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Munro Bagging – Stob Binnein

There is always a strange mix of trepidation and excitement before attempting to bag a munro. Unlike in some other countries, there is usually no ski lift to take you to near the top. Although, it must be said, the mountains are a little lower than, say, the Swiss Alps. Still, for a middle aged, unfit male, the thought of ascending 2000 metres can be a little daunting.

Stob Binnein is a mountain in the southern Highlands of Scotland. It is attached to Ben More, and so often, hikers will ascend both peaks. However, we were approaching from the South, a steeper, and more difficult ascent, but chosen as we could ignore Ben More. One peak was going to be enough I thought, and I was right. 

I made the ascent with a fitter, more sprightly friend, and 15 mins in, he was already waiting for me. This was going to be tough. I don’t remember much for the next hour, hour and a half, as it was all up steep incline. But finally the trail flattened out a bit, and my legs took on a renewed vigour. The landscape also changed at this point, with the grass taking on a red to mauve colouration. It was quite beautiful, and also motivating. Eventually we were taken to a crest where over the side, we could see the splendour of Loch Voil. A rewarding sight, and we stopped for a number of photos. This is what munro bagging was all about.

Further on, and we were treated to an intimidating view. The mountain began to rise once more, disappearing into billowing mist. The weather was turning up here, and I felt privileged to experience a moment that only the mountain can bring; a feeling of isolation; transportation to a more primitive time; vulnerability mixed with awe. Truly, there is nothing else like it. 

The next passage across the ridge was so pleasurable that I forgot about the incline. We peered down into valleys below, where the height was so great that rivulets and lochans formed abstract patterns on the landscape.

It was then time for the peak. The mist was great, so much so that it was impossible to see more than 5-10 metres into the distance. Mysterious shapes appeared in front, revealing themselves to be hard rock formations, springing out from the mountain. This last stretch was almost too much for me. My energy supply was depleted. However, I managed to wearily summit. Due to the mist, there was no view to speak of, but I was satisfied. I ate my lunch in silence, drained of speech as well.

The drama did not finish there though. Returning back the way we came, we lost the trail. An argument arose, probably due to our fragile states, and we made the mistake of choosing to split up. I went my way, my friend, his. My path eventually took me to a fantastic spectacle that we hadn’t seen on the way in, a tiny lochan on the mountain, with red reeds sprouting out of the surface. It was truly beautiful, hidden away off the trail, and I felt that I was seeing something that perhaps most missed, whether due to the trail being elsewhere, or indeed due to the season being wrong and missing those red reeds. It was a special moment.

My friend and I eventually reconvened, and we made our way to the car park, ready to head home, our need for high vistas satiated, until another day.

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Swiss Post Free Postcard

I applied for the SwissPost free postcard using their app. I wanted to see what this service could do, so I sent one to myself.

As you can see, the service is pretty good. Okay, so the image doesn’t appear to have been adjusted for print (although, obviously, I can’t confirm this), so the image is a little dark for an indoor setting (although the postman might have got a better view!). But overall, I am super impressed. My message is written on the back too (to myself).

For a free post card, of which you get one per week, you really can’t go wrong. Of course, you can also choose to pay to send postcards too, including internationally. So, there is really is no excuse for not sending that postcard to your mum, now!

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Limited Edition ACEO cards

I have received my limited edition ACEO cards from Printolino in Switzerland (I hear that they are the best). I ordered single copies of nine of my images, and I am now thinking about selling the prints.

Initially, I felt that 100 would be a good edition number, but now I am coming to the realization that an signed limited edition of 1 is more applicable to the space of cards. ACEO cards are highly collectable, and have evolved from the unique Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). As such, it feels more right that these prints become true originals.

The history of photography limited editions really started in the mid 1970s. Prior to the seventies, there were not many galleries dedicated to photography.

Now, however, photography is a valued art form, with many extremely high sales. By example, Le Violin d’Ingre by Man Ray, fetched 12,400,000 at Christie’s New York.

