Tactile

I speak of it often….the value of ‘tactile’ or tactility, if a word exists. I speak of it for I live it, daily. Every day when I take my film camera’s out for a walk-about, I get all tactile inside.

Let me just take one aspect of the tactile movement as it relates to my cameras. The film advance. Taking my right thumb and moving the film advance lever is a remarkable soothing action. Pure mediation comes into my mind with that simply physical act.

The beauty is that this ‘action’…..the feel of that tactility, will vary with my cameras. For instance, when I shoot my Leica’s, oh boy…..melted butter comes to mind. My thumb movement just slides. The sound is an adorable soft mechanical blurrrrrrrr…….. Heaven comes to mind. As stated earlier, this is where my meditative process begins to sink in. Thumb action…..soft blur…….a moan

My Olympus OM’s differ depending on the OM model. The OM1 differs slightly from the OM2. Together the sound and feel is greatly different from the Leica’s. The OM’s are more stiff….audibly more mechanical by nature. Inherently they provide a deeper tactility than the Leica just because they lack that butter smooth Leica movement, a movement I am sure was carefully crafted by Leica engineers. None the less, the OM’s offer tactility but on a different plane.

I possess other cameras as well that equate with a different range of Tactility. IE…my 1915-1920 Kodak Brownie has this soft difficult knob to turn and I have to view to see how far to turn. Am I there yet? Is the film advanced? My Kodak Retina has this odd reverse sided film advance that is placed at the bottom of the camera as opposed to the top. A different finger placement is needed all-told but the meditative effect is high just the same. I have older Leica’s such as my model A. (circa 1929) where I turn the sprocket knob to advance film. The knob is metallic and has a pull to it, not preventing advancement but as a photographer, I do know I have to turn it about one complete turn of the dial as I can visually see the film number gauge move from 1 to 2 or 5 to 6 etc.

In every and all cases……I go out….shoot….viola….I am in love.

Barnacks...Down Under

I am off on my yearly and soon to be, bi-yearly adventure down to Australia as I have a daughter there with two grandkids and one on the way. Yes, a camera decision to make. Taking the ultra-small Ricoh GR is a give-me as I take photos of grandkids. But, which film camera to haul along? …Leica MA and if so, what lens(s)?, Leica Barnacks 1 Model A, or Olympus OM-1 and which Lens’s? My Decision…. leaned to the Barnacks…. Keep reading to understand my reasoning. You see, rarely do I shoot even a dozen images per day, when I venture into the streets. I like to frame my shots, slowly compose them…carefully craft the ending image, and yet admittedly, that goes with any camera. But it really relates to a Barnacks. Now, to grasp what a Barnacks ‘is’, let me ‘step out’ this camera to you and the process:

• Find a shot….not particularly unique here but perhaps unique in my view of the process. I look for the angle, the shadows, the tones, contrast….

• It is a Leica, so I need to make sure the lens cap is ‘off’ (same as with my MA!) and then pull out the lens and lock it in place. The Barnacks has a retractable 50mm Elmar lens.

• Advance the film manually in the Barnacks. It takes one complete turn of the knob.

• Using the sunny 16 and my 400 ISO film, I determine shutter and F-stop. Am I exposing for the shadows or the light? I cannot adjust the shutter (20, 30, 40, 60, 100, 200, 500) on the Barnack’s until after until ‘after’ I advance the film.

• Select the F stop….The stops on the Barnacks do not equal what we normally see on cameras today. The stops on a Barnacks are: 3.5, 4.5, 6.3, 9, 12.5 and 18. This requires a bit of re-thinking as the stops of yesterday, are not equal to the usual stops on cameras today, so a bit of re-adjustment in how to approach this needed.

• Then I take the protective screw off of the shutter button. This helps prevent accidental taking a shot.

