"Magenta Motor Oil"

I took the photographs that make up this series in Brno, Czech Republic during my trip there January 2026. At this point in time I was quite caught for cash and couldn't afford to buy much new film. Luckily though, a previous arrangement with one of my girlfriends collegues landed me some japanese made Fuji Superia 400 Premium film, a rarity outside Japan. I decided that now was the time to shoot it. Although film negatives are actually much more "neutral" than many perceive, with the scanner doing most of the colour building and correction, I did notice a beautiful magenta cast on some of these images, especially ones shot under dim light.

The reason I called these images "Magenta Motor Oil" comes in part due to this magenta cast. The motor oil association is slightly more abstract. I took the first image in a barred-up doorway in Cejl, Brno, a rather rough area. Seeing the rubbish, and most importantly it's composition resulted in a strange association. In some ways I felt like you could compare the working class society to a huge machine. In order for work to be carried out, some level of "lubricant" is necessary, which then leaks or drips out, especially on old machines. I saw an analogy between the rubbish and grit and a drop of spent motor oil. The idea was further aided by the industrial and gritty nature of some of the other images and areas I visited during this time.