Barcelona at Night

A set of five images shot on film at night in Barcelona. These were shot with 400TX and Delta 400, pushed two stops in DD-X 1+4 as part of a test to get a feel for how the films compare in low light. Overall, the results are very similar (can you tell them apart?) – the Tri-X appears to have slightly better exposure latitude, while the Delta looks finer grained. On balance I prefer the slightly grittier Tri-X, and will try to shoot a series using this next year.

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Stormy Times

A short set of images taken along the seafront in Barcelona shortly after a storm had passed, These were shot with a Minolta X700 and a Tokina 28-70mm objective as part of some tests to select a lens for a future project. I bought the Tokina while a student, thirty years ago, and never really liked the image quality. Wide open it is just soft across the frame and without any real character – it needs to be stopped down to at least f8 to get decent results. Despite this, […]

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Horizon

A quick look at the Zenit Horizon 202 clockwork panorama camera, which is unusual in that it uses a lens placed in a rotating drum to create ultra-wide-angle images with a  2.4:1 aspect ratio on 35mm film. If this sounds weird, it is – and It is probably easier to show the camera in a short video than to describe it:

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Barcelona Street – Week 1

This is the first of five weekly posts featuring street images take in Barcelona. The idea is to try to improve my street photography my methodologically trying different approaches and subjects. Each week will feature images shot using a  specific camera and lens, with the intention of really deciding what style, medium, focal length and way of shooting seems to work best. At the end I will write a summary of what techniques were used and some of the pros-and-cons. For this week, all the images were shot with the […]

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State of Independence XV

Βlack and white film images taken at two Catalan independence protests in Barcelona. The use of Article 155 to suspend autonomous rule in the region has effectively blocked the indirect channeling of government finance (via cultural associations) to support events such as these, with the result that banners are being recycled or even hand made. This is in contrast to the piles of professionally produced posters that were routinely handed out at events earlier in the process. In these images, the protesters are mainly campaigning for two issues: to free […]

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Sun and Rain

A short set of recent street images shot on black and white film with the M7 in Barcelona. It has been a very unsettled spring, with alternating spells of torrential rain and blazing sun. Somehow these are coordinating with the calendar to land all the worst weather at the weekend! Shot on the Leica M7 with a mix of 35mm and 50mm lenses on Ilford Delta 400.

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State of Independence XIV

A set of images taken at the three protest encampments in Plaça Catalunya, Barcelona. In February, the independence movement secured permission to mount a protest in Barcelona’s main city square, with dozens of campaigners camping out and distributing propaganda. This ran from early in February until the campers were finally removed in mid-April. Unfortunately for the independence protesters, the city council can not legitimately turn a blind eye to one set of people camping out while denying a request from another. So before long, there was a smaller anti-independence camp […]

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State of Independence XIII

An update on the Catalan independence protest with a set of images taken on a March march against the independence movement, led by the Tabarnian movement. Tabarnia is a fictional region, which is seeking independence from Catalunya. It is a satire of the Catalan independence movement which has gained substantial popular support.

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