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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 96 - An Unusual Point of View (hosted by Michael Puff) >> Exhibition > Septagon
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Sept, 2005 Jim H.

Septagon

I was inspired to enter this after seeing Lonnit's "Legflower" entry in eligible. This is made up of seven different shots of mercury dripping into a larger blob of mercury. That's me and a desk lamp and some other things in my room reflected in the blobs. I entered a slightly different version of this in another challenge, I believe.


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Canon DSLR Challenge28-Jun-2007 17:17
Interesting story. You're out of your mind to keep it in your possession though! Accidental spill, fire... Isn't it illegal to have; isn't it considered haz mat? I'd be nervous having it around. ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge28-Jun-2007 02:16
Thanks you guys. Mercury is pretty nasty stuff and its hazards are well known these days. But 30 years ago, it was fairly common in household products. The grandmother of a friend wore hearing aids and they ran on mercury batteries. It would amaze most people to know how much mercury is in a mercury cell. Anyhow, we used a pair of "vice grips" to squeeze the mercury out of a large number of these cells and ended up with several pounds of the stuff. I've had it ever since.

I also work for a laboratory company and we've got it there too, but this was from my personal "stash".

Mercury oxidizes easily and also evaporates at room temperature. The mercury vapor can be absorbed when breathed and the mercuric oxide is also able to be absorbed through the skin. This is not good because it's very toxic.

Still, if you're careful, you can reduce your exposure with fairly simple precautions. I did do my photography of this under fairly controlled conditions to be sure that my exposure was limited and that none of it escaped or contaminated the area. It's all safely back in its tightly sealed container now :)

The stuff is fascinating to play with and beautiful as well. I shot these photos originally when making a photo for the "Gold" challenge. My idea was to depict mercury transforming into gold - a common theme in alchemy. But the final photo was not as good as I'd have hoped. Still, it was fun.

I may have to set things up and try more photos with it at some point. But I do prefer to do it in a very controlled way. Now back in the '70s we used to handle it and had very little worry even though it was known that it was toxic. Now, I'm more careful.

I read a horror story about a guy who was trying to do an "in home" gold ore extraction and actually put a fairly large vat of gold-bearing mercury onto his kitchen range to boil away the mercury. Naturally, he and his family ended up in the hospital. The thing that's the most frightening about that whole incident is the long-term damage that he, his wife, and their children will probably suffer.

World-wide, mercury is a big problem in poor areas where people use it to dissolve gold from ore or from sands in rivers where they pan. The environmental damage is enormous and widespread and the effects are insidious. You can't blame starving people for doing whatever they can to survive, but it is a tragedy.

Mercury dissolves gold and silver and that's why it's so handy for recovering gold and silver from ores or sands.

Anyhow, it's beautiful, fascinating, and fun. But it's pretty nasty stuff too.

Jim H.


Guest 27-Jun-2007 22:56
This is really different! Where did you get mercury?
Debbi
Guest 27-Jun-2007 05:33
Simply stunning!
Canon DSLR Challenge26-Jun-2007 17:21
JIM! This is lovely! I'm honored by the compliment of inspiring you to wonderful heights! BTW, why is it that you are playing with loose mercury in your room? LOL! ~ LOnnit
Canon DSLR Challenge26-Jun-2007 15:56
Definitely competes with the beauty of Lonnit's...uhmmm legs! Best wishes to both of you for great images. Sam Attal