In the past months it had been not only portrait and family photo sessions that kept me nicely busy. I have visited some really inspiring places and believe I want to share my travel photography more often from now on. There are some new art projects I will also share later. Another thing that kept me from blogging and social media lately is analogue photography. After a long brake I began shooting with my old Russian Zenith-E camera and its manual lens (that provides interesting results on a digital camera too).
In April, I had my work exhibited during at “Wunderkammer” group exposition at Sehnsucht gallery in Rotterdam. I have learnt that Mark van Hattem, one of the gallery owners, who creates amazing nostalgic art using antique cameras, also gives workshops on analogue photography and printing techniques. I was happy to join these workshops and can certainly recommend them as highly practical and informative. Mark taught us how to use various types of antique cameras, including medium and large format ones. I also enjoyed practicing alternative printing processes such as argyrotype and cyanotype.
Analogue photography means a different approach to shooting, developing film and making prints. To me, it is an exercise in zen. When shooting with vintage medium format cameras during the workshop I got hooked on their large bright viewfinders. Looking at them gives me such a magical feeling! I thought I absolutely need a medium format camera, and soon became a happy owner of a vintage Rolleiflex, a classic twin-lens reflex camera I totally love.
I took my new toy with me on my holiday trips, including a couple of days in Venice. It’s been less than a year since my last visit to Venice, but I could not help passing it again. Here are a few photos. As you can see, some had already been published on the PhotoVogue website. This series is made with a Kodak Ektar 100 color film. It is rich in contrast and has vivid tones and high saturation, so I chose it to capture summer colors of Venice. Venice always inspires me, and I hope you also like the vintage feel of the film.
When walking through the city I found myself on the quay of the “Fondamenta degli Incurabili”, the place that gave name to Joseph Brodsky’s famous essay on Venice (also known as “Watermark”) That was an another inspiring moment.
I will be back soon to share more travel impressions and, of course, some lovely photo sessions with my clients.