Mushus, Meet Your Candidates for HD!

by Nayantara Maitra Chakravarty

Yatika Singh

Q: Okay, can you give us a quick introduction to yourself?

A: Okay, my name is Yatika and I’m running for HD. I’m from India and I want to transform the pre-professional side of HD because I believe in the other aspects HD is doing excellently, but I think there can be a major revolution, if I may say so, for the pre-professional side.

Q: What would make you the best candidate for it?

A: I am extremely committed to making sure that everybody is successful. I want you to succeed and I will do anything possible for that. And I’m very good at utilising the resources of the pre-existing institution and mobilising them for your needs. And as a student council member at my last school as well, I was also very actively involved in connecting alumni to mentor students. So I’m very familiar with working in pre-professional areas. And I want to implement things like that, even at Sciences Po.

Q: What are your top three priorities for the next year?

A: My top three priorities for the next year would first be to make sure that students at Sciences Po, whether it’s first years or second years, do not feel unequipped to take on the professional world after Sciences Po ends. Whether you’re doing a master’s or not, I believe that everybody should have some core professional competencies in terms of soft and hard skills, such as networking and conflict management, to make sure that you feel comfortable in the future workspace. Secondly, I think one of my priorities would be to make sure that SciencesPistes at the Le Havre campus are exposed to as many different perspectives and voices through HD speakers as possible, whether it’s for your career related talks or for academic or cultural or political talks. But I believe that the speakers could be expanded and we can also add panel discussions and roundtable discussions and more of a Q&A interview style presentation to the speaker events. My third priority for HD would be to make HD a cozy environment which is not very intimidating because sometimes HD becomes larger than itself and I feel like it’s very important to make it rooted and grounded in what students actually want, whether it’s in the cultural aspect or the political aspect or pre-professional, anything it may be. So I want it to be inclusive, accessible and mobilized for you.

Q: If viewers should take away one thing from this interview, what would it be?

A: The only thing I want you to take away, if I have to make it the only thing, would be that I am ready to work for you and I am extremely committed to making sure that your speeches get what they deserve when they’re in an institution which ranks number two in the world for politics.

Swapnarka Arna (CJ)

Q: Can you give a quick introduction?

A: Hello everyone, I’m CJ and I’m running for Havrais Dire, HD.

Q: Why are you running for this position and what makes you the best candidate for it?

A: Well, since the very beginning, I’ve been extremely involved and active in politics, not only on campus but off campus as well. I’m a journalist on this topic. I’m an indigenous rights activist. And also, I fight for the rights of even the most marginalized communities. I think we need more political activism and more involvement in politics on campus, and we need to provide a platform where we can freely express our views.

Q: What are your top three priorities for the next year?

A: It’s very simple. First of all, unite the French and international students. Secondly, is to protect free speech. Your speech matters, your views matter, and we need to protect it. And finally, we need more political activism on campus. Bring back politics to campus. This is the heart of student life. We need more events, more fundraisers, more guest speakers. Bring it all.

Q: If viewers could take away just one thing from this interview, what would it be?

A: It’s very simple. CJ cares and CJ delivers. I have ideas on what to do. I want to bring in ambassadors who can enlighten you on world politics. I want art for activism, where we use art for activism. It’s pretty self-explanatory. I want more fundraising events to help people in need, whether it’s from climate disasters in Asia, or human rights defenders, or helping women in Afghanistan. This is what we want to do. We want to create an impact, not only on campus, but on the world around us. And that’s the difference that we as students of Sciences Po need to make.

Viren Gemini

Q: Can you first give a quick introduction to yourself?

A: My name is Viren Gemini and I’m a 1A on this campus.

Q: Why are you running for HD and what makes you the best candidate?

A: I’m running for HD because I’m interested in making sure that we have a more streamlined approach to debate, speaking, and cultural events and activities. And after a lot of deliberation, I came to four main ideas that I want to implement if I get elected. I want to make sure that I have a clear aim if I do get the chance to be a part of HD. And I want to focus on expanding some clubs that are dormant at the moment and making sure that HD is a bigger deal. Working with other campuses, I’ve had the opportunity to go to some. Recently I went to Reims and I was able to talk to people. They’re very interested in collaboration. That’s something that I’m very open to. And the other week collaboration beyond campuses, but use leveraging Sciences Po’s network to make sure that the existing clubs have wider access and more projects that they can work on. For example, the Economic Society, the Finance Investment Society, and the Geopolitics Society. And that links me to my third point, which is my idea of creating a think tank that will focus on the Asia Pacific. So really emphasizing our unique identity as a campus, something that brought us all here together, the idea of analyzing and common providing commentary on the Asia-Pacific actively. And I really want to work on that with collaboration from multiple clubs in HD and make that a streamlined initiative for next semester that will be consistent. And last but not least is the student voice. I want to work on a citizen’s assembly, something that I’ve heard the Year Reps talk about. I’ve heard chatter around campus and that should be something that’s very active and consistent and make sure that student voice is heard on all matters.

