This year I made a trip to visit a friend for the first time since he’d moved from the UK to Norway. I took my Hasselblad 501CM, Canon Sureshot A1 and a sack of Kodak colour negative film. My debut zine ‘Arctic Norway’ is the result.
Regular readers of 35mmc know that I like to photograph urban (and rural) decay. Last December (2019), quite by chance, I found a treasure in Jackson, Mississippi. In the southeast part of town, which was formerly industrial, I saw a car at the old Morris Ice Company warehouse at 652 South Commerce Street. Next to the building, an old electric pump partly smothered with vines called out to be photographed. A young gent came by, looked at my Hasselblad camera with interest, and said he had recently bought the building along with four acres of land from the heirs of the Morris family.
When I was about 18 I was getting into photography and I had a huge poster of Ansel Adam’s ‘Moon and Half Dome’ on my wall. I devoured everything I could about Adams which led me on to Edward Weston his friend and neighbour in Carmel – both remain great inspirations today.
Yes, I know, I am living in the past. I remember when I could buy a Shutterbug in the supermarket, read through page after page of small-text advertisements, and call (with my land line) B&H, Freestyle, or Calumet and order Kodak Ektar 25 film. Residents outside the United States had equivalent camera magazines or tabloids …
Dear Readers, I still have a few rolls of Ektar 25 in 120 size in my freezer. My rolls expired in 1995, but fortunately they seem to be responding correctly without obvious color shifts. Of course, now I wish I had bought much more 25 (or Royal Gold 25, which was the same thing) before it was discontinued around 2000. Winter in Mississippi has some days with drizzle or soft light with overcast skies, which are perfect for the Ektar’s unique palette.
