Stepping Back into ‘My’ Time

I find myself stepping back…. looking for ways to take my personal life and shift backwards into a time less tech dependent…… . But hey, here I am on the computer, blogging….so I haven’t quite achieved nirvana, quite yet.

Although this process from getting to A to Z is a bit easier to do since I retired from a long career in education. Yikes, no more zoom meetings to attend, or relentless software updates ….nor emails to read and a ‘to-do’ list full of work related substances. It is gone man, and a huge portion of that was tech crap. With life in general, I feel humans have overstepped boundaries marking a clear delineation between what is technology and what is human. And the scary thing is that I perceive of this ‘now’…which is AI and Social Media in still its infancy.

So I have decided to return to a time in which my comfort zone resides in… I was just talking with my nephew and we were chatting about circa 1970-90’s…. an era in when I feel humanity was at a pretty top end of things in terms of creature comfort and knowledge yet little technology as we know of it today. But during that relatively brief era, a combination of technology and the social media which accompanied, has brought an era of increasing dismay and surely skepticism.

So my quest has been a return to a time now unknown to many and forgotten by an equal number. …that of a more analog world. For instance in my situation, there was a time I was over-reliant upon You Tube and it became addictive. And in our camera world, where the technology and ease of camera plus lens made it relatively easy to be void of both fun and creativity to arrive at capturing shots. I speak of extreme ISO’s or AF or more or less just ‘press and snap’ to take images in the camera world and to call yourself a photographer.

Don’t misunderstand me as I arrived at this conclusion based upon my thoughts, or my problem and I couldn’t care less about your stance. Go ahead and embed a chip in your brain or invest $20,000 in Leica cameras + lens. Shoot proudly with that red dot. Or take your newest Fuji 100 (whatever alphabet we are on now to designate model) and shoot it too. Use memory cards or no, better yet, Wi-fi your images to your phone or upload to the cloud. Again, not for me. Likewise, share my images with the world and be in constant anticipation of someone ‘liking’ your image with a thumbs up. It becomes all about social media and not the photography. Or if you elect, become a prisoner to social media and constantly worry about a You Tube Channel or Instagram or whatever senseless social media platform comes into existence, for they will always be there, friendless changing.

For…. I will continue to chip away at that hype and inhuman existence and strive for ‘none of the above’. I purposely elect to shoot with analog cameras and I take control by developing my own film. I even use caffenol where I can, as evident by what is in my refrigerator now cooling down and in the image I provided below. I even choose to enlarge my 35mm film negatives and create alternative printing from them. Some may label it as imperfect or lacking mainstream, but hey, so what? I might even hesitate to take the ancient medium of colored pencils and begin to shade in color into my BW images. Shame on me.

All of that forces me to pull back. I view the world of 1970’s—1980’s and say, okay…where can I bring today back into yesterday….It is possible but not always doable. For instance in with my camera hobby, I am not 100% analog for I obviously haven’t achieved pure analog (IE: this blog / Squarespace or DP Review). While I scan my film negatives I enlarge them from 35mm to 6” x 9” or there about and I do it using Pixelmator which is an old Apple app. I like to physically view my images and hold them in my hands so by enlarging this allows me to use alternative printing to showcase my art. If I decide to create a zine, I send them off to Mixam for printing.

So no, not 100% analog but a few baby steps toward. The end result of my imperfect masterpieces created using alternative processes fits my need for now. I have become more comfortable in my own analog skin and less reliant on digital. Perhaps I will find a need for a complete dark room set-up but no need to rush. My current studio works. But this analog process is one that slows me down and allows me to reflect. I am more at peace, less stressed, less reliant upon digital and less need to be perfect, in my imperfect world regarding results. I have taken a step back in my time. Below is a shot of my caffenol percolating in the refrigerator so I can develop a few rolls I took the other week.

Just shoot Film if you Want 'IT" to look like Film...Dah!!

Years back I bought a new car…my first new car. This was in 1981. Yikes…. I wanted a Honda Sedan and when I went to the dealer, the cost of the new car was over my price point being around $6,000. My brother-in-law sold Subaru’s and convinced me that the Subaru Sedan was just like the Honda Accord and was $1000 cheaper, so I bought it. I wanted a Honda and got a Subaru. I can’t complain for I had that Subaru for 15 years so it was a good investment.