Q: And what makes you the best candidate to do this?

A: I believe I’m willing to allocate a lot of time. That’s something that I believe is very important for someone that’s running for assos. I put a lot of time into thinking whether I’ll be able to dedicate the effort and what it takes to achieve what I’m saying, which is nothing easy and which is nothing minor. It involves taking the initiative to organize events, inter-campus events, collaborations, these are not things that are going to be easy and I want to work, I want to put in the effort to talk to admin, to talk to other campuses, to talk to other institutions, corporations, reach out to them, use the Sciences Po network to make sure that we are having, we are creating an environment that’s vibrant and full of conversation, learning, cultural exchange, and pluralism, where French international students, all of us can come together and talk.

Q: Lastly, if viewers could take away just one thing from this interview, what would it be?

A: Vote for Viren!

Felicia Aldiyani

Q: Could you first give a quick introduction to yourself?

A: Hi everyone! I’m Felicia, I’m from Indonesia, and I’m running for HD.

Q: Why are you running for HD and what makes you the best candidate for it?

A: I’m running for HD because this semester I’ve been involved in quite many HD clubs so I kind of observed how 2As organize the events and I’m just more familiar with the environment of HD and I also have quite aspirations of what kind of events and what kind of campus life that I want to implement through HD. And what makes me a perfect candidate is because I myself already saw how two ways they coordinate, they’re working together to make HD a more friendly environment for everyone and to provide everyone with the best programs that they all dream of.

Q: What are your top three priorities for the next year?

A: So I actually have three main programs. First is the Speak Up series. So as usual, we will invite guest speakers but this time it’s quite different because we also want to open the stage for you guys, for students. So if you have any knowledge about anything, any topic that you’re interested about, and you want to share it with fellow friends, we’re opening up the stage for you. And then second is career advancement tracks. I feel like campus is a perfect place for us to grow and to seek opportunities in terms of career preparation. So we also want to have workshops, seminars, and invite speakers such as interviewers to help us with knowledge about cover letters, interview preparation for internships and career networking also. And the last program is mentor mentee project because I feel like us coming from different school backgrounds, we don’t have the exact same skills and knowledge in terms of academic research and writing for classes. So with mentor 2As who are willing to mentor the 1As, there will be a collaborative project between pairing the 2As and 1As.

Q: And lastly, if viewers could take away just one thing from this interview, what should that be?

A: One key takeaway from this interview is that we hope that as the next HD board, we will be able to provide and facilitate you guys with whatever you dreamt of when you’re thinking about HD and whatever you need for your pre-professional career preparations and stuff. And don’t forget to vote for me.

Phuong Anh Nguyen

Q: Could you give a quick introduction to yourself?

A: I’m Anh. I come from Vietnam. I grew up in the south of Vietnam and I traveled a lot. I lived for a while in Malaysia and Singapore. I am obsessed with academic and pre-professional opportunities. Growing up, I received a lot of help when it comes to career guidance and academia. And for that reason, I want to give back and I want to foster an energy of LinkedIn obsession, be professional and academia obsession on campus. And for that reason, I’m running for HD.

Q: What makes you the best candidate for HD?

A: First off, I think I have the skill set that is required for HD, which I define by being able to reach out to cool people, being able to scout for opportunities, and having the mindset of giving it back and spreading this energy on campus. I have had exposure to a lot of pre-professional and academic opportunities. So personally, I received a lot of help when it comes to exploring different industries. I heard from alumni in my dual degree about it, and I was feeling that it’s a pity that it’s only shared to a very small group of specific people. And with that exposure and that very concrete idea of how pre-professional opportunities should look like, I think that is a significant leverage for me to become in the HD board to further spread and make this opportunity more accessible to everyone. Furthermore, I have an appreciation for diverse cultures. I travel a lot. I just grew up with parents who are obsessed with traveling. And I noticed that we have a lot of cultural initiatives on campus. However it could have been much more diverse and inclusive. And that is what I want to push for as a potential HD more member.

