#1238. Zombies A Walk with the Dark Side

By Ian Varkevisser | Art & Creativity

Oct 31

Its that time of year again and the dead have arisen to walk the streets and we are back in the saddle with another dubious lensbaby fuji combination.

This time its an 80mm edge and a 35mm sweet spot lens though and the light is less harsh and lower down as the late afternoon approaches.

We have been to the ophthalmologist and had our cornea implants and the "glaucoma" correction has been successful it would appear.

Since the critics hated the sepia authentic look we have gone with an all new black and white high contrast look. Lets hope its more pleasing and better received by the critics or not - who gives a damn anyway.

Accompanied by good friend Zelma - she of Dolls Bizzare fame - a good time was had by all scaring the local populace at times.

And no I have no idea why two fairies or a pit-bull sporting a severed leg turned up - such is life or should I say death in the afterworld.














No need this time to have an excuse at the ready as it turned out to be a successful outing , with the lensbaby adding to the mood of the bizarre occasion and in any case my editor has gone AWOL.

 

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  • John Wilson says:

    Year’s ago we used to have a n annual “Michale Jackson” Zombi event in a downtown plaza. Have not been for years and don’t know if they still have one, but I did manage to attend two … strictly for the photography you understand. This reminds me much of those events. Totally off the wall and great fun.

    Great job on capturing the gory madness of it all and the BW and “silly” lenses works perfectly with the subject. But I would expect no less for you Sir … sepia (which I liked) notwithstanding.

    • Ian Varkevisser says:

      Silly lens indeed – I will have you know it set me back all of 50 bucks – had to diet for a whole week. In the words of another esteemed world famous award winning photographer friend of mine – escape the tyranny of sharp focus.

  • jean pierre guaron says:

    Is this what Halloween looks like in Provence? – some kind of sagra or other pagan ritual? Surely zombies should take their work more seriously – not smiling, with an axe through the skull.

    Strong B&W works well for “street” and – really – this is “street”.

    I can’t figure where critics come in – I thought this was a nice group, critics weren’t invited and we can all enjoy ourselves. “Libre expression”! Let the artistic & creative juices flow!

  • Nancee Rostad says:

    Glad to hear that the eye surgery was successful, Ian. For somewhat selfish reasons, of course, since we need more of your wonderful DS contributions!
    You did a great job of capturing all the fun and “horror” of the event, and B&W was the perfect choice. Kudos.

    • Ian Varkevisser says:

      thanks for the concern – but let me put the record straight – no operation here – was just my sense of humour going back to the disastrous shoot I blogged about a few back – see #1128

  • jean pierre guaron says:

    Sorry Ian – I missed the fine print, in the heading, and thought Pascal had posted this one. Which left me completely mystified.

    I am quite petrified by eye operations. Anything goes wrong and – well – that’s it, I guess. Goode nite babe! – or something like that. These days some of these ops are treated as routine – but I can’t wrap my head around the thought they might feel like that when replacing corneas. As for glaucoma correction, I’ve never heard of it – they’ve put me on daily eye drops to prevent me from developing glaucoma, and they told me that if I ever DO get glaucoma, it’s irreversible, so just don’t forget the drops – not even for one single day – for the rest of my life.

    For togs like us, life without eyesight would be unimaginable. In fact, most of what interests me in life is derived optically, one way or another. I can’t play the piano, without being able to read music. I couldn’t do my italian crosswords, or read all my french detective stories, without eyeballs. 60 years ago, a gang of us used to help one of our fellow students at University, who had gone blind in his teens, by reading all his stuff into a tape recorder for him – so he could take it home and make notes from the tapes on his braille machine. And under those conditions, he managed to do our degree (4 years worth) and an arts degree (another 3 years worth) in 5 years. Even after all these years, thinking of him brings tears to my eyes – it was a very humbling experience, knowing him and helping him. Knowing I could never have achieved what he did.

    Take good care of those reconditioned eyeballs, Ian – they’re indispensable.

    • Ian Varkevisser says:

      Hey Pete thanks for the concern – but let me put the record straight – no operation here – was just my sense of humour going back to the disastrous shoot I blogged about a few back 🙂 – see #1128

    • Ian Varkevisser says:

      Very commendable what you did for your fellow student – you are a scholar and a gentleman sir.

      • jean pierre guaron says:

        It was fine – gave me a perfect excuse to be a lazy student, and cruise through my own degree, without having to try too hard. Otherwise, I might have had to chase distinctions or similar, and aim for an Honours degree – or (shudder!) a Master’s.

        Having above average intelligence gives you more options – failure is not going to happen, and you don’t need to cane your ass, chasing better grades, to impress Lord only knows who. Of course you can do that too, if that’s your biscuit – I preferred being lazy, doing “enough”, and playing golf – or tennis – or something, the rest of the time.

        Actually, half the time I spent at Uni the first time round, I spent at the Conservatorium – studying music and playing the piano. Far more interesting than reading statutes and law reports and stuff.

        • John Wilson says:

          I barely made it out of high school. Took 10yrs off and went to Uni at 29. Had an absolute ball. Once I figured out I had a knack for research and writing papers it was a piece of cake. I could easily have become a professional student … all that marvellous knowledge in the library I hadn’t discovered yet.

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