I became aware of Traveling Yashica project when I saw Susan tweeting about it. I said, “Oh, that’s cool!” and Hamish let me sign up to be be one of the project’s participants.
The camera was supposed to make a couple of stops internationally before it came my way, but Hamish made an executive decision to have Susan send it to me for the holidays. This meant I was allowed to keep the camera a little longer than the rest of the participants, which kind of made me nervous! When I thought it was going to be a couple of months before I’d receive the Yashica, I had some ideas as to how I was going to fill my time with the camera. Having it come to me early threw me off a bit! But I think its extended stay with me ended up lending some diversity to my subject matter.
My first two Yashica T5 shots: on Main Street in the town where I live.
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Caught red-handed. The man looked over right as I snapped the photo (as I was driving by, through rolled down car window…)
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A former children’s clothing shop that is now a church/cash advance business. Also taken from my car with the window rolled down
Since Susan used the camera in Memphis, I was hoping to avoid shooting Memphis with the camera. I was going to do it all in North Mississippi! However, a few days before Christmas, I got called in to help at the bakery in Memphis where I used to work. It was in a part of the city that is being revitalized into an art district, so there’s lots of interesting things on that street. How could I resist a few pictures up there? (answer: I couldn’t!)
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In the bakery
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I sat the camera on the ground and used the super scope for this one – worked out surprisingly well!
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Nautical-themed bar called The Cove
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Cool door on Broad Avenue
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Shop on Broad
The rest of my film in the T5 was shot in Mississippi, as planned.
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A trio of mini vegan cakes I made for Christmas. I am blown away by the sharpness of this photo.
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I know the internet loves animals, so I thought you might want to meet my sister’s dog Delta, who mysteriously lost an eye last year
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My yellow shoes and a random blue finial in front of the house
There’s a famous fried chicken restaurant in Memphis. They have a location just over the state line in Mississippi. There’s this old hearse out front, advertising the restaurant. Couldn’t NOT share this with the world via the Traveling Yashica.
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Mossy
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We have a little 4 screen cinema in our town – nothing like the larger cinemas that I’m used to going to.
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When I was taking this, someone in charge at the cinema suspiciously asked me, “What are you doing?” I clumsily blurted out some explanation about a traveling camera project. That seemed to set his mind at ease.
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They don’t have electronically printed tickets at this cinema. They still do these old-fashioned ones. Color-coded for each of the films showing, I presume.
Finally, we have what is a regular occurrence in my life: I see a cool car and I run over to photograph it. This was at a gas station (petrol station, to you non-Americans) and I was able to snap a few photos while the driver was inside paying for his fuel.
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I’d like to say that, up until the final few frames, I thought I was shooting Lomography X-Pro Chrome 100 and shot things with that film in mind. Then came the moment when I noticed I’d actually loaded Lomography Color 100 print film, so no cross-processing would be going on after all! I was a bit disappointed, especially since the Color 100 I’d used in the past didn’t give me the most vibrant of results. Thankfully, it turned out okay!
I can echo the sentiments of the other Traveling Yashica photographers so far: the T5 feels plastic and clunky. I also found that the shutter button was EXTREMELY easy to trip – I often thought I was just half-pressing the button to pre-focus and, instead, I was actually tripping the shutter! I can look through the roll and see where there are two versions of some pictures: the blurry one I accidentally took when I thought I was pre-focusing and jarred the camera as the shutter fired, and the normal version where I KNEW I was taking the picture. But, like those who have come before me, anything uncomplimentary I’d have to say about the T5 was instantly silenced when I saw the finished product and how good that lens is.
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Amanda Raney on The Traveling Yashica: Amanda Raney, Mississippi
Comment posted: 31/01/2014
Comment posted: 31/01/2014
Moni Smith on The Traveling Yashica: Amanda Raney, Mississippi
Comment posted: 31/01/2014
Comment posted: 31/01/2014
Moni Smith on The Traveling Yashica: Amanda Raney, Mississippi
Comment posted: 31/01/2014
Comment posted: 31/01/2014
Comment posted: 31/01/2014
Urban Hafner on The Traveling Yashica: Amanda Raney, Mississippi
Comment posted: 03/02/2014
Comment posted: 03/02/2014