Q: What are your top three priorities for the next year?

A: So first off, I want to push for more learning opportunities from alumni and professors. and institutions as in Sciences Po or institutions that Sciences Po is connected with. I think Sciences Po has an amazing network of alumni and professors however we only know of them through like a very formal capacity like in class or small talk and if we ever have any cool opportunities it’s because of individuals reaching out to professors and I want to make that less of an exclusive-sounding thing and more of something that is available to everyone. For example, hosting talks from professors. I think we have amazing professors within the school itself. it’s not always the case that we need to reach out to far off people. So facilitate more learning opportunities with our alumni professors. Second thing is to make cultural clubs or associations more inclusive, more diverse. We have voices that are not yet entirely heard on campus. I noticed that personally in my role as year rep. And third is to make the process of implementing new initiatives more efficient and faster within the administration. And I have had experience doing that as Year Rep as well.

Q: Lastly, if viewers could take away just one thing from this interview, what would it be?

A: I am committed to promoting more accessible opportunities and more diverse and inclusive cultural initiatives. And I think I could do the job.

Carmen Leong

Q: Can you give us a quick introduction to yourself?

A: Hi, I’m Carmen. I’m running for HD.

Q: Why are you running for HD and what makes you the best candidate for it?

A: So I’m running my campaign based on three principles, accessibility, communication and transparency. I chose to run along these lines because I think I would like to make HD more accessible to the student body. And you’ll see later in my campaign, or you’ll have seen in my campaign election video, that I interviewed a few students to ask what they would like to see for HD in the coming year. And this is the kind of dialogue between HD and the student body that I’d like to bring more of through feedback platforms. For communication, I’d like to make HD a more regular presence on campus. Lastly for transparency, I think a lot of us don’t know what goes on behind the scenes within HD’s board. And so when running or deciding to run for HD that was something that I kind of struggled with, and I had to reach out individually to the members of the board So if I am elected for HD I would like to increase the transparency of what we do behind the scenes. For example, how we are managing the budget, how we are delegating it to the different clubs. I think you should vote for me for HD because I am collaborative and if you come to my events on Tuesday night and Thursday morning, you will be able to see that I work well with my potential board members. I’m also organized and responsible and creative.

Q: Lastly, if viewers could take away just one thing from this interview, what should it be?

A: I think viewers should vote for who they think is most capable and who they believe will carry out their promises.

Meet your candidates for SPE!

Interview conducted by Maalavika Hareesh.

*Responses have been edited slightly for clarity

Nathan Gehin

Q: Could you quickly introduce yourself?

Nathan: My name is Nathan. I’m a Sciences Po student in 1A, and I’m running for the post of National Coordinator of SPE.

Q: Why are you running for the position you’re running for, and what makes you the best candidate for it?

Nathan: I’m running for SPE as the national coordinator because I love talking to people, and I love to spread the message in every Sciences Po. I think I can be good at that because I’m always enjoying it, and I’m always happy to talk to new people and to try to organize new things, in partnerships with Sciences Po universities. I think I have a lot of ideas for this job. For example, trying to find new partnerships with other universities, maybe in a more global, European way.

Q: What are your top three priorities for this year?

Nathan: To make SPE a major association on this campus because we need to be everywhere and to promote sustainability. Secondly, I think organizing more fun stuff around sustainability can be a great thing to promote sustainability. And finally, as I already said, trying to organize new partnerships with other European or world universities can be a great thing. Like they organize the MUN, we can organize a COP. It can be fun.

Q: If viewers could take away just one thing from this interview, what should it be?

Nathan: Just one thing. Vote for me, vote for ecology!

Sylvain Sainte-Marie

Q: Could you quickly introduce yourself?

Sylvain: I’m Sylvain. I’m running for SPE as the Local Coordinator. I’m pretty much interested in everything, but especially in the environment, and the political question related to the environment; how can we make people involved in this, find solutions, debate and the relation between democracy and environment. I’m also interested in concrete actions, and that’s why I want to run as a local coordinator.

Q: Why are you running for the position you’re running for, what makes you the best candidate for it?

