thirteen film portraits for 2013

13 portraits taken during 2013, using analog media.

the images follow a timeline - first portrait was shot in february, last one in december. the hardest part was to choose the best (as in "most representative") portraits of the year, while also trying to include images that I hadn't posted in the blog before (or anywhere else, for that matter). keeping the number to 13 was also quite difficult, I had to remove a lot of good images. I also couldn't show a number of portraits that are yet to be published.

[ alkistis | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ vinyl love | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ nafsika lalioti | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ magda | speed graphic | aero ektar 178mm/f2.5 | kodak vericolor III s 160 ]

[ theodoros chliapas | speed graphic | aero ektar 178mm/f2.5 | kodak ektachrome 6121 4x5 x-pro ]

[ sophie | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ mary retsina | rolleiflex t | fomapan 200 ]

[ fou mal | rolleiflex t | rollei retro 400s ]

[ natasa | omega/toyo view 45d | schneider xenar 150mm/f5.6 | fomapan 400 4x5 ]

[ nikki hayia | leica m4 | voigtlander ultron 28mm/f2 | ilford delta 100 ]

[ dimitris mavrokefalidis | leica m4 | voigtlander ultron 28mm/f2 | rossmann 400 ]

[ fiona | pentax 67 | 105mm/f2.4 | kodak portra 400 ]

[ tamta | rolleiflex t | kodak portra 400 ]

Isabel Marant pour H&M: the polaroids

two weeks ago, H&M Greece and Ozon Magazine gave me an opportunity to shoot a fashion editorial with the Isabel Marant line before its worldwide launch. I did it the analog way: on large format, using medium format film as a backup. yes, there was a digital camera on set - I brought along the new Sony A7, which I used as a lightmeter.

I used the Speed Graphic / Aero Ektar combo, shooting polaroids for the sake of speed and convenience, as we needed to have part of the editorial online three days later. I also shot 4x5 film, b/w as well as color, and a couple of medium format rolls with the Pentax 67 as a backup.

there will be two more posts about this photoshoot, one showcasing the large format shots and one with the 6x7 results, after they've been published. the results are quite different, especially on the color large format shots.

it was hot and I didn't have enough brains to pay more attention to the backstage, so here are some smartphone photos with the setup:

Graflex Speed Graphic | Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm/f2.5

Graflex Speed Graphic | Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm/f2.5

Graflex Speed Graphic | Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm/f2.5 | Fuji FP-100c

Graflex Speed Graphic | Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm/f2.5

Graflex Speed Graphic | Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm/f2.5 | Polaroid 669 and film holders

you can see more backstage shots over at OzonWeb, where this polaroid "webditorial" was first published.

there was half a pack of Fuji FP-100c in the polaroid holder, so I finished it up, before switching to expired Polaroid 669 film. the difference between the two films is huge. it's a big shame you can't get a negative out of the polaroid 669 (which you can do with the fuji film) and an even bigger shame that you can't find this film any more.

I shot a total of 25 polaroid frames. all images presented below are a straight scan from the positive print. the first three images are Fuji FP-100c, the rest are Polaroid 669. you can see where the Polaroid 669 didn't like going against the sun. the double exposure was deliberate.

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Fuji FP-100C film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Fuji FP-100C film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Fuji FP-100C film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

natasa

this week's portrait entry is an indoors session. I had shot natasa back in may, and we both wanted to do another, more relaxed, session. I called her over to my place, and we spent a couple of hours trying to get the best out of a confined home studio and my film cameras. I really need to find a space for a proper studio, a 80x80cm softbox is very difficult to maneuver around living room furniture, or in the 10sqm space which modern greek house-builders tend to believe is the ideal size for a bedroom.

we started off with the omega view 45d and the schneider xenar 150mm/f5.6. I had a couple of 4x5 film holders loaded with fomapan 400, as well as a polaroid holder loaded with fuji fp-100b black & white instant film. the resulting fomapan 400 image was a bit underexposed, but I find it an interesting approach, just like the rice paper portraits on Paolo Pellegrin's "Storm".

then I switched to the instant film holder, and the resulting polaroids are a testament to the magnificence of instant film. no feeling can be compared with the tingle you get when you peel apart the "sandwiched" film and you have a positive print with exemplary black & white tones in your hands. there were four remaining frames on the film holder, I shot all of them, correcting the framing issues (I never understood why the polaroid holder's alignment is not centered).

