Memory
A shot set of images connected to the Spanish Civil war, shot around Barcelona while hunting for some contextual images for the State of Independence series.
El Prat
A short set of panoramic black and white film images taken around El Prat, just outside of Barcelona. This is a mainly agricultural area, with many walks that make a nice change from being in the city. All images made with the Horizon panoramic camera, using Delta 100 film.
State of Disrepair
I have not shot much film this year because my main 35mm film camera, the M7, has been at Leica for a shutter curtain replacement. The camera came back at the start of March, but to my dismay the first films showed a substantial front-focus that was obvious even with subjects many meters away. Rather than endure the six week round trip to Wetlar again, I opted to recalibrate the focus myself. Three test films later and with everything seemingly ok, I then set out to run some tests for […]
Italy: Wide and Normal
A short selection of images taken while visiting friends and family in Italy over New Year. For some unknown reason, these were all taken using older Zenit film cameras. The first set were shot with the Horizon 202 panoramic camera – a camera that begs to be used but which still needs more time to figure out how to get the most interesting results (compare, for example, the images with massive distortion vs those that look entirely undistorted – the result of simply tilting the camera a few degrees and […]
Barcelona Colour
A set of colour film images, shot on Kodak Gold 200 and processed at home using the Tetenal ColorTek C41 kit. These were intended to clear the pipeline for a future project, checking both the characteristics of the film and developer, and also the scanning and subsequent colour correction.
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.
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, […]
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:
In Between
A mix of images shot on Delta 400 film in Barcelona. These are the “in-between” shots – images taken in between more deliberate work and which lack any deliberate attempt at narrative.
Barcelona: Protest Everything
A set of film images from Barcelona, taken around the period of the Diada (the National Day of Catalunya, a focus for nationalism in the region) and the anniversary of the failed 1st October referendum.
Barcelona Street – Week 5
The fifth and final week of street photography experiments, this week shot with the Leica M7 and 50mm lens(es) on Ilford Delta 400 and processed in DD-X 1+4. Next week a write up on the different techniques that were used over the five weeks and the conclusions…
Barcelona Street – Week 2
Week two of the street photography project. This week shot with the Leica M7 and 35mm Summilux on Ilford Delta 400 film.
Five Fragments
Five fragments from Barcelona, shot on 35mm black-and-white film. All images shot with the Leica M7 with 35mm Summilux on Ilford Delta 400.
State of Independence XVI
A set of photographs from an attempt by protesters to attack the building of the official Spanish Government delegation in Catalunya. This was triggered by the arrest of ex-president Puigdemont in Germany, and the Catalan Police (the Mossos d’Esquadra) were deployed to protect public buildings.
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 […]
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.
Transient Eye 