Rural decay on film - Portra 400

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A few weeks ago I posted images from the old roadside restaurant & motel in Brännebrona, Sweden. Then the images where digital but now I’ve got the scans back from the lab! So here are the results :) For me film does it almost every time. The overexposed Portra looks amazing and adds another dimension to the image.

All images shot on Hasselblad 500CM // Carl Zeiss 80mm 2.8 CF // Kodak Portra 400

Scans by Carmencita Film Lab on the Fuji Frontier SP3000 (slightly edited by me, but more on that in my next journal entry).

Summer Journal 2021

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One photo a day through out the summer. One camera, one lens, all in black and white. Those were the premises I sat for myself. I have been inspired in the past by photographers that do a 365, meaning one photo a day for an entire year. I couldn’t commit to such a large project right now, but thought I would do something similar over the summer. Both to spark my creativity and to make memories for me and my family. I focused on different things. Sometimes a light, a shadow or something else that caught my attention that day. It could also just be something random och something we or I would do on that particular day. I really enjoyed this process and I felt it gave more than it took. I like having a camera around and to try and catch the moment. I have done this one time before on Tri-X film but this time I wanted to try digital.

I like the instant gratification with digital and also the workflow, using Mastin Labs preset for Kodak Tri-X. I think it comes fairly close but lacks the extra bit of grain you get with film. The camera I chose to use was the Fujifilm X-PRO2. Both for the image quality it gives and for it’s form factor (close to my Leica M7). The lens was the Mitakon 35mm 0.95. I love that lens for several reasons. First it’s a true manual focus lens. Meaning that it resembles the focusing I have on my Leica lenses. It’s also heavy and made of metal. Just a feeling that I’ve come to like over the years. I tend to shoot a lot wide open. Both for that 3D effect I often get on medium format cameras. But also to bring out the character of the lens. I’m not after perfection and extreme sharpness in a lens. More the look it gives. And lastly it’s a 50mm equivalent in 35mm terms, and that is my favourite focal length. I use it primarily on all my cameras systems.

Many of these images are maybe only relevant to me but maybe someone will get inspired by what I’ve done here. I will probably make a photo book out of these projects for my kids to keep. Thanks for looking :)

 

Rural decay - A 60's bar fading away

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This restaurant and motel opened up in 1962 in the small town of Brännebrona, along the road to Stockholm. In Brännebrona were only a few farms at this time. Ernst Skarp was a man with visions, who grew up on one of these farms. First he had a few houses built and then this restaurant/motel. It soon attracted people around the area for dining and dancing. The Rolling Stones stopped here for a Swedish fika in 1963 during their tour around Sweden. At first the building had a different design then we see today. But in 1972 it got this spectacular look, designed to attract people travelling on the road in their car. Inspired by American roadside architecture, or Googie architecture, that spread around Los Angeles at the time.

I shot mostly my Hasselblad with Kodak Portra 400. But in time for the scans I have these digital images. The back side of this restaurant/motel reminded me of rural America with tones well suited for black and white.

All shoot on Fujifilm X-PRO2 and the Mitakon 35mm 0.95. Edited with Rebecca Lily Presets.