Review: The Leica M10
This is a very very late user review of the Leica M10, based on just over a year of use. It is a deliberately image-heavy post, with a varied selection of photographs that I hope show some of the capabilities of the camera.
Walden
A quick set of images of the Walden 7, an innovative high-density housing block in Sant Just Desvern, on the edge of Barcelona. These were taken on the way back from a walk along the hills at the edge of the city, with a conscious detour to see the block that was just possible before heavy thunderstorms arrived.
Snapshots from Berlin
A set of tourist snapshots captured while on a short trip to Berlin. It is a fascinating city with a rich, complex and often tragic history, and it would be interesting to have time to undertake a more in depth photographic project there. All images shot with the Leica M10 and 50mm Summilux. I did take a wide-angle lens as well, but never used it because 50mm always just seems right.
Fragments of a Life
Another short set of push-processed film images, showing some fragments of urban Barcelona. These are from some more test rolls looking to improve the processing and improve contrast (using Delta 400 in DD-X 1+4).
Storm Warning
A set of stormy beach scenes, shot along the coast from Badalona to el Masnou, north of Barcelona. These were part of a film shot as part of a processing test for Delta 400 exposed at EI1600 and processed in DD-X 1+4 as if shot at EI 3200. The resulting grain is quite harsh, but also quite fine compared to faster films. The film was scanned using an E-M1.2 with a macro lens, which tends to de-emphasise the grain compared to standalone (non-flatbed) film scanners.
Benasque Fragments
Still experimenting with colour processing in Capture One… this time with a series of fragmentary images taken around Benasque, a beautiful village in the Spanish Pyrennees.
Three Landscapes
Three landscape images, taken in the Picos de Europa. These were shot in rather dull (and damp!) weather, so this was largely an experiment in using local edits for contrast and exposure in Capture One to give the images more punch.
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 […]
Brexit Metaphors
On Sunday, more than a million people marched in London to protest against the debacle that is the UK’s Brexit process, demanding a referendum on whether or not to proceed with Theresa May’s negotiated exit deal. Unfortunately, I was not able to be there – so this is an alternative photographic commentary on the current state of Brexit and British politics.
Espai Rural de Gallecs
A short set of landscape images from the Gallecs rural space, just outside of Barcelona. This is a large area which has been preserved as farmland, largely thanks to the efforts of the local population to resist the pressures of urban and industrial development. The freshly ploughed clay soils have an amazingly deep and rich red colour. And lastly, a bonus image of some street art in the underpass connecting the town of Mollet del Vallès to the agricultural lands:
A Strike Against Climate Change
A few shots from the student climate protest/strike today in Barcelona, as thousands of marchers demonstrated against the increasingly worrying evidence of accelerating climate change. This is part of a growing and international effort by the young to fight back against the planetary legacy that they are inheriting.
Vilanova to Sitges
A set of images on a walk from Vilanova y Geltrú to Sitges in Catalunya. It is an interesting route because you are sandwiched between the coastal railway lines and the sea, and there are no barriers between either of these and you. It is unusual in this hyper-sanitised 21st century to discover that there is nothing to prevent you being run over by a high-speed train or to stop you falling off a cliff: this is not a path for those without common sense. The walk is physically undemanding and […]
Transition Space I
The first of an occasional series looking holistically at the transitions between intra and extra-urban spaces.
State of Independence XVII
An update on the Catalan Nationalist process, as the political leaders responsible for the 1st October referendum and failed unilateral declaration of independence go on trial.