...and then, of course, there's the negatives... the fuji fp-100b b&w negatives tend to solarize after development, so I stored them in a dark cupboard as soon as I had peeled them off the positive prints. I have no idea if I did the right thing, but I do know what came out of it after I bleached them... the resulting negative had a very strong orange base, exhibited solarisation in the highlights (on the face), and it was impossible to properly scan as a black and white negative. I scanned it as color negative, which could be a totally acceptable approach...

...and then I inverted it, applied a red-filtered black & white conversion in order to compensate for the orange base, and the original black & white image popped up. I still need to refine my bleaching & cleaning technique on the fuji fp-100b negatives, there's a lot of development goo still stuck on this negative.

then we moved on to the bronica sq-a, which I loaded with fomapan 100 film. while this film performs well, I'll have to stop using it because it does not agree well with my current developer (diafine) and it isn't that cheap... all things considered, I'd rather pay 4-5€ for a kodak/ilford/fuji film than 3-3.5€ for any other alternative. this axiom is true only for the medium format range - for large format, the fomapan films are very good and their pricing makes them a real bargain.

back on large format, toying with the best film batch I ever laid my hands on: a box of kodak royal pan, 400 ASA, that expired in 1973. 40 years later, its speed has been reduced to 25 ASA and it exhibits high fog, low contrast, lots of grain, low sharpness, mediocre resolving power, lots of artifacts - the perfect film for lo-fi large format images.

the first shot is in the studio with the xenar 150mm/f5.6, while the second shot is lit with continuous lighting. I changed the lens on the view camera, and put on the leitz hektor 150mm/f2.5, minimizing the depth of field and also gaining two stops of speed. the bedroom shot required 4 seconds of exposure. I achieved this exposure using the first shutter mechanism that was ever invented: cover the lens with its cap, remove the darkslide, issue a command of non-movement to the model, remove the lens cap, count slowly to 4, replace lens cap.

...I was out of large format film, so it was time for the bronica again. I took the view camera off the tripod and fixed the bronica - this shot only required 1 sec of exposure, which is very easy to do when you have a camera with a proper shutter: just set the shutter to "1sec", raise the mirror, use a cable release to activate the shutter. oh, the joy of modern cameras.

...and back to the studio again, because you can never go wrong with shooting a second roll of film on the same subject.

fotini chan

studio mode

large format meets studio meets fotini korre: an afternoon spent trying to combine large format and a simple lighting set-up in a really confined space (living-room-turned-studio). large format in a studio is a very disciplined craft, since you're bound to a lot of tripods - the lights, the camera, everything is on a tripod. changing the lighting takes time, selecting a new angle of view takes time, framing takes time, focusing takes time... hell, even shooting a frame takes time - spontaneity cannot survive on a tripod. lots of patience is needed, and disappointment can quickly rear its ugly head. still, the results are quite interesting.

fotini had an earlier television shooting for mad channel, so she came around with a wonderful make-up, courtesy of maria pilafa. she was dying for some food and all I could think of telling her was "errr, ok, you can eat, but please do not spoil the make-up and the hair". she is a most wonderful person, smart and laid-back, and she loves linguini, a fact which should not be overlooked. kudos to her patience, both when posing ("now, you must stand still while I put the film in, change the aperture, put a cap on the lens, remove the darkslide, pick up the remote trigger, remove the lens cap, trigger the lights, put the cap back on the lens, ok, you can breathe.") and when coping with my moments of failing inspiration. I owe her a night out at an italian restaurant, during which I will convince her to pose on a second, outdoor, shooting, and then I'll owe her another night out at a restaurant, and... you can see how this goes.

the afternoon's tally was 24 frames - 12 large format sheets with the monorail omega view and a 6x6 medium format roll with the bronica. presented in this post are the best 8 of them - they are separated in three annotated chapters, like journal entries.

