A Darkroom Army x Tara McPherson Sunday

(Lucius)

Remember my post a couple of weeks back about the excitement that is the collaboration between Darkroom Army, Peek!, Tara McPherson and the Cotton Candy Machine? Well, the weekend finally happened and what a weekend it was!

I made my way down on Sunday for the first inaugural Darkroom Army Lecture Series with Tara McPherson, after winning a pair of tickets courtesy of Swatch Singapore. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Tara talking about the beginnings of her artistic journey from high school to the present day.  When she mentioned that she majored in Astrophysics for more than a year, I had an instant mental image mash-up of Tara McPherson x The Big Bang Theory. Now, that would be something I would love to see!

And while the lecture was funny, engaging and chock full of useful anecdotes for young artists, I couldn't help but notice the light streaming through the hair of the person in front of me. I think I have hair envy.

After the talk ended, we flooded the Cotton Candy Machine Pop-Up Store. I bought a trio of postcards to remember this event by, and got it signed by Tara herself. I am not lying when I say felt a little fangirl thrill down my spine when I was watching Tara sign them.

Even though that crazy weekend is a memory and Tara has left the country, you can still experience a bit of the magic at the brand spanking new Darkroom Army Gallery Store above Peek! 

Thank you, Feveravenue, Darkroom Army and Peek! for giving me a heads-up about this major event. It was truly awesome!

This Past Weekend

(Mary Poppins, Capitol Theatre, Sydney)

I have been having a terrible run of health lately. I was struck by the chicken pox in December, stuck at home for two weeks. And then, on the last day of January, I caught viral conjunctivitis from one of my interns. I was, once again, stuck at home for the first two weeks of February. It was a pretty bad time because my corneas was affected and I could barely see.

I finally went back to work this past Monday and was immediately thrown into the thick of a new project. I was so glad when I got home on Friday at 11pm and could finally just relax.

But all terrible things come to an end and that's where the good things happen. And this weekend was all sorts of good.

Saturday
- Good hearty dinner with my best friends
- Travel possibilities were discussed and we have a plan
- Received a phone call from Swatch Singapore informing me that I won the Swatch Kidrobot Darkroom Army contest I had joined on a whim! The prize: two tickets to Tara McPherson's lecture and a $100 goodie bag from Peek!

Sunday
- Attended Tara McPherson's lecture. It was really interesting to listen to her share about her artistic journey and how she put herself out there to create opportunities for herself. The one point she made that really stuck to me was "to go back to revisit old works". That made a lot of sense to me because it allows you to reflect on your progress and to figure out how to move forward.
- I bought three postcards of her works and she signed them!
- I am also Darkroom Army's latest blogger recruit! They are giving me the opportunity to play around with the Fed 5B for about a week. I am very apprehensive because this is my first fully manual rangefinder camera. It's going to be nerve-wrecking fun!

Darkroom Army Presents: Tara Mcpherson & The Cotton Candy Machine Show

Interrupting this blog's regular programming with three bits of great news. Or maybe four.

01. Peek! (one of Singapore's dedicated only to analogue photography store) is turning TWO YEARS OLD and is expanding to include a new second floor. Now, where did that two years go, it seems just like yesterday when I heard of the store's opening! Happy Happy Birthday, Peek!

02. Their new second floor will be home to the new Darkroom Army Gallery Store. Formerly known as Red Army Camera, Darkroom Army aspires to combine art and analogue photography. Their most well-known-to-me product are the refurbished Fed-5B cameras. I remember spending an afternoon last year at Peek swooning over these cameras, which leads me to my third piece of good news..

03. Darkroom Army will be loaning me, and a few other photo bloggers the Fed-5B cameras to play with! There are currently two line of Fed-5B cameras that Darkroom Army is offering, The Darkroom Army Pantone Collection and The Darkroom Army X Artist Collection. I am not sure which edition of the Fed-5B camera they will be loaning us but I am very very taken with Bumblebee, Heritage and most of all, Peppermint. This will also be my first time working with a Russian camera and I am very much looking forward to the experience. I should be receiving the camera this weekend, and I can't wait!

04. And that's not all, to launch the new Gallery Store, Darkroom Army will be unveiling the latest addition to The Darkroom Army X Artist Collection with the Tara McPherson edition titled Love Blows. This new camera will be launched in conjunction with the opening of the Gallery Store and the  The Cotton Candy Machine pop-up store at Peek! on 18 & 19th February. Tara McPherson will be there in person and it looks to be an excitement-packed weekend! I wish I was there already.