Monday Monthly Mentions – September 2022: My Absence, Comeback, Photography and What’s Next…

Not the namesake himself, Raphael as I initially thought: it’s a portrait of Bindo Altoviti, an Italian banker painted by the famous Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (Image source: Wikipedia)

This is a slightly different Monthly Mentions as I have been absent from blogging for a while. Here’s the lowdown:

• The last time I posted here was back in May. I haven’t even logged back into my WordPress account during that time

• My absence has been noticeable on my social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram. I haven’t posted on Instagram since February, or Twitter for sometime. Normally I would take hiatuses for a few weeks, in the same vein as blogging, however this particular ‘break’ has been longer than expected

• Issues with software: Probably the most ‘lousy’ yet valid excuse I could come up with. I did blame my scanner or software related issues for my delay from a previous post, which was very true. Well, it turned out that the Epson V550 isn’t compatible on my Windows 11 laptop, so I most likely have to download VueScan to resolve the issue (highly recommended too). All this technical stuff is overwhelming, but I am sure I will figure something out one day…

• Also I did download Affinity a few months back, and to this day I hardly use it. I wanted to download an editing programme, mainly for watermarking my images, editing and cropping photos for blog posts. Plus I could dabble around with the software, experimenting with a variety of features and tools.

• Which brings me to… Photography. What’s happening with that? Where to start and where to end?

I have to admit, I haven’t done much film photography recently. In fact, I only use my film cameras when I go on group hikes or occasionally, such as going around the streets of London.

At the moment, most of my undeveloped film rolls are in a plastic mail bag, while the rolls from the two holidays of this year, Malta and Portugal, are still in the Japan Camera Hunter cases.

Thankfully, I am still interested in film and photography. It’s just finding the dedicated time to pick up a camera (or two), photograph, go darkroom, develop and scan. I am hoping to go back to the darkroom at some point this year; get back to scratch and start printing again.

I must say the upside from not doing much photography is not buying film. I cannot remember the last time I bought film, maybe a few months ago – certainly this year, but it has been a while. The prices keep hiking up, a major put off for me. So for now, I am gradually working through the films that I currently have in my collection until they are gone for good.

• The blog and its current state: At the beginning of this year, I had nearly planned out Photographic Jannine: feature posts, like Film Friday; potential Tried and Tested Thursday posts, also a few Story Time Sundays (the last one was in January). In life, stuff happens all thanks to the ‘technical issues’, mentioned earlier. Not only that, sometimes it was the motivation to write up posts at the last minute, at times not reading over what I wrote. It soon became a chore and I was like ‘f**k it! Why bother!’ My advanced apologies for the language.

I had so many ideas for 2022, mainly projects and series. I had wanted to emulate the success from the Petrol Station Series, which I regard as my best work to date. I had another project in the pipeline too; it initially started off slowly, however now it is on an indefinite pause. I am not even sure if it’ll ever continue soon.

‘Saint Catherine of Alexandria Artist’ by Raphael (circa 1507-1509): I have recently been inspired by Italian Renaissance paintings, as I went to a Raphael exhibition in London a couple months back

• So what’s the future? Simple answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know what the future is for this blog. My absence from it has been so long that I enjoyed pursuing other interests, mostly outside of photography.

In my head I would like to post regularly from this month and beyond, although realistically it just depends on my mood or motivation. Planning and drafting blog posts for weeks ahead can be daunting, since I have to keep on top of things. I guess it can be done, if I have the right mindset and drive.

A few post features might be put on hold until the new year, however I will see how everything pans out from here.

For now, I need to focus on both my wellbeing and health.

I would like to wish everyone the best and a huge thank you to my followers and readers. I really appreciate the love, kindness and support!!

Take care and stay safe