But the point was,…I wanted a Honda. I got a Subaru which at the time was a Honda Wanna-be. I learned my lesson 42 years ago. Buy a Honda if you want a Honda, or buy ‘anything’ you want if you want it and forget the ‘wanna-be’s’.

Point now……. I was watching some You Tube videos as people today are always trying to get a film like look/ experience….feel etc….from a Digital camera. They want digital but want it to be ‘film’ and look like film. Well, why go for the film-wanna-be in the first place? Buy a film camera and shoot film if you want film. Pretty easy; really.

Shoot with a Purpose...

I have evolved as a photographer….. and I like that. As a former educator, this shows me that I continue to be a life-long learner…. I evolve, adapt and adopt….

I won’t get into the ‘evolution itself’…as why bore you? But I will state my intent now…. While I still shoot street and still shoot Black and White and still shoot Analog, my evolution has taken me beyond from just shooting street photos. I now shoot with a purpose, a social documentary one.

For instance…… I have a ZINE out entitled “No Eye’s Upon Me’….where I sat on the streets of Philadelphia like a homeless person and shot from the pavement/cement….with my butt sitting on the sidewalk and my eyes looking “UP”… I wanted to take photo’s from that angle and document what ‘that person’ viewed.

I did it…. I took my camera out and knew that no one would really look at me (which they didn’t do) so my camera was not a problem. I shot…. I framed and shot by guess. I succeeded in gathering images of people staring away, busy on their phones…looking up, down…across….over, under…anyway but ‘at me’…. You can purchase a copy of my Zine for $10….just email me at lehmannmath@yahoo.com

Other ZINES to Purchase:

Urban Life: Philadelphia Street Photography Series 1
Off Season: Life on the New Jersey Coast in the off season
Caressing Light: Shots of light ‘borrowed’ as it caresses off scenes/people.

Well, that is just one of my ‘purposes’ and I have more. But the point I am making is to challenge yourself and go beyond a postcard-like shot. Go beyond returning home with your digital camera and having a 1,000 images to sift thru. What are you going to do with them all anyhow?

Find a purpose…..stick with it and shoot it. Go out with that purpose in mind and let your eyes wander the streets for that image that relates to your purpose. Be selective…. Shoot with style and art. Be creative. Evolve as a photographer.

Leica X2

If you read my postings you can conclude I have an affair with ‘film’….TriX or possible Fomapan 400. You can say I have duel mistresses.

I find myself in Australia….Melbourne to be exact. While I took my Ricoh GR Film camera and have shot, well….just a bit, I have concentrated more on my Ricoh GR111 or my Leica X2. Up till now, if not film, I shot Ricoh GR111. But I wanted to challenge myself a bit and see how I could turn the Leica X2 into a filmenesque look.

The last time I shot the Leica X2, I shot….viewed, and then laid it down knowing that while it is super sharp and a great digital overall from 2012, it lacked that film feel. But not so fast…I challenged myself to make it so. The past few days I have probably walked 15 miles around Melbourne (not downtown) and have experimented with settings, light….exposure, shutter etc and to my surprise, I feel I have almost more of a film look from the Leica than I do from the Ricoh….wow, go figure.

What is lacking from the Leica is the character within the light/shadows….. I just can’t get the same. But I can get ‘film’ out of digital. I have Character in the blur! … the dark shadows although not the same texture as the Ricoh, still none-the-less….bold, thick blacks which encase a person’s face or play with the edges as the eyes are led down thru the image. I am excited about the Leica. At the moment (and this includes three weeks worth of playing with the camera ‘down under”…) I have 158 shots. Not all are good, but most are acceptable in what I am looking for, just not all in the composition of what is being viewed. But hey, that is okay as that is what photography is all about. Shoot…shoot…shoot…shoot…and continue to do that and perhaps you will find one or two you like. Don’t get disappointed but keep shooting.

But I had presented myself with a challenge….turn the digital Leica X2 into an Analog/film, and I am successful. Now my only problem is when I wake up each day to go for my photo strolls, which camera do I take? Ricoh Film? Ricoh GR111 or Leica X2? ….Decisions, oh the decisions we must make in life.

Strive for Film

Film……..my eyes just long for film….that ‘look’. I suppose I can define that ‘look’ by pointing out technical aspects such as lack of sharpness, too much contrast…..or too little. Noise ….. blurriness. But I allow my eyes to define the look and not the technical aspects of the camera coming in.