part I: static normality

photographer tries to shake rust off   //   decides to start with a casual large format set-up   //   omega view 45d, industar n-51 210mm/f4.5, fomapan 400   //   extra background light   //   rediscovery of college yearbook style   //   model frustrated; cause: receiving instructions like "just stay still and look straight into the lens"   //   removal of extra light leads to rediscovery of rembrandt style   //   normal film, normal lens and static set-up bring about quick exhaustion and slow death of inspiration

part II: mobile squareness

photographer in dire need of a fresh view   //   abandons large format in favour of medium format   //   bronica sq-a with 80mm/f2.8 and kodak t-max 100   //   no longer attached to the tripod   //   new-found mobility brings rejuvenation   //   still hampered by casual, formal viewpoint   //   decision to move closer and change angle of view proves invigorating   //   inspiration levels rising

part III: expired pictorealism

mobility of medium format brought fresh inspiration   //   photographer switches back to large format   //   chooses projection lens to emphasize depth of field   //   chooses expired film because there was none else readily available   //   omega view 45d, leitz hektor 150mm/f2.5, kodak royal pan, expired 1973   //   depth of field really razor thin   //   film's extreme old age results in excessive grain, fogging and staining   //   pictorealism winks an eye

speed graphic

I sent my speed graphic to jo lommen in the netherlands for a shutter service... I have been trying to make a decent post about the speed graphic for a long time - I never managed it because I always wanted to take some good clean backstage photos of a shoot and I never did invest the time in it, since I much preferred trying to get a good photograph with the speed graphic, instead of getting a good photograph of it. so, I will have to make a post about my favourite large format camera using a picture of my previous speed graphic, the anniversary model, and hoping to update the post when my current pacemaker model comes back.

the lens fitted on the anniversary is the leitz hektor 150mm/f2.5, a projection lens meant to be used with the leitz pradovit medium format projectors. its image circle barely covers 4x5, but I like the vignetting and the really soft corners it produces. you could actually say that I choose to destroy all the potential of the large format film surface by using such a low resolution funky lens, and you would be right. however, it's the final image that matters, not its resolution or its sharpness. I consider technical perfection the most boring aspect of photography, if it can't capture atmosphere.

and boy, can it capture atmosphere... this camera/lens combination is ideal for open space full body portraits (it is considered wide-angle in large format, after all), which I tend to do a lot, always using horizontal framing (photojournalistic habits die hard)...

...it can also do tighter frames, where it still retains the vignetting/soft corners combo. it's easier to focus properly when moving closer because you get to see a bigger image of your subject - proper ground glass focusing needs a dark-cloth, a loupe and patience and I only have two out of three...

...and then you have other barrel lenses, then ones considered "short portrait lenses", in the >200mm range, losing a bit of light due to smaller apertures but gaining in sharpness and resolution. my most used ones are the leitz diaron 250mm/f4 and the industar-51 210mm/f4.5 (this one actually has a aperture diaphragm, as opposed to the leitz lenses which you can only use at their maximum aperture). they are both great performers for close-ups and, since they have a much bigger image circle than the hektor, you also lose the vignetting and the soft corners...

one hour of sunlight

this entry should have been posted six weeks ago, since most of the films were developed straight after the photoshoot, but I had shot some large format colour frames and I wanted to be able to see the "big picture" before I posted anything. finally, after waiting one month for the colour chemicals to arrive and postponing the development process due to lack of available time, I developed the colour 4x5 frames on the first day of 2012 - best way to start the new year, really. the result was a bit mixed, since these frames were long expired and some of them were slides that I chose to cross-process. moreover, all the frames spent the last months in room temperature, since it did not occur to me to return them to the fridge after loading them in the holders. turns out that some months in room temperature may indeed damage a 10-year-old film that's been kept frozen for most of its life - so, a note to self: always load the film holders on the day before the shoot and always unload them after the shoot.

the b/w frames were fresh fomapan 100 film, no trouble there, and the medium format ektachrome 64t slide film which, although expired, was developed a couple of days after the shoot so it kept its character as much as possible (it went through a cross-process, too). another note to self: stop using cross-processing and stop buying up any weird film that comes along.

so, what about the actual photoshoot? well, let's see... it was a sunny day during november and nicky was into the mood for photos, so we met near panathinaiko stadium and and walked in the woods above it. we only had one hour until sunset so we settled for some simple portraits, using the speed graphic and a leitz diaron 250mm/f4 projection lens. first, a kickstart b/w shot...

