Roll #230 — cycling is meditation, though I've barely cycled at all lately
Film: Lomography Orca 100
Developed & scanned: Jin-ying Photo, 2024/9/10
Camera: Pentax Auto 110 Super
Lens: Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
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I've been snoring again lately — my weight's been creeping up — which affects my wife and son's sleep. So I've started sleeping in the other room. My snoring has always tracked closely with my weight: heavier means more snoring, lighter means less. And weight comes down to diet and exercise.
I spent a few months eating only one meal a day, but eventually noticed my immune system weakening — I got sick a few times in a row and had to stop. Back to two or three meals, and back comes the weight. Work has been busy enough that when I have free time, I prioritize it for work and photography, leaving exercise further and further down the list.
Around ten years ago I was a cycling obsessive. Now I'm a 38-year-old who can't find the motivation to get on a bike. Too busy, honestly. But whenever I do manage to ride, I still love that feeling — the brain empties out, and it becomes a kind of moving meditation.
Since getting into film photography, I've always carried a camera on rides. It lives in the handlebar bag on my road bike, and I pull it out whenever something's worth photographing.
The riding has gotten infrequent, but what deserves documenting still deserves documenting — because eventually there won't be anything left to capture.
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#1
Wenhua Road, Banqiao, New Taipei City.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#2
Heading to a client meeting in Taipei City. Hot, sunny, barely a cloud.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#3
The closer you get to tourist areas in Taipei, the more English signage appears.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#4
An abandoned building with no clear timeline for what comes next.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#5
Dongqu Fen Yuan — my personal verdict: complicated.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#6
Since switching away from Ilford XP2 Super 400, I've settled on Ilford Delta 400 Professional as my black and white go-to.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#7
National Taipei University of Technology, right in the center of Taipei. My alma mater is National Taiwan University of Science and Technology — two schools that people constantly confused.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#8
Completely blacked out.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#9
Something odd about the scan on this one.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#10
This is closer to what the light actually looked like — blinding, scorching sun.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#11
An old motorcycle repair shop on the way.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#12
Wasn't sure how the previous frame came out, so I shot another. The first was better.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#13
I have no strong opinion on whether motorcycles should be allowed to turn left directly, but I do wish illegally modified exhaust pipes could be erased from human civilization.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#14
The Pentax Auto 110 isn't autofocus, so shooting anything that requires precise focus demands full attention. This day I went out for a ride.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#15
A bridge I cross on every cycling route.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#16
Made it up the hill — stopped to take in the view and shoot a few frames.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#17
A faceless portrait with the landscape.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#18
Your brain tells you it's seeing red, even though this is a black and white photograph.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#19
Wasted film.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#20
Wasted film.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#21
Still wasted film.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#22
A blinding record.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#23
Shot on a shaded mountain road — too dark for this film.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
#24
Coasting back down, mind emptied out.
Pentax Auto 110 18mm f2.8
That's the full roll — Pentax Auto 110 Super with Lomography Orca 100. Thanks for reading.