What is it about film then that makes me strive for it? Heck, I bought an old Ricoh film camera and although I have taken a few rolls, I have yet to actually develop them to see the quality of my Ricoh film. I will; I will…. Just like Christmas, I postpone those negatives/developing.

I recently bought an old digital Leica X2 and did so purposely so I can compliment by Ricoh GRiii which I feel I have mastered the settings (on the camera and in the field) to match TriX film. The older X2 is just rough around the edges and is going to force me to shoot ‘analog with digital’….. I look forward to it and since it is a 35mm and my Ricoh GrIII is a 28mm, the two will blend for me.

But …..film….. analog….

One can always state that they will take their new DSLR or full frame Fuji or Leica or Nikon etc and although it shoots multiple frames per second (20 or so), they can just slow down and take ‘just one’—-at a time. But you know, it doesn’t work that way.

The camera that someone buys that shoots 20 frames per second or has 50mp or has 50,000 ISO etc, is purchased to USE those features, thus they are. Mentally a person comes onto the streets with an idea of their shooting style in mind, and if you come in with ‘that camera with the latest features’, one tends to use them to the utmost. The same applies to the opposite. If you come onto the streets with a camera that is either ‘film,’ or ‘filminsque’, your frame of mind tends to linger around a slower approach to your capturing process.

My new old Leica digital X2 slows me down. It just doesn’t take ‘fast shots’ ….a slow auto-focus and features not up-to-date. My Ricoh GRiii has settings that digitally I provide myself with a chance to imitate film. That along with how I shoot and what I look for, makes for that ‘filminisque” feel. Of course my Leica M6 and Ricoh GR10 are film…so viola; my images tend to ‘be or appear’ film. And I welcome the Leica S series.

Analog vs Digital

Living in Philadelphia gives me ample time to roam around for just a few minutes up to several hours….then return to the condo and do it all again, later on in the day. Since I can do that, I frequently will go out with my Digital GR11 or 111 one time, while the other pick up some film shots with my Leica M6.

I notice a difference in not only enjoyability but also the number and type of shots I take.

Enjoyability….. Clearly ‘film’ wins…..and that is without even seeing any of the images! But film just gives me that ‘ground’…..it is enjoyable. I enjoy loading the film, advancing the film, light exposuring, focusing (although I can do that in digital too)….This is such a personal and intangible aspect of shooting that it is difficult to convey my ‘enjoyability’. Film forces me to slow down. Now I know that is an old cliche that seems applicable to any camera, any time, any situation…..but for some reason it just doesn’t transfer to digital. Film makes me think of shots before I take them, as opposed to just taking them.

Thinking of Shots….. To segue from that past section….. I have a certain style / genre that I prefer and try to look for opportunities with that in mind. Now, this can be done with both film and digital. With film, this style is always in the back of my mind and I might walk a few hours with my style in mind and take perhaps 12-15 photos. When I am shooting digital, for some odd reason my mind wanders. My style gets lost. I find myself taking ‘tourist like street shots’ ….or attempting to snap someone up close, just because. Or I find myself looking outside of my style and just taking shots. Either way, in the same hour or two, I will come home with a hundred shots if not more. To connect to the first thought of ‘enjoyability’….that wandering from my style and shooting just to shoot and coming home with garbage shots etc, pulls away from that enjoyability.

Shooting style/genre…. To segue from the previous section….. my street photography has evolved. I have shifted from tying to capture the nose hairs of individuals and get as close as I can to people….to that of using people as intangibles or subjects that just supplement the entire scene. My shots are of ‘the scene’ and not of the person. That is what I do when shooting film. When shooting digital, well….I might have some of those shots embedded within the memory card, but I also have tons of shots of ‘whatever’….. I want to keep honest to my ‘evolution of a photographer’ and do not like non-impact shots….I do not like tourist shots….I do not like shots that anyone can take as they encounter someone on the street. I want shots that tell a story and make you wonder and forces you to ask questions. I get that all the time with film, and a portion at best, with digital.

Last night as I lay in bed and reminiscing of my day….those things occurred to me. I am going to resolve to take less shots with digital and become more akin to my Leica film. I am going to shoot for my style. I am going to force myself to take a shot and move on, as opposed to sneaking a peak at the shot. I just came back from a jaunt to the local store to pick up a few things. I took one shot with my digital. That is a good start.