The character on the right, Hesomaru, is the mascot of Furano. The ‘face’ is drawn on his rather large belly while is head and arms are hidden under the hat. Heso means tummy button, while maru refers to its rather large round size. The name reflects Furano’s location in the geographical centre of Hokkaido. Continuing …
I recently visited a small town in Eastern Europe, in the Republic of Moldova. A small country, somewhere on a sliver of land between the Prut and the Dniester rivers, a country that currently struggles with the uneasiness of its past and the uncertainty of its future. Torn between the Soviet past and its reorientation …
The Rolleiflex 3.5F wasn’t my first TLR – that honour goes to the MPP Microcord. But the Rolleiflex is a name up there with Leica and Carl Zeiss.
When one thinks of a TLR, images from TV and Film from ages past come to mind – of Movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe and used by greats to make some of the most iconic photographs in history: such as David Bailey, Richard Avedon, Robert Doisneu, Fritz hence, Eduard Boubat, Lee Miller and Robert Capa amongst many others.
Going through my local flea market, one camera instantly caught my attention. The Yashica T2. With no battery, I wasn’t sure if it was working. However, I negotiated the price down to only 12 euros and bought it. I took the camera home, got a battery, and it worked!
Going back to basics in photography – using just a light-tight box, a single lens, and a mechanical shutter and winder – is often framed as a return to simplicity, even if it immensely complicates the actual process of taking a picture. I guess simplicity refers in this case not only to the equipment, but also to a sort of purity of experience. Seeking more engagement with the process than an autofocus SLR or compact can provide, and even perhaps aiming for something of a meditative state, a photographer might first choose a metered manual focus camera, perhaps setting exposure guided by a match needle in the viewfinder.