Sylvain: For SPE, we don’t really run for any position specifically, but I think the position that suits me the best will be local coordinator; the one who is in charge of the relation between the campus, the student community, and the global LH events, activities, and different initiatives taking place there. So, I think what makes me the best or good enough for this position is because I already had the opportunity to create contacts with a lot of associations around LH. For instance, Hangar Zero, where I’m volunteering right now and where I plan on organising some events. And, also, Havre de Vers and some other associations. I think that’s what helps me mostly for this position. And, well, I speak French, and I like to connect with people.

In this position, I’d like to establish long standing links between those different associations around LH and the campus so that people throughout the years have easy access to those associations.

Q: What are your top three priorities for the next year?

My top three priorities, I think first would be to have a sort of a program for SPE for the next year; a program based on the next board that will be elected and also what people want so that SPE maybe feels more open, more people can join, propose their ideas, and we can go ahead like this.

Second will be, I think really the link between Hangar Zero and the campus is something interesting and maybe improving this.

Third, contributing to more sustainable products available on campus. We already have the Veggie Baskets, but maybe further those types of initiatives for the next year.

Q: If viewers could take away just one thing from this interview, what should it be?

Sylvain: It’s not “vote for me”. I think that SPE is important, and you can do whatever you want with it. It’s also your association.

Thomas Landerretche

Q: Could you quickly introduce yourself?

Thomas: My name is Thomas Landerretche. I’m a 1A, and I’m running for SPE’s head of communications position.

Q: Why are you running for the position you’re running for? What makes you the best candidate?

Thomas: I feel that SPE’s voice deserves to be heard more on campus. I want this association to have as much attention and love as other associations such as the BDE or the BDA and I feel that my attention seeking personality and my creative mindset regarding problems and promotion would serve SPE greatly.

Q: What are your top three priorities for the next year?

First of all, having a greater social media engagement with SPE which includes more stories, more posts, more promotion of our events because the events of SPE are really interesting and cool. I feel that with more social media promotion, it could be accessible to more people.

Secondly, I would love to propose this campus and other Sciences Po campuses to use green energy. I feel that would be a great policy to implement.

And thirdly, I’d love to organize more events with local LH grassroots organizations. For example, Hangar Zero where we could organize a day where we all go to and help them with their renewable wall projects and other projects that they have.

Q: If viewers could take away just one thing from this interview, what should it be?

Thomas: I hope that viewers can take away the message that SPE deserves more love, respect, and attention, and I feel that I could bring that to this association.

Slopes, Mishaps, and Hospital Beds: Our Unforgettable Ski Trip with Sciences Po

By Bartholomew LOH and Le-ann PADE

All images credited to the authors.

If you ever want to question your life choices, just go skiing for the first time. Preferably on a mountain where the only thing you know about skiing is that “pizza” means “slow down.” Unfortunately, nobody tells you that “pizza” only works when you actually know how to control your skis.

Saint François Longchamp felt like a winter wonderland-at least from the safety of the lodge. For someone terrified of heights, though, the ski lift was the first big challenge. It rattled and groaned as it climbed higher, and I gripped the cold metal bar like my life depended on it.

The moment the ski lift brought me and my roommate up to the ski slopes and we tried to move out of the lift, the inertia pushed me forward, and I couldn’t control it-I fell. Hard. As if on cue, the second my skis touched the ground, I fell again. Hard. Then, just like that. One moment, I was with my roommate, the next moment, I found myself alone on a blue route, which, despite being labelled “intermediate,” felt like a vertical drop of death.

I spent five hours-yes, FIVE-tumbling, rolling, and sliding my way down that mountain, with only my bruises to keep me company. At one point, a kind elderly lady stopped to lend me a hand and, with a warm and motherly voice, suggested that I should go to ski school. Ouch. If my pride wasn’t already buried in the snow, that comment finished the job.

Somehow, I made it to the bottom, convinced I was done for the day. That was until I met Charlotte, Sarah, and Téa, who offered to take me down the same blue slope again-promising they wouldn’t leave me behind. Hoping for redemption, I agreed. But as we started our second descent, the sun slid behind the peaks, casting long shadows across the snow and draining my energy with every turn and tumble. Every fall felt heavier, every attempt to stand back up slower. Even my friends, who had been lifting me up over and over again, could see how much I was struggling. By the end, even the mountain workers advised me to start walking if I wanted to get down before nightfall. Completely drained, I had no choice but to accept defeat and trudged my way down the slope, each step feeling heavier than the last.

By the time I finally made it back to the lodge, my entire body felt like it had been battered by an avalanche. With a groan, I promised myself that I would rest the next day.

