Cinevilla in Black and White: Shooting the Nikon FE2, 28mm f/2.8 AIS, and Kodak 400TX in Latvia’s open-air film studio

Photography as an art form has been around since 1826 or 1827. Nicephore Niépce used heliography with a pewter plate coated in bitumen. The development process took around 8 hours to complete. The daguerreotype was introduced in 1839 by Louis Daguerre. This process was followed by the calotype of William Henry Fox Talbot in 1841. In 1888, George Eastman launched the first Kodak camera with the slogan, “You press the button, we do the rest.” This invention brought photography to the masses. Kodak simplified photography, with amateurs no longer needing to have a darkroom. Roll film paved the way for cinema and small cameras later.

These images were taken with the Nikon FE2 and the Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AIS. The Nikon FE2 was released in 1983, a mechanical hybrid with shutter speeds up to 1/4000 and flash sync at 1/250. This camera was compact, reliable, and built with the classic Nikon F mount. The Nikon 28mm AIS was introduced in the early 1980s and is considered one of Nikon’s best wide angles. This version features Close Range Correction (CRC), which helps keep sharpness even at close distances. The Nikon 28mm f/2.8 has classic rendering: sharp at the center, smooth falloff at the edges, and good contrast. This lens shines in black and white photography when using leading lines and strong foregrounds — as I hoped to create while taking these images in this special location, Cinevilla.

Cinevilla is located near the town of Tukums, about an hour from Riga, the capital of Latvia and the most populated city within the Baltic States. Cinevilla was built in 2004 for the Latvian film Defenders of Riga. It is an open-air film studio and backlot — a reconstructed 20th-century Riga with streets, houses, tram lines, a river crossing, and even a bridge. Father Time waits for no one, and Cinevilla is no exception. Over time it has decayed in parts, giving it an abandoned atmosphere. This is perfect for black and white film photography. The combo of the Nikon FE2 and Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AIS creates strong tonal contrast. The Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AIS is my favorite lens.

I have been living in Latvia since July 2015. However, I have only visited Cinevilla three times. This place has become one of my favorite locations in the country. It is a special place — when you walk into the studio you are transported back to WWII or any other time created inside this open-air studio. It is full of photographic opportunities.

Walking Cinevilla with Kodak 400TX loaded in the Nikon FE2 adds to the atmosphere. This black and white film has a long history of being used by photojournalists and documentary photographers around the world. With its distinctive grain and wide exposure latitude, it allows me to work freely with the changing light inside the studio streets. The contrast of Tri-X matches the mood of Cinevilla perfectly.

Film photography demands intention. Every frame is a choice, and every mistake costs you one of only 36 exposures. That discipline slows me down and makes me see more clearly. Cinevilla is the kind of place that rewards patience, where every wall, cobblestone, or tram line carries a story.

That is why this project matters to me. It is not only about testing a camera and a lens, but about preserving a place in time with the same tools that photographers before me used. Cinevilla may be a movie set, but on film it becomes part of history. My hope is that these images reflect both the craft of photography and the quiet presence of a place where fiction and memory come together.

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