#framelines

[raybanda-blog]

DREAMS...

[framelinesproject-blog]

The decisive moment - learning from Henry Cartier-Bresson

The first 4 weeks of the framelines project went quite good so far. I guess posting pictures on Instagram and letting people like them is one of the most common ways nowadays to get feedback on your work. Back in the days when photography started things were a bit different.  There is one photographer from the past who really sticks out. It is Henri Cartier-Bresson. He started out with painting and drawing and that is also how he interpreted photography.  He did not see himself as someone who is using photography for documenting but rather as someone who you would call a surrealist photographer. He wanted to be an observer only waiting for he decisive moment -  the moment in which he would take the perfect picture. Probably he was the founder of street photography and his philosphie continues until now.

"You have to be like a cat, not disturb, and tiptoes - always on tiptoes. [...] and when you study at thing [it] does not behave the same way as when it is not studied."  -- Henri Cartier-Bresson

I frequently wish I was only nearly as patient as he was when taking pictures. He just seemed to be enjoying himself - totally calm, staying for 2h hours in the same spot in a big city, waiting for the right light or the right person to walk by until he finally releases the shutter. And thats it - one picture at a time - or sometimes no picture if the decisive moment did not happen.

I would definitely consider him as one of my role models. Even more so after I found out that he was also student in Cambridge - the same place that I am currently in. He studied literature and English - not quite Physics as I do - but still he was composing his pictures in a very structured and mathematical way which is appealing to me.

"The greatest joy for me is geometry."  -- Henri Cartier-Bresson

In his lifetime from 1908 to 2004 he gathered an incredible portfolio from countries all over the world - a selection of which is shown in the inspirational video below. The voiceover is by Henri Cartier-Bresson himself. I can really recommend checking it out and letting him inspire you the same way he did inspire me to be more observed of the surrounding when taking my camera for a walk.

[framelinesproject-blog]

Hello analog camera - Canon AE-1 Program

It is time for my first analog camera. To be honest I have had this camera for nearly a year now. It was one of these coincidences that seem to steer your life into certain directions without you even noticing. An old schoolfriend of mine who I almost lost contact with gave it to me last July.  He moved with his parents to Shanghai for a couple of years during high school but came back to Munich to study civil engineering and now architecture. So when we met again he remembered that he still had his dads old film camera in his possession - the Canon AE-1 Program. Since he rarely ever used it and knew that I am into photography he just handed it over to me. Who knew that I would use this camera so frequently in the future.

It used to sit on my desk, looking at me patiently and waiting to get picked up. But there is a problem. Believe me, it is not the camera, it is properly working, nails every exposure, comes with two great lenses, the 35mm and 50mm Canon FD and is loaded with Kodak TriX 400, the most classy looking BW film that you could possibly buy. It is me - I am picking it up and it feels familiar but also different at the same time. Does it remind me of my previous 5D Mk II? Yes it does. Do I miss the 5D Mk II? Maybe. I am not the most emotional person. At least from the outside people would rather describe me as stoical. I rarely burst out in anger or sadness - showing feelings to other people is probably not one of my strengths. But I do have them and can sometimes be surprised by them especially when I do not acknowledge them. Did I think switching to analog would be easy? Yes I did. Do feel the same way now? Maybe. It is time to do something about it, there is no way round. So how do you establish a bond to your new camera. Exactly, you take it with you on a wedding. And that is exactly what I did. Ordering a few film rolls - check. Ironing a white shirt - check. Getting the suit and the shoes ready - check. Quick online shop to dress my camera up with a nice leather strap - check. And hey, the straps colour even matches my shoes.