Spoiler alert: I did not.

The next morning, Boo texted me bright and early, determined to help me master the green route. After the bruising from the day before, I was relieved to find this path relatively flat. Still, I moved at a snail’s pace, terrified of losing control. Boo urged me to pick up speed, but my survival instincts had other plans. Despite my timid progress, I felt proud-I made it down without any major wipeouts!

Later in the day, I practiced with other beginners, which eased my nerves. Their shared trepidation made me feel less alone. By the next day, feeling slightly more confident, I ventured onto a mix of green and blue routes. Each successful run sparked a tiny rush of adrenaline, and I found myself craving more challenge.

With newfound confidence, I decided to challenge the red route: Le Samouraï. Accompanied by Timothy and Yu Xuan, we set off towards Valmorel.

It all started well-until another skier from nowhere crashed into me. His ski ended up between mine, and before I knew it, we were accelerating down the slope together in an awkward, tangled mess. In a desperate attempt to free himself, he kicked his leg out, sending me airborne. For two surreal seconds, I was flying through the air, before gravity reintroduced itself, and I crash-landed into the snow.

Something felt wrong. I tried pushing myself up with my left arm, but it refused to cooperate. Realizing the issue, I switched to my right arm and managed to get up. Then I gathered back with Timothy and Yu Xuan at the bottom of the mountain, and we took another cable car back for another round of practice.

As we ascended, pain exploded in my left arm, now locked in a rigid 90-degree angle, and I knew something was seriously wrong. I immediately went straight to the rescue centre, where the ski patrol guy, with an almost comical level of caution, asked me three times if I was absolutely sure I needed medical evacuation, because he was only obligated to bring me to Valmorel, and not back to Saint François Longchamp. By the third time, the pain was unbearable, and I could only say, “YES!”

He strapped me to a rescue sled, and I slid down the mountain, collecting fresh snow in my face along the way. An ambulance took me to the hospital, where the doctor (bless his soul) tried his best to realign my arm. After X-rays and a handful of painkillers, I finally dozed off.

When I woke up, I panicked. WHERE was my phone? WHAT time was it? HOW would I get back to Saint François Longchamp?

Then came the worst news: getting back to Saint François Longchamp from Valmorel would cost 600€.

Cue panic mode.

I requested my roommate to check Uber and Bolt-150€ to 250€, much better, but no one picked me up. After 40 minutes of futile attempts, a kind medical assistant called a taxi for me.

The driver arrived, and I hurriedly got in-on the wrong side. “Other side,” she said, clearly amused. It was only then that I remembered that in Malaysia, the passenger seat is on the left, and I hadn’t sat in a car since coming to France. As I settled into the right seat, I glanced at the steering wheel, and suddenly realized something: this woman was driving a Porsche.

As she drove, my heart pounded-not from pain, but because the fare kept climbing. 100€… 200€… 400€-I watched my bank account shrink in real-time.

At last, I arrived back at Saint-Francois-Longchamp, arm in a sling, wallet much lighter. Selena helped me haul my belongings upstairs, where I collapsed onto the bed. The good news? I had insurance. The bad news? This is France, and the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly. So, while I wait for the paperwork to process, at least I can say I survived the trip-just not quite in one piece.

I had convinced myself that I was the unluckiest person on this ski trip. Who else ended up soaring off a slope like a misguided rocket, paying a small fortune for a Porsche taxi ride, and staring down a hospital bill?

Turns out, I wasn’t the only casualty. My friend, Lu-Ann-who had seemed perfectly at ease on the slopes-was nursing her own dramatic tale. While I was busy wrangling with bandage and insurance forms, she was quietly recovering from a fractured pelvis, courtesy of an ill-fated blue run (and a tempting Nutella waffle!). Suddenly, my arm injury didn’t seem so unique.

Her experience taught me two things: one, mountains can be merciless to even the most confident skiers; and two, it’s strangely comforting to realize I wasn’t alone in my post-holiday misery. Here’s her side of the story:

I was incredibly excited to return to skiing after taking a few years off. Since my parents-who always preferred sandy beaches over snowy peaks-never learned to ski themselves, I mostly taught myself. Perhaps it was the mouthwatering aromas of raclette, tartiflette or even croziflette that pulled me back to a ski trip, more than my confidence in hitting the slopes again.

