Photography and Jazz music are two sources of inspiration in my life. They are my muses. In Jazz music, there is an emphasis on improvisation. Musicians often create impromptu solos and melodies during performances, building on the musical core. Similarly, film photographers often work with finite control over the final image. As many of us, …
Image above created by the AI image generator (DALL-E) “There used to be big men in the world, men of mind and power and imagination. There was St. Paul and Einstein and Shakespeare… There was Julius Caesar and Tolstoy and Immanuel Kant. But now it’s all robots. Robots and the pleasure principle. Everybody’s head is …
The trouble is, you think you have time.
– Buddha
Old cameras have always held a special place in my heart. Especially, the classic cameras of the past that were often built like precision timepieces. After my father’s passing, I inherited several of his cameras. They are the only possessions of his that I have. His former cameras are all valued, but the one that has held the most significance has been the Minolta Autocord. It’s not just a camera. It’s a collector and custodian of memories.
It has always been hit or miss for me when I shot with slow speed films. Images were tragically soft or out of focus. I would either overexpose or underexpose each frame. Maybe I didn’t have the patience to just slow down and focus on the moment (no pun intended). Maybe my technique of holding the camera was pure rubbish. I don’t know but I was never satisfied. So, I stayed away from any film slower than 100 ISO. However, when Lomography introduced Babylon 13 and Fantôme 8 last year. It was an opportunity to try to redeem myself.
The plan was simple, spend a year in Japan photographing the Olympics, the events, and the famous Japanese festivals, but something happened along the way… The world got sick.
Covid-19 put an end to all my intentions. John Lennon famously said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” That’s pretty much spot on for me in 2020 and continuing in 2021.