Showing off the new camera to my friends at the wedding went pretty smooth. Only once I heard one of my really good undergrad friends saying: "Man, you change your cameras like you change girlfriends!". Embarrassing and totally not true... I enjoyed my time with the AE-1 a lot. It is just a great camera to start film photography with. It's one of the first highly automated analog cameras that Canon made and what impressed me most was probably the massive viewfinder. Believe me when I say it is huge - even bigger then in Canons more recent flagships the 1D-X and 5D Mk IV. While at the same time the camera itself is so much more compact. Why do you not do this anymore Canon? Maybe the whole autofocus mechanism just takes up to much space. I like the AE-1 - a lot. But if it will stay more than just a fling after a long digital decade. Only time can tell.

My view on the Canon AE-1 Program:

Cons

it is manual focus, so this it not the camera you would want to use for sport photography 

the shutter is fairly loud, so sneaky street photography can also be hard sometimes (or discrete shots in churches at weddings)

Pros

Great large viewfinder

Cheap price on ebay

Is automated, so people who do not know how aperture, ISO and exposure time work together can still get decent shots

Has everything you need in a camera

[framelinesproject-blog]

On top of the mountain. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #negativefb #filmphotography #analogphotography #photography #pictureoftheday #landscape #landscapephotography #italy #alps #film #fujifilm #velvia #50 #leica #m6 (at Merano, Italy)

[framelinesproject-blog]

Perfecting the action man pose. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #filmphotography #analogphotography #negativefb #portrait #portraitsociety #portraitphotography #people #mediumformat #6x7 #film #fujifilm #pro400h (at Alagna Valsesia)

[framelinesproject-blog]

On the empty streets of cambridge. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #photography #photooftheday #filmphotography #analogphotography #negativefb #bw #filmcamera #portrait #portraitsociety #film #kodak #trix (at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

[framelinesproject-blog]

Goodbye digital camera.

First of all, happy Easter to all of you. While I am celebrating the festivities with my family and friends in Munich, committing to my framelines project had its first major consequences. It meant saying goodbye to an old friend that traveled with me to many different places - from the beaches of Australia to the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, Canada - from small untouched island on the Philippines to the restless city of New York - from steaming heat in Singapore to frosty glaciers in the Austrian alps - just to name a few.

I am by no means a person that holds on to material things - quite the contrary. I am one of these weird people who actually enjoys getting rid of stuff to clear the mind from time to time. But with with this camera it feels different, dear Canon 5D Mk II. You served me well when taking pictures at weddings and in the studio, when making image films for clients and capturing impressions while traveling. You have probably seen more aspects of my life between 2009 and now than many of my closest friends. So naturally, this is not an easy step for me to take but it has to happen nevertheless.

I have never been a particularly enthusiastic reader, but still a few books got me hooked when I was a child. Apart from Lord of the Rings, Artemis Fowl and other fantasy novel there is one series of books that probably influenced me the most - Harry Potter. I was eagerly waiting for the next book to be released every summer and sometimes there was nothing that I wished more then being friends with these awesome teenagers called Harry, Ron and Hermine. I dreamt of being able to live in a castle like Hogwarts and see magic happening around me. Looking at most decision that I made in my past I can say that this dream has at least subconsciously influenced my way. Coming originally from Germany I am now a PhD student in Cambridge, UK. Probably no place on earth comes closer to Hogwarts then this. And so I was sitting there with my Canon 5D Mk II in my hands and there is one particular quote that comes to my mind.

"There will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right."  -- Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling)

I am not a very eloquent person but in my dreams I am quite the opposite - holding speeches in front of crowds who listen to me eagerly trying to read the words from my lips before the sound reaches their ears. But obviously in reality things could not be more different, I am a person that you would probably describe as an introvert if you meet me for the first time. So please don't judge me for a least getting a bit poetic here: Today is the day when I say the final goodbye. Today is the day I pass you on to a new owner. Today is the day we have to go separate ways. While you continue being an almost state-of-art photography tool I will have to leave you behind as I am going on an adventure. An adventure to explore the root of photography, before digital sensors changed the way we take pictures.

[framelinesproject-blog]

Above the roofs. #framelines #project #picoftheday #negativefb #filmisnotdead #analogphotography #filmphotography #film #fujifilm #pro400h #landscape (at Alagna Valsesia)