Wednesday
Formerly known as the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics, The North Princeton Developmental Center was a medical facility within my township, Montgomery Township, New Jersey. The facility was home to a variety of mental health institutions throughout the years. The 246-acre property was once a bustling place, built to self-sustain up to 2,000 people in tiny homes and apartments but had been abandoned and had fallen into horrible disrepair. The dilapidated facility garnered much notoriety across the state over the past decades due to its “ghost town” appearance and mention in the popular book and periodical, “Weird N.J.
The Village School, one of the elementary schools, was located on the eastern end of Skillman Village. The township purchased the property from the state to demolish or renovate the existing structures and replace them with a large town centre, which would include health care facilities, shops, housing for senior citizens, and parks. But soon after purchase, the township realised just how dire the situation was. The buildings were filled with asbestos, raw sewage, and leftover heating oil.
Montgomery Township decided to sue the State of New Jersey, citing the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the State Environmental Rights Act. They won.
The township then sold 247 acres of the plot to Somerset County, which paid for cleanup of the site, including demolition of all the homes, removal of sewage. It took a few years, but in 2012, the property was re-opened as a county park, Skillman Park.
Today, Skillman Park is a multi-use park that the Somerset County Parks Department maintains. Somerset County put in new roads, trails, a dog park, and picnic tables. I think it’s the best use of tax money I have ever witnessed.
Thursday
Due to new US Environmental Protection Agency restrictions Fujifilm have discontinued distribution, sales and production of Velvia 100 in the United States. I have one roll of Velvia which I will expose and develop before the September deadline. Then, I’ll move on.
On March 8, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule regarding the chemical phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1) (PIP (3:1)) (CASRN 68937-41-7) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which prohibited the processing and distribution in commerce, including sales, of the chemical and products containing the chemical. EPA also issued an enforcement policy on the same day stating that it will not enforce the ban on processing and distribution until September 5, 2021.
During an interview with Fujilove Manny Almeida, President of the Imaging Division at FUJIFILM North America Corporation said:
Film is basically organic chemistry. Digital is basically electronic engineering. We still have a fair amount of organic chemistry research that goes on, but it’s primarily because of our instant film product, not our traditional 35mm or 120 products. Why don’t we do a whole lot of research? Because it was worthwhile when we were selling billions of rolls of film. Today the market is so small it doesn’t make sense. But really, by 2000 film had been so fine tuned by every manufacturer, it was so good, our quest for fine grain, for brighter colors, for color accuracy and fidelity, basically reached a zenith. And when you look at color negative film, it is not the sole reason a print looks the way it does. FUJIFILM has continued organic chemistry research in color paper. And in fact, we’ve introduced a number of different color papers. We’ve optimized color paper for digital printing.
Friday
After dinner, Bhavna and I went to Flounder to try their new beers.
I experimented with the reflections in the glass of the large garage door.
Saturday
I enjoyed reading this article by Juliet Schwab, writing in the Casual Photographer.
If you share your images, someone out there may benefit from seeing them in a way you would never have anticipated, and you along with the rest of us will benefit from your engagement in the film community – not Instagram-quantifiable engagement, but interactions between real humans.
Today was a hot and humid day. I wanted to visit the farmers’ market, but I wanted to avoid the heat. Then I thought of the bread man, and I was out the door.
I came back home, lay on the couch under the ceiling fan, and followed Alphonso’s example. We watched Captain America together.
In the late afternoon, Bhavna and I made a quick trip to the Home Depot to find compost. But Home Depot does not sell compost. I used the opportunity to photograph the flowers in the garden centre. It was still hot and humid outside.
I had fun this week shooting exclusively at f/2.8 with my Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F1.7 adapted to my Fuji X-T2. I think I’m addicted to the bokeh of the lens.
