of abuse?
Rob C
You mean like Lard-Ass?
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Is that a term of abuse?
Rob C
And that reminds me of the Get Fuzzy cartoon hanging on my studio wall (http://www.gocomics.com/getfuzzy/2012/02/12).
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. I've just been trying to remember the last time that I actually ran - I think I vaguely recall a slight trot, but actually running is too far in the past to envisage clearly. Hmmm...
Rob C
I normally do not run either. As a matter of fact, if you see me running, you better start running in the same direction too. Because there is definitely something really bad in the other direction! ;D