The first few days on the slopes were nothing short of exhilarating. I admit, there’s always that nagging anxiety on the bus ride-did I completely forget everything from last time? But once I hopped onto the first chairlift, felt the crisp mountain air, and made my initial descent, it all came rushing back: the thrill of gliding downhill, the pride of nailing a turn, and yes, the certainty of a tumble or two. Thankfully, Saint-François-Longchamp and Valmorel catered to every level of skiers, from green slope enthusiasts to black slope (or off-piste-if you dared) addicts.

Every morning, our apartment descended into chaos as we layered up, searched for misplaced gloves, and ski passes. Lugging skis and poles to the lifts felt like a mini workout in itself, but before long, we fell into a routine-one that, messy or not, felt like a real part of the ski experience.

During the day, it was all about carving fresh tracks from the moment the lifts opened until the very last chair (and watch out for anyone who didn’t hurry up to catch the last ski lift!). Evenings brought a shift in energy: lively bars, bowling alleys, or cozy restaurants dishing up cheesy local specialties, accompanied by some juicy stories (of course, what happens on the ski trip stays on the ski trip!). In any case, my favourite moment was après-ski: the sweet relief of swapping ski boots for something more comfortable and savouring a warm drink or snack beside the slopes.

On the last day, determined to squeeze out every drop of fun before the dreaded chore of packing-I decided to tackle the notorious “Mollaret” piste. It’s sold as a gentle blue run, but fueled by the thought of a Nutella waffle waiting at the finish line, I let myself pick up speed. Then, one badly judged turn sent me flying a few meters forward; worse yet, my ski ended up tumbling 50 meters in the opposite direction, while I continued to roll downhill.

The pain hit me right away, but in my invincible state of mind, I took a few sips of water, gritted my teeth and motivated myself once again to finish this hell of a run. Reality only set in after I reached flat ground, when a sharp jolt reminded me that something was seriously wrong. A quick visit to the doctor later, the diagnosis became official: a fractured pelvis and a mandatory hospital stay. Suddenly, I felt like a real-life Alice in Wonderland, trapped in a room filled with tears-not so much from pain, but because I’d miss the bus home, school, and everything else my friends would be enjoying without me.

Sure enough, the bus departed without me, my belongings packed away while I stared gloomily out the hospital window. When the ambulance finally arrived on the 19th, it was a bizarre kind of freedom. Since then, life has been a steady cycle of bed rest, injections, physical therapy, and lots of painkillers. On the bright side, I now have a memorable tale to tell. These days, I hobble around with comically awkward crutches, and whenever people ask what happened, I simply shrug and say: “Blame the waffle.”

But rest assured-I’ll be back on the slopes next year. After all, if a fractured pelvis can’t keep me off the mountain for good, nothing can (except the hospital, ambulance and insurance bills)!

A Sustainable Darkroom?

by Kristýna Poláchová

As a person interested in analogue photography but also caring for the environment, I often asked myself: can a darkroom ever be sustainable? Through these reflections, almost as if I manifested it, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop on this specific topic last summer. This article will thus be an hommage to this workshop and to all the inspiration I gained from it as well as a ‘cookbook’ which came together afterward. I am thankful to Michaela Davidová for sharing these moments of experimentation and discovery with us.

Making the whole process of photographic development sustainable is not an easy task and the inclusion of a question mark in the title of this article serves partially to encourage reflection on the process as a whole. This question is not purely material or processual but also philosophical – do we perceive photographic material simply as a means for realisation of our ideas? Isn’t the darkroom itself an organism transforming and digesting materials? Let us ponder these questions further while we proceed to a practical application of this approach exploring ‘recipes’ for DIY film developers from less toxic materials.

For black and white negative processing, one generally needs a developer, an acidic stop bath, and a fixer to transform the taken latent (invisible to the eye) image into a visible one. Commercial developers are generally based on organic compounds derived from benzene. For plant-based DIY developers, we need to use ingredients containing phenolic acids (phenolic compounds structured on a benzene ring). Those can include coffee, mint, wild thyme, or urine. Phenolic acids can be extracted from them by, for example, pouring hot water over them and letting them cool down, boiling the plants in hot water, or by cold extraction through maceration (storing in an air-tight container in a liquid made of water, oil and alcohol for 3 days). The second ingredient needed is alkali since the developing process can only occur in an environment with pH>7, and alkali helps to achieve higher contrast and more grain in the final image. The most commonly used option is water-free sodium carbonate (= washing soda). The following ingredient is ascorbic acid (vitamin C) which helps to reduce the developing time. By mixing vitamin C (pure ascorbic acid) with sodium carbonate, we get sodium ascorbate. The final ingredient needed for a DIY developer is water.

