Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Film


Bought a Pentax K1000 !!! Yes, that merits several exclamations points. I needed some good news today and they came in the form of my first ever film prints, which confirmed that the camera was in great shape. The fun texture comes courtesy of my shitty scanner.






© Nathalie Donado

Sunday, September 25, 2011

about a city


For the past few months, every waking hour of my life has been dedicated to getting my ass to Sheffield, UK. I didn't post it online because I didn't want to get my hopes up and then have to call everything off. Am still waiting for my student visa, so the trip can still be jinxed (knock on wood) but I wanted to share a bit about were I am going since it's not a particularly well-known city for my colombian compatriots (read: they haven't the slightest clue were I am going).

To be honest I hadn't heard of it either before I started researching Unis. I was looking for a Magazine Journalism Masters course since it is my life's ambition to become Grace Coddington. If you don't know who she is go google, she is my hero. The University of Sheffield came up as one of the best journalism departments in the UK and the rest is a blur of applications, paper, disappointments and money.  I am still driving everyone mad with my mostly improvised trip. Since I don't know when I get my visa, I don't have a travel date. Classes start tomorrow. Better late than never I say! Especially since I am leaving the humid, inbred hell hole I was born in. I like rain and cold weather, I am that weird. 

In any case here are a few tidbits about the city/town I will be living in for the next year:

It is not close to London. It's located in South Yorkshire and it's a good 5-7 hours away from London depending on method of transportation. I will be traveling there, so rant about just how far it is will be forthcoming. For the geographically disabled, here is a map. I will be living were the pretty flower patch is.

credit: Anastasiia Kucherenko
Sheffield used to be quite the industrial town I hear. Then they decided to make it the greenest in the UK. Loads of trees, parks, and nature. The Peak District is right round the corner. It's a beautiful place, as far as I can tell, which means I will be trekking there to take photos on a weekly basis. At least. It's also home to Chatsworth House, were they filmed Pride and Prejudice, Keira Knightley edition.

It will be cold. This is important information to my fellow equator dwellers. If you are planning to visit, keep it to summer months unless you are comfortable with northern hemisphere winters.

Fun facts: Sean Bean (Boromir, Ned Stark, depending on your fandom) was born here. For the music buffs I hear the Arctic Monkeys are locals.

I will be living in a dorm! Most of my Journo classmates picked city accommodation but I like being different (choosy) and I went for the student villages. Endcliffe specifically. Not being more specific on the internet. It also looks like I got the red room and I've been busy mentally decorating the place for weeks. A dorm decorating post once I am cracking on it is imminent. There used to be a lovely youtube video showing the accommodation but it's been removed, so tough luck, you'll have to wait till I am there for proper photos.

There's much more to the this city than I can write in one blog post, but I'll probably be sharing more once I am actually there. Many, many photos to come.

Toddles.