Since film is undergoing a nostalgic  resurgence --Pentax says it is planning  to make film cameras again-- I thought that I would post a  second  example from  the  salt-water damaged  roll of  35mm film. This  was in the Leica M4-P rangefinder when a rogue wave crashed over me,   soaking the camera and destroying the lens.  The camera  body is currently in the process of  being repaired by Leica in Wetzlar who have recently advised that it should be returned to Australia by the end of June.  

Here is the photo:  

It  is actually a more interesting photo of the wooden structure of the old Granite Island causeway  than  it would have been if the film  was  normal or non-damaged. What it shows is that it  is the materiality of film that opens up opportunities to  treat  the film differently   during the developmental process.  You can play around with the filmic material if you want to,  but  colour film is  now expensive. 

Since the previous  post I have come across Sammy Hawker, a Canberra-based visual artist, who processes her b+w 5x4 sheet film in salt water. There was a programme on her film processing practice  at ABC Artworks (Series 3, Episode 3, 2023). Such experiments to achieve interesting effects with film are not for me. 

What I do have, however, is some odd looking 35mm filmic images that have come about without the agency of the photographer. It was the effects of the  salt water working on the film that was the agent, not my vision or imagination.   The saltwater  removes the decision making from the photographer and, in doing so,  it has also resulted in situations that push the agency of the photographer to the sidelines.

The agency of the photographer  is not obsolete as the initial image on the negative -- the wooden structure--was made by the photographer. But the interest in the photo is the after effects from the agency of the saltwater.