...next comes the cross-processed ektachrome 6122, a very old slide film...

...I'm guessing that the oversaturated yellow and red channels are a result of the cross-process, but since this is an 15-year-old film, I can't really be sure...

...back to black & white, and the trusty fomapan 100...

...and seeing that such close-up portraits were a bit "stiff", a change of clothes and style, and a little bit of colour - this time it's kodak ektacolor gold 100, also a 10-year-old negative film, but since it was processed normally, the colours are mostly fine...

...no more colour film in large format, so back to fomapan...

...and then we're totally out of large format film but we still got a bit of sunlight left, so why not try some experimental stuff? load the 6x7 back with some medium format ektachrome 64 tungsten film, bring out the leitz hektor 150mm/f2.5, a change of clothes again (in order to remove the striking red colour from the set) and let's try double exposures...

...and that's it. one hour of sunlight shining through the woods, enough time to shoot 12 frames of large format film plus 10 frames with the 6x7 roll film back and be a bit disappointed with the result - you just can't rush these things.

the new year will see me moving back to medium format for a bit - its portability and speed are quite welcome during the winter - large format works better when your hands and your model are not freezing.

motocrossing

this post is a tribute to loukas mexis, who broke his ankle in a motorbike accident a week after we did these photographs. our intention was to re-do the motocross theme with a little more preparation than "-I've got free time. -I'm going motocrossing. -perfect, I'm coming along to try large format on action photos". this is not going to happen for a while, so I decided to post these photos, although they are a bit monotonous. the equipment I carried along was the usual stuff: the speed graphic, six 4x5" film holders loaded with fomapan 100 and the bronica sq-a which had half a roll of fuji pro 400h 220 that I wanted to finish up. the funny part was that I had to ride the motorbike along with loukas to get to the motocross field - you can imagine the sight of two people on a single-seater ktm bike, the one fully dressed for motocross and the other carrying two photographic bags and a tripod.

we arrived at the field and sought for a nice spot to try and capture a jump, which worked out quite well (although even the speed graphic's 1/1000 top shutter speed is not enough to "freeze" a motorbike that's flying through the air next to you), but I didn't give a lot of thought to the trees in the background - the resulting image would be a lot better if I had stayed clear of the trees, thus allowing the bike and the rider to stand out against a clear sky...

...then I tried the same framing with the medium format bronica sq-a (top shutter speed: 1/500) and the wide angle 50mm lens, choosing a lower angle and getting as close to the bike as I dared to...

...I spent a number of frames there (they came out identical, and I was pleased to see that I didn't miss the bike on any photo) and moved on to some portraits, first with the speed graphic...

...then with the bronica, still using the wide-angle 50mm lens...

...a change of view and a lower angle in order to emphasize the bike...

...and then we moved on to a different spot, trying to find a higher "jumping point". the sun was getting low and I wasn't really trying to get the best out of the whole situation (thinking this was a warm-up session), so we didn't search for a long time - we found the next jump and I readied the speed graphic again...

at that point I decided to switch from the hektor 150mm/f2.5 projector lens I was using to a proper lens, complete with an aperture diaphragm (the hektor doesn't have any) and full 4x5inch frame coverage: the industar n-51 210mm/f4.5. this lens is a russian copy of the classic carl zeiss tessar design, originally used in russian 5x7inch view cameras, and cost me about 30€ including postage. I mounted it on the speed graphic, focused, closed down, set the shutter speed but when the time came to release the shutter, my cable release got stuck and only fired on the second try...