The stop bath needs to be an acidic solution in order to interrupt the alkali-developing process. As a more accessible substitute for a commercial stop bath, we can mix water and white vinegar. Lastly, to make the image permanent, we need to bathe it in a fixer. There is not a perfect substitute for a conventional fixer (hypo or ammonium thiosulfate), but it is also possible to use salt-fix, although it serves more as a stabiliser and doesn’t have such long-term archival qualities.

0,5L Caffenol-C (coffee-based ‘soup’) recipe:

Ingredients:

– 20g of water-free washing soda dissolved in 1/3 of 0,5L of water

– 5 g of vitamin C dissolved in 1/3 of 0,5L of water

– 20g of instant coffee dissolved in 1/3 of 0,5L of hot water

(source: Blog – Plant-based/DIY developers – michaela davidova)

Directions:

We start by mixing the ingredients in separate containers with water at 24°C. First, we mix the solution with soda, then the solution with vitamin C, and lastly the solution with coffee.

We let the mix develop for 12 minutes, agitating during the first minute and then 10 times each following minute.

Film roll used: Fomapan ISO 100
Remarks: Pictures have quite high contrast, however the film is slightly over-developed. It is possible that 10 minutes of development would have been sufficient.

One-week-old Caffenol-C developer:

Oregano developer

For more information, visit:

Burmese History during the Mediaeval Period: Pinya

By Beau Sansoni

All images credited to the author.

Back in June, I had the opportunity to visit Myanmar, and particularly of interest to me were the numerous ancient cities which dotted the landscape. Notably, the dry zone of the Irrawaddy river valley held many significant cities which had been the capitals of kingdoms in their own right. Examples of these capitals include Bagan, Sagaing, Inwa, Amarapura, and Pinya. I had the particular privilege to be able to visit what little remains of the latter, this elusive city which had thrived in the early 14th century after the fall of Bagan.

The original city of Pinya itself is naught but a few brick stupas (or pagodas) and temples which are in various states of dilapidation. These over 600-year-old monuments of brick were constructed in the style of the Kingdom of Bagan, which the Kingdom of Pinya (of which Pinya was its capital) had replaced. To my count from Google Maps and my visit, there remains roughly only 4 monuments of any note from the period. The rest of the city, now almost certainly categorized as a village, is farmlands, homes made of wood and corrugated metal roofs, and overgrown vegetation. It lays snugly just off the main highway exiting from Mandalay, where it rejoins the very same highway a kilometer south.

In terms of history, sources online are scarce, and Wikipedia (the obvious and very professional go-to source) consistently cites the Hmannan Yazawin, or known in English as the Glass Palace Chronicle. This source is semi-reliable at best, proclaiming myth to be fact, and holding its own religious interests pursued in its writings. It is to be best remembered that this is an official source, an official narrative by the Burmese monarchy, and it was written in a manner that best represents itself. The story I know, personally and by heart, though, is that of the three brothers who took up positions as generals and regents of the crumbling Kingdom of Bagan. The King, Kyawswa, had his power limited to the city of Bagan itself. The three brothers: Athinkhaya, Yazathingyan, and Thihathu controlled major granaries around the territory of the kingdom and also fought against the invading Mongols, securing Burmese independence.

They would eventually depose the nominal king Kyawswa when he attempted to strengthen his position by swearing fealty to the Mongols, which led to the aforementioned battles. Slowly, the brothers would die, leaving only the youngest of them, Thihathu, with any power. In 1313 he attempted to start a kingdom of his own, with a new city; Pinya, as its capital. The new state would be fairly weak, and further weakened by dynastic politics ending in the northern half seceding as the Sagaing Kingdom. The two would be locked in conflict, with Pinya losing its grasp on its southern vassals at Taungoo and Prome and other remote regions. To compound these problems, Pinya also had issues of constant warfare with the Shan states, which would commonly raid the kingdom. The short life of the Kingdom would come to an end in 1364 when the Kingdom was annexed by the prince of Sagaing, Thado Minbya, who would go on to found the city of Inwa and its namesake kingdom.

The 50 year existence of Pinya as a Kingdom was one of instability and weakness, and even now it remains an oft forgotten segment of Burmese history. These temples are some of the few structures that remain of this chaotic period of warring states.