ACEOs are a relatively new concept, but they can still fetch some very high prices. However, making an ACEO a limited edition of 1 is a little scary. They are so small, that you have to hope that they are going to a home that will care deeply for them and store them properly. But it is really nice for collectors to have only one in existence.

Despite the rarity of limited edition ACEO cards, it doesn’t necessarily mean that larger prints cannot be done in similar limited edition print runs. But the size sets must be limited in nature. Normally, there would be a maximum of three sets, but I feel that with an ACEO limited edition of 1 only, we can add it as the fourth set. That leaves 3 sets of larger sizes, which are meant to be seen on a wall. I think this is quite fair, as more detail can be seen on larger prints.

I will be listing these items on my ebay shop.

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Artist Trading Cards Photography

In a deep dive on how artists were sharing work in small format, I came across Artist Trading Cards, and also Art Cards, Editions, and Originals, but nothing much for Artist Trading Cards for Photography, which was disappointing.

Artist Trading Cards (ACTs) started in 1997 in Switzerland. They were the brainchild of M Vänçi Stirnemann, who created 1200 of the cards for an exhibition. Other artists then began to create their own cards, and a new movement was formed.

Strictly speaking, ATCs are meant to only be swapped. ACEOs on the other hand can be sold, and so are a different category, one that is frowned upon by ATC purists. ATCs are meant to be one of a kind, and hand-drawn, with the purpose to inspire other artists.

So where do Artist Trading Cards for Photography come into this? Well, if truth be told, there is not currently much information on this. We know that they are collected, but rules surrounding how to trade are sparse.  We know, though, that there is a market on Ebay and Etsy.

I feel that these cards are great for the #AbandonDigital movement, but how would one go about getting into this collection hobby? Well, being realistic, we are so far into the Digital Age, that physical events and groups have diminished almost completely. There are now only a few such ATC events dotted around, as seen here, and so it is in the online space that many of these cards are being traded. On a personal level, I’m still very much against uploading my full images to the internet, and so I am experimenting for now with including “Blind” in big letters across my images. I’m also refraining from giving specific location information out online, apart from the wider area (eg. Switzerland).. Instead, people will have to purchase a card to find out the handwritten location. Also, it is important to release these as signed editions I think. 100 seems like a fair edition amount for these small format prints. If there is interest later, then larger format limited editions can be offered.

Look at my Limited Edition Photography Artist Trading Cards here

 

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Concealed Postcard Art

A postcard with a qr code

Concealment. Certainly, as a child, I really enjoyed the thrill of opening football stickers and seeing what I had. The nature of trading for what I still needed was also a pleasure. And the thrill didn’t stop there for me. I soon passed into the land of Magic the Gathering cards, which was a whole new level of excitement with its rares, uncommons, and commons.

So it is with this in mind that I look at the art world and think perhaps it is missing a trick. Should artists, instead of freely supplying the internet with their hard-gained work, all for a few likes, instead be looking to produce physical, concealed packs of art for people’s enjoyment? Would this not, in fact, be a fun endeavor? There is certainly enough of us to fulfill everyone’s collection needs.

What medium would suit such a project? Well, the humble postcard certainly seems to be well suited to collection on mass. Cheap enough to be accessible to all, and also small enough for storage. There are already collectors, certainly of vintage cards , and, of course, if this was done on masse, then a contemporary market would also develop. There is already the growing trend of a form of snail mail, PostCrossing, where people agree to send postcards to each other, and collections and collectors are already forming.

Should we, then, leave the digital world completely alone? That seems quite drastic, at least at this stage. Perhaps instead we could open up both spaces at once. For instance, what about interactive postcards? They might come with a QR code to unlock hidden content. A video blog post on how the picture was captured; a link to an interesting news source; artist offers – I’m sure others could think of more interesting ideas.

However, I would add a proviso: never, ever, upload that image to the internet, unless it’s a print house. Your images are currently filling the pockets of a very small number of people. Why do that for the hollowness of some “likes” on social media? Why supply the AI algorithm with all of your images?

Remember, #NoMoreFreeArt

Find signed limited edition postcards here