PJN Photography: March 2011

Fall 2009, Kowa 66 Velvia 100F

It started with a Holga, I wanted to dip my toes in the waters of 120 film format and yet it wasn't good enough for me. The camera is as simple as they get, a plastic body, plastic lens, scale focus, and shutter lever ... it's all about composition, click, then wait for the surprises. However four years ago I was looking for more than that look and though photographers like David Burnett were producing iconic images with the camera I was looking to get the most out of the big negative. Two years later I find a Rolleiflex for a great price, it's small, sleek, easy to operate and with a single-coated Zeiss Tessar the images are of a dreamy nostalgic quality. Stopped down from 5.6 to 22 the lens is razor sharp. I found composition more familiar looking down through the viewfinder, it seemed even though the world was in reverse the lines stood out more, I could see what would turn up on the negative far better than through any DSLR. When my I received my negatives and especially the positives I would just sit back laughing at the sheer beauty of these images. I found it gave me a break from the technology it provided me another way of seeing the world around me.

Fall 2009, Kowa 66 Velvia 100F

The marriage didn't last long, the night after documenting my families 4th of July 2008 at the lake the Rollei fell from my hands bounced off my bed and landed on the floor. The tumble resulted in numerous dents and most important a bent focusing arm... a nail in the Rollei's coffin. I mourned then sold the body for parts. I decided to just concentrate on Kodachrome and digital for work. Then about 8-10 months later I got the bug again wanting to have fun with those large negatives. This time I decided to give a reflex medium format camera a try ending up with a Kowa Super 66. The one I won off of the bay was in rough shape at first, I had to replace all the light seals, lubricate the shutter curtain, and had to repaint the film back. Within two rolls I got it working was finding the love/hate aspects of the reflex system, getting great results but often finding the images lacking the character that I loved about the Rolleiflex. What I disliked most was how loud the mirror-slap sounded when shooting in doors, it would cause any sleeping dog to jump out of a sound sleep, I also found it frustrating that hand holding the camera under 1/60th would end in images plagued with vibration from the mirror. By this time I was deeply in love with my now wife who was modeling for me as I experimented with using the Kowa with studio lights. She also had to hear me lament of the broken Rolleiflex. Eventually the Kowa fell out of favor and ended up funding upgrades for PJN Photography.

This January after spending some time looking over and over at the Rolleiflex images from 2008 the fire came back. I scoured the bay looking for one that would possibly have the same qualities. Finally I found it, a 1953 Rolleiflex that had been previously owned by a professional photographer in the 60s-70s and who had used it but kept it in great condition. I won the auction at a price far below what the original Rollei had cost. When it arrived, I unpacked it, cleaned it off, cleaned the lenses, loaded the film and it was instantly familiar. Taking pictures can be a very calming, very peaceful experience for myself... certain cameras can promote that feeling while others can inhibit. The Rollei after all these years had the same amazingly smooth advance, set the speed, set the aperture, still had the silky smooth focus, still had the same gentle click of the shutter, it transported me to that good place. The results are very satisfying... I do prefer some films over others as the old lens does render colors a little differently than the more modern lenses.

I went 2 weeks using nothing else, I walked around Lake George in the bitter cold taking advantage of the deep blues and the stark whites. The images speak for themselves.

I plan for my July exhibition to use the Rollei for portraits, Tri-X film... developed on my own.

Below are the first rolls, Kodak Portra 400NC ... various scenes from the first week.