Street Photography Project Part 2

 As the sun crests the ridge of south common the valley of Lincoln is bathed in a bright warm light, it is a wonderful way to start a walk of discovery into the city. My route takes me across a bridge of a long forgotten disused and derelict railway line, Now claimed by nature and rubbish. I zip through the fast moving traffic on the main and up a twitten into the peacefulness of the back to backs.

I have the Bronica SQAi with 80mm lens in hand it is loaded with a roll of 35mm Kentmere 100 it will be exposed at box. The day is bright, the light meter is tell me the apertures will be sufficiently small to give good depth of field. Two firsts in one go the film and the streets.  

These street are a warren of terraced houses Presenting the walker with views and insights of the city that most miss. Giving the walk a sense of adventure and revaluation at what maybe round the next corner. The sun slants in across the roof tops casting long shadows with crisp sharp edges leading the eye this way and that. Making it look more picturesque than it is. The streets are scattered with the detritus of living and communities that have lost pride in there surrounding not helped by councils that have a despotic and petty attitude to those that live here.

My head is on a swivel as I hunt for interesting insights to the city. Although the camera is fitted with an 80mm lens which is considered a wide angle for medium format it acts as a standard lens with 35mm bringing the subjects closer than expected. I have modified the focusing screen so when I look down I can see at a glance whether a composition will work. With a subject that has had such a loose remit to start with I have noticed the images are randomly falling into different themes care of my subconscious. The allure of this is that you are never stuck for a good picture.

Some people would say that I'm a traditionalist for using black and white film for this project I'm inclined to disagree because I am not of that ilk. It has become clear that the project has defined itself its about the harsh realities of living in a city that is dominated by a university culture and tourism that only monochrome can convey a more abstract grittiness and beauty all rolled into one. 

If I am honest this project was all about getting out and about with the camera a way of shacking off the restraints of lock down. To break a stay at home attitude before it became a problem. I had not realized that my subconscious had an agenda. 

In case you missed the first part of the street photography project here is a link Street P1

Technical data:

All the images used were scanned from photographs using flat bed scanner. Printed on ilford multigrade paper RC gloss.

Film used 120 6 x 6 negative film used FP4+ at box, Fomapan 100 at box. 35mm Kentmere 100 at box for the last picture.

All words and pictures are the copyright of Mitch Fusco 2022 all rights reserved.

Same picture different camera.

The recent airing of a documentary on Vivian Maier sparked a debate between my wife and myself not on the wonderful pictures taken but about her camera equipment and what it has added to her pictures.

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Vivian used a twin lens reflex camera (TLR). As the name implies it has a viewing lens of the same focal length placed above the lens in front of the negative. They are coupled together so when the viewing image is sharp it is the same at the focal plane. There are several things to note when using this type of camera. One of the oddities is the image; it is reversed, left is right and vice versa. So if someone or object is moving towards the left of the screen the camera will need to be moved to the right.  It is something that is a bit disconcerting when using the camera, more so for the first few times. The view screen gives no indication of depth of field until the negative is printed as there is no aperture settings. This lens design also exhibits the parallax effect this    is where the juxtapositions between far and near objects are seen  differently between the two lenses. This can be compensated for by moving the picture taking lens up to where the viewing lens is positioned.

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With the idiosyncrasy of the TLR explained, it makes the street pictures she took even more wonderful. But I digress, this post is really about - 'does the camera add something of it's self to the picture?' In other words would you have taken that picture no matter what camera you were using?

I have canvassed opinions from other photographers and it has been suggested that the different working methods needed for different camera types and formats would indicate that the camera adds something of it's self to the picture. Or is it just perception? I will admit that certain cameras like the Lomo fisheye 2 undoubtedly adds to the composition in a particular way with its fish bowl negatives and distorted edges, this is also true of the pinhole camera with it's long exposures and blurred movement. These camera are chosen because of these attributes but the same could be said for the main stream digital, 35mm, medium, large format multi lensed system cameras. Maybe the premise is wrong and it is the lens that leaves its mark so to speak.

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Lets be honest there are a multitude of factors that come into play when making a picture. With the camera lens combination playing the leading roll. I have not until the above question arose, made the same picture with different cameras and formats from the identical place. In my case it just does not happen.

Figure 1 Lomo fisheye 2 and figure 2 Nikon F5 with 28mm lens both 35mm Agfa APX 100 film @ ISO 100 are a couple of examples where I have made the same picture with a different camera in about the same place.

In conclusion the camera and lens you choose to use has an effect on the pictures you take therefore imparting something of is self on the end result.

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