I started with 1,151 frames (out of which, 130 weren’t related – so 1,021), and then I culled it down to 730 frames. The closing down of Barcode in Crown (or as one DJ said, “we’re saying fuck you Crown, and we’re moving on”) was something I got to document, and I was glad to be a part of it.
BARCODE
The photojournalistic approach lasted when the night was young, but as the patrons started having more and more beverages, it slowly started turning out to be an event where a lot of folk would just come up to you and say, “hey mate, please take our picture”. To which I’d gladly oblige, provided I get something out of it – i.e. a little bit of some form of Barcode in the background (its good for brand-styled shots).
I met people that constantly wanted to be in the picture (so they’d do anything to get in my way). I met people that wanted me to take my photos to the Herald Sun, tell them that Barcode had bartenders dressed up in school-girl costumes and that they didn’t serve the correct amounts of alcohol. I met people that thought they could sue me if I took their picture (oops, Barcode is private property, and the management did tell me to photograph their event). I met people that had no respect for me, and called me “Ahmad”. I met people that decided to “grope me”, when a girl asked me to “show it” (i.e. she wanted to see what was just shot of her).
Deserted
But most of all, I met a lot of nice people. Security was great. Bartenders were excellent. DJs were cool. I even probably will photograph a model as a consequence of shooting that night. Most people were the bomb, so to speak.
The photos I made were great too. Only disappointment was that there was this girl in pink whom I kept misfocusing on. Very odd. And this time around, I was ruthless with the culling process (I killed about 30% of the photos – people not looking, blurry shots, eyes closed, an eye closed even [those were the really sad ones to cull]). I also realized that I didn’t use the 50/f1.4 lens too much (without a flash).
Barcode Crown moves on to King St, with the grand opening on Friday the 13th, i.e. this coming week. Right next to Spearmint Rhino, it shall be.
Barcode moves on
View the entire set.
Technorati Tags: barcode, event, musings, photography