• The focus on a Barnacks is not determined by a traditional rangefinder mechanism as we know of it today, unless I have an accessory called a FOKOS which fits on the top of the shoe (only reason for the shoe mount ). Otherwise the Barnacks focuses based upon ‘distance’ ….in feet or meters, depending on the version you have. It is surprisingly not all that difficult to measure by distance estimation and is rather an enjoyable part of the process.

• Once I have distance estimated or more precise using the FOKOS, I can now move the lens focus to the appropriate feet in length. On a Barnacks 1, Model A, you have to release the ‘lock’ on the focus adjuster on the lens. This is done by pressing the ‘hockey stick’ (which was what it was informally called) and sliding the lens counterclockwise to the estimated distance, in order to focus.

• After the above has been complete, I can then move my eye to the viewfinder and compose my shot. The viewfinder has no connection to focus, distance etc…merely composition as one frames the image.

• (h) Press shutter …. Then be prepared to do all of that all over for another shot, when / if, one presents itself.

FOR ME…..that entire process adds to the experience of creating, and crafting, and tooling and slowly ticking the boxes with a check. In no manner is this process akin to any automatic or “P” mode function or that of a traditional rangefinder for focus or cameras with light meters etc… You see, I am a bit of a highbrow when it comes to this particular camera, and relagate more modern camera designs to that of just taking a tourist shot, or an everyday snap shot…. A Barnacks’s is purposeful…. it is imprecise, it is slow, is can be tedious, success implies I shoot alone, so I can force myself to get into my zone, I immerse myself into the process. I demand that the tool I use, equals the rough 1930’s photographic outlook that at times, I require.

What is Street Photography

It is here that I question what I see the masses doing. I don’t understand them as I see what is classified as street photography. It is more akin to just ‘passing people’ who are photographed on the sly by some digital tool ….snap, snap, snap and more snaps…How many snaps?

I am not stupid enough to think that there is only one definition (mine) for what street photography is….no, it goes way beyond that. It is the manner in which many photos are taken and what they represent, or better yet…what is not represented. The subject matter, the person, the action…etc…is all immaterial. With the advent of digital photography comes the ability to go beyond a 36 frame roll. It is all about pretending to take photo’s , although they are actually taken. It is all about finding the chance to walk across a crosswalk and snap away. Or, to snap someone from behind…..or to snap, snap, snap, snap…knowing that ‘one’ photo will come out looking good amongst the hundreds taken that day.

If you read my blogs…you know I am big into the analog feel. I want that feel for ‘me”….. I feel that my gear (Leica M3, Leica M6, Rioch GR111 and Leica X2) best allow me to maintain an analog feel even though some of those are digital. For instance, the Ricoh and X2 are digital, but by the time I take one shot, the subject in front of me has moved on. A single shot….a long lag time between when I take a shot, and when I can take another shot. That forces me to think like ‘film’…like analog. My Ricoh is pretty easy to manipulate since I do much ‘live’…. The X2 forces me to really think about my settings. It isn’t as forgiving as the Ricoh. In fact the X2 is more like the M6. I think about the F-stop, ….exposure, white balance, ISO. I turn the corner and I have to think again about the same, due to shadows or light or other.

I don’t just roam to roam and shoot and shoot. I have forced myself to slow down and take an image ‘one shot at a time’ so I have to wait sometimes to set up my shot. Today, I waited a good 30 minutes in one place as the ‘right’ situation developed. Today over the course of 4 hours, I took 13 difference scene shots. Now, some of those scenes, such as the one I just spoke of,…had more than one shot, while others (7 of the 13) had just one shot. So I end up with 7 scenes where I had the opportunity to have it right the first and last time. That is what I meant but slowing down….waiting for the shots.

But of ‘what shots’…’what scene’…. Well….does your shot have impact? Does it beg the viewer to ask questions? If so….that is solid street photography. It isn’t about shots in numbers, nor is it about getting cystal clear images. It isn’t about just a shot with no story behind it. It isn’t about random shots taken at hip, (to avoid detection) nor is it about having models working for me to pose in a certain way (the opposite of random hip-made shots). It is about finding that story, that ….question, that impact.