…if it is a photo about photos… (26/365, 26 Jan 2022)
We are in the midst of marking (as well as final classes, another ten days or so). But, and maybe it is all the 'electronic' marking we do these days, but for a little while I've been thinking about reviving the art of fountain penning. Now the opportunity to write doesn't come along that much anymore but somehow having nice pens is something I've always appreciated.
Parker pens have long been a favourite (this is not a sponsored post) and one day as I was thinking about this, a Parker pen post popped up (actually accidental alliteration!) on my Insta account which got me into a search.
Today on there way to work, I called into a pen shop and yes, succumbed. One was the special anniversary edition, 51. A subtle fine, point. The other, I thought initially was a sharp pencil but turns out to be a new style of pen, an evolution from fountain via ballpoint to something that is quite different, quite lovely to write with.
My eventual goal is to get back into sketching actually (to revisit my sometimes traumatic, mostly enjoyable high school art classes) and my preferred style turned out to be pen and watercolour, or pen and coloured pencil. (I have the pencils in readiness. I can keep dreaming. I'm imagining a long active retirement.) I expect these new pens will come into their own then. In the meantime, I can address envelopes or sign with flair...
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| Classic fountain pen on the left, new IM pen on the right |
And given the pen shop flows into the bookshop in the particular corner of Tokyo, of course I had to walk past, with interest. And good thing I did. There was an interesting book, photos of Tokyo in the early-to-mid 1980s and now. It caught my eye because my first stint in Tokyo took in 1984-5 and 1988-9. I've often thought that one day (in that active retirement mode) I'll review those old pics, taken on film on my first camera, a Canon AE-1 Program, (yes, I've always been Canon; no this is not a sponsored post) and maybe compare and contrast or compile a 'ye olde Tokio' blog. Much to do. The other book, coincidentally, is a book on the theory of photography by Minato Chihiro. I'm a photography nerd but also a book nerd and I get a lot out of reading books about photos and how we might interpret them (think Sontag, Barthes et al). It adds a lot to my own approach to the images I might take, or not. Even if it means occasionally taking photos of books about photos...something circular there. Like reviving writing, with fountain pens.
Today's pics simply on the iPhone 12 mini. Now, back to work. Writing. With a 'pen'.
