Topic: The Museum of the Odd

[limr]

I went to a friend's apartment a couple of weeks ago. She's got an incredible collection of objects that she's collected over the years, and it's really quite fascinating. Her interests range from whimsical to downright morbid. I had to take some pictures. I took a few with the Land Camera (I posted the wolf in the weekend thread two weeks ago) and then went through the good part of a roll of Tri-X in the Spotmatic. There wasn't a lot of light in there and I didn't have my mini-tripod with me so I had to do with a wide open lens (the Pentax 55mm f2), steady hands, and pushing a stop (stand developed in Caffenol.)

Here are some of my favorites (some of you might have seen these on Flickr):

A stained glass panel:

Little Red Riding Hood by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Masks:

Masks by limrodrigues, on Flickr

A skull encased in resin:

Yorick by limrodrigues, on Flickr

A very detailed vinyl cowboy doll. He was riding a horse, even had tiny little working buckles on his saddlebags.

Cowboy by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Anatomy head:

Doc by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Had to break out a flashlight to get some detail on this one. Plant stand with parts of random vinyl dolls, plants, wall hangings:

Stand by limrodrigues, on Flickr

The wolf again:

Wolf by limrodrigues, on Flickr

A random bust, kinda looks like a Jesus statue but I'm not sure if it is or not:

Bust by limrodrigues, on Flickr

And the piece de resistance...a working model of an electric chair in its own display case:

Chair by limrodrigues, on Flickr

[Bryan]

Interesting collection, how do you know the electric chair works?  Maybe I don't want to know.  .

[Indofunk]

These are so good. I want to visit your friend's apartment because it seems so awesomely creepy, but at the same time I don't want to visit it because it seems so ... well ... creepy 

[limr]

Interesting collection, how do you know the electric chair works?  Maybe I don't want to know.  .

Good question. I think the place she bought it from gave a demonstration, or maybe she just took their word for it since it does have the whole circuitry in place. What I don't want to know is why the person who made it wanted it to work! Did he hate raccoons or something? 

These are so good. I want to visit your friend's apartment because it seems so awesomely creepy, but at the same time I don't want to visit it because it seems so ... well ... creepy 

Thanks Oh it's definitely creepy, but in a really kind of awesome way! Martha is quirky to be sure, and she's fascinated with things that make you say, "What the eff were they thinking when they made this??" Then she decides that these weird things need a home

There's so much more that I didn't get to take pictures of because the lack of good light. Next time I'll bring my mini tripod for sure. It's the first time I've ever thought that I'd want some lighting equipment, but I think I can make do with a flashlight and maybe a white cloth to diffuse the light a little.

[Indofunk]

A cellphone often works nicely in a pinch as well.

[limr]

A cellphone often works nicely in a pinch as well.

This is true. I also have a little clip-on lamp that I can bring with me to use as an impromptu lighting source. I've gotten good at impromptu

[Adam Doe]

...It's the first time I've ever thought that I'd want some lighting equipment, but I think I can make do with a flashlight and maybe a white cloth to diffuse the light a little.

Leonore, first off, I love this series. Great shots of interesting subjects, love some of the angles you chose, especially the wolf's head.

A while ago, after trying out a friend's at an event I purchased an inexpensive LED panel, the Neewer CN-216. It's battery operated (AA), small so it fits nicely in a camera bag, has a dimmer for adjusting the strength of the light, comes with two diffuser panels and I've used to to good effect with my Land Cameras. I believe I got mine on Amazon. I usually hand hold it but it can be mounted to a hot/cold shoe or a tripod mount. Here's an example of a shot I used it in:

Polaroid Macro Kali-Copier Ektar Lens by adoephoto, on Flickr

[ManuelL]

Fantastic photos. Love the collection of strange objects. A bit like visiting the Munsters. 

[limr]

Thank you both! 

Adam, that panel looks quite handy and looks good in the photo. It has been added to my wish list to wait for next payday!