I thought that I never got the bike in the frame, so I reckoned I could re-do the shot on the same film sheet, essentially creating a double exposure. turns out I got the bike both times, the first time on the edge of the frame, the second time bang in the center. the image frame is exactly the same (since the camera stayed in the exact same place during both exposures) but the two captures of the bike are ghost-like, since it was the only object that changed its position during the double exposure...

time was running out and we both wanted to pack up and leave, so I decided to spend the remaining frames on portraiture. I got loukas against the setting sun and loaded the speed graphic with my last large format film sheet...

the industar 210mm/f4.5 is a normal photographic lens and has a bigger image cirle than the hektor 150mm/f2.5, thus explaining the absence of vignetting in these two frames, as well as the more conventional rendering of the out-of-focus areas.

finally, I finished the film in the bronica, still using the wide-angle lens...

we left the motocross field with a lot of discussion on how and when to do a proper motocross photo-session, but it wasn't meant to be. next session I'm making with loukas will be named "spending two months with your ankle in a plaster cast". have a swift recovery, man..!

ten instant photographs

...I've had this photoshoot in my mind since the middle of september, when I first met gunner wright during the athens international film festival. we both wanted to do a proper shoot back then, but the festival's schedule was so tight (and our nights out so long) that we missed our chance. luckily, gunner returned to athens a month later, so this time we agreed it would be a shame if we didn't take out the speed graphic for some shots. the schedule was still tight, what with gunner having to do another photoshoot and an interview for a magazine, the weather being mixed and unpredictable and all kinds of strikes and demonstrations paralyzing downtown athens.

in the end we settled for a casual weekend evening shoot, and we ended up at the park next to gazi along with loukas mexis, while later on we were joined by anna rezan kritseli.

I only had two loaded large format film holders with me, so I decided to do instant film, polaroids. I loaded up the polaroid holder with fuji fp-100c 3.25x4.25" color film and we had a blast going through the 10-frame pack.

along with the instant film I was also shooting medium format with the bronica, but that will take a while to develop and scan. moreover, I need to bleach-clean the instant film negatives, which will give me a much better scan than the original positives. as opposed to all this process, it was easy enough to scan the instant film positives - let's see what a 10-frame pack of instant film shot through a large format camera can get you.

first frame was over-exposed by one stop...

...then I corrected my exposure and the good stuff was here...

...both gunner and loukas wanted me to pose for a shot, so I explained to loukas how to focus, how to remove the ground glass and replace it with the film back, how to cock the shutter and operate it... at the same time gunner was acting as a hair stylist, trying to get my hair out of my face while I was sitting immobile (the slightest movement would have resulted in me getting out of focus), which in the end didn't really happen...

...we changed location and moved along to a bridge above the railway. then anna came along and, of course, I asked her to do her bit. sadly, I misjudged focus for this shot, which is something a 150mm/f2.5 lens does not forgive...

...then loukas wanted me to pose with anna, and I obliged him. he said he remembered everything, but he forgot that he had to cock the shutter before removing the darkslide from the polaroid back, so he ended up destroying one frame, although it seems that with instant film you can't really go wrong whatever you do...

...after pulling out the destroyed frame (and before we were able to see the astounding result of a 10 second exposure on a photograph that actually needed 1/500 of a second to be exposed properly), loukas got the next one right, though he got us framed a bit to the right... (this wasn't his fault, the 3.25x4.25" polaroid back is not center-aligned, for some obscure reason).,.

...then we went for some really tight portraits...

...and we called it a day.

this was not the end, though, because next day we had a couple of hours before gunner had to get to his flight back to los angeles, so we went for a walk at zappeio megaro...

...and then one of the guards shooed us away, saying "you can't do that here, you need a permit", to which we replied "we're just doing photos for fun, this is not a professional thing", to which he said "who's he, then?", and we said "he's a friend and we're just taking some photos of him", and he gave the ultimate response: "he can't be your friend. I could be your friend if you wanted to photograph me, but he, he's too handsome and stylish to be your friend". at that point we decided to pack up and hunt for food, there's no arguing with that kind of common sense.

that was it... two days, one large format camera, one pack of instant film, ten instant photographs, lots of fun. stay tuned for the next post, which will include the negative scans of these photographs as well as the other shots we did on normal film.