Increased Contrast to Increase Emphasis -- Photos from Austria and Maryland

A friend who saw my last posting from Jerome, AZ, wondered why the contrast was high in the two photos I posted.(https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2021/05/street-photography-is-back-visit-to.html)

It is always a challenge to print on paper using an enlarger in the darkroom and then scan them to be able to post on the internet. Sometimes digitalization  changes the tonal range of film photography. 

But that is not a bad thing if the message of the photograph, especially when street photography is looking for a story as the main goal (at least mine) of street photography is photojournalism not the technical quality of the photo.

So, I looked for photos I had taken where high contrast does give a certain flavor by enhancing the story. I chose four photos from Vienna, Austria and one from Baltimore, USA.

A. The "surprised wife" look, Vienna. This was a night shot with ASA 100 film and a Minolta Autocord TLR camera. The husband is enjoying the lingerie vitrine as his wife seems to thinking "Really?" Given the light reflections on the glass, the high contrast brings forth the surprised look of the woman as she is the only one in focus.

B. Street parade, Vienna. This photo follows the side looks of the previous one. It was early evening and the light was dim. Still, the looks of the man with the sword and the young soldier behind him "contrast" nicely with the cool indifference of the woman next to them.

C. Christmas Market, Vienna. This is a busy picture, so I wanted to make the man in the white coat stand out. Higher contrast brought up some shadows. He seems to wonder how that tree got to be so tall!

D. Bridge over the Danube, Vienna. I like this over exposed photo as I had no time to adjust aperture or speed. I wanted to get the dark silhouette of the man under the bridge. Of course a runner moved in the frame as i clicked and an overdressed woman's slow walk created a great contrast between the three of them. The street art on the side of the bridge makes the Danube calmer than usual.

E. Post wedding gathering, Baltimore Inner Harbor, Maryland. Here the two bare feet women attracted my attention as they seem relaxed after the ceremony. But when I developed the film and printed this frame, I realized that there is a juxtaposition of the two man on the right. Actually one of them looks a bit "devilish" with his posture, shiny shoes and ears that stick out! That juxtaposition would not have stood out without the high contrast I gave to it.

Clearly, what I saw in my viewfinder was not exactly what these photos ended up emphasizing. but street photography is not like taking landscape photos when you have time to adjust all the parameters to capture what you planed. I see a potential for a story, and I click. 

What ends up on film is what I discover when I print a frame. It is that discovery that makes film photography and darkroom room even more exciting.

May 20, 2021

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2021

Street Photography is Back -- A Visit to Jerome, Arizona

 

 

More than a year after many of my cameras stayed idle and waiting, life is getting back to the streets and I am ready to hang an old camera from my neck and walk these streets.

There are a few towns in Arizona where a photographer will, with little perseverance, find a frame to capture. Jerome is one of these towns and I have posted photos from this artsy and funky town before (https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2019/04/woman-at-window-in-jeroma-arizona.html). I took my 1970s Yashica 124 Twin Lens Reflex camera and headed to the mountains.

A few in Jerome stopped and asked about the camera. “Is it digital?” or “Can you still find film?” were the most common curiosity questions they asked. I told them the camera is a must to take photographs but that it does not take them by itself. Like a racquet does not play tennis. And that the old mechanical cameras require a true partnership with the photographer as they do not have any pre-programmed modes for different moments – one has to prepare focus, speed, aperture and framing before asking the camera to release the shutter. And then, you know if you took the photo or not after developing the negative in a darkroom and printing photos on paper under an enlarger. “It takes many hours of darkroom work to see if the shot I took came out ok “.

Most people had the look that said “Why would one do all that when you can use a fully programmed digital camera and see the pictures instantly on the LCD screen?”

… So, as I was hoping for a photo that reflects both Jerome and the times we are in, I saw a lovely woman looking at me. Well, I assume she was curious about the camera. I took a quick shot and walked toward her. We talked a bit about photography as she was intrigued by my anachronistic attitude to capturing moments on film. She told me she still has her first Brownie camera.

Then I saw the motorcycle with an old brick building in the background. I thought how the “iron horse” is a freedom machine allowing the rider to go wherever he wishes. It was a good symbolism for how people feel keen to do after a year of isolation, with or without an iron horse.

When I developed the negative strip, there were 5 frames I liked out of the total of 12 one gets on a 120mm film shot in a 6x6 medium format camera. The one of the lovely lady at the outset has all the flavor of a vintage photo taken through a 50 year old lens. She is slightly out of focus and that adds to the charm, I think.

The motorcycle shot is perfectly in focus while the bokeh of the photo and the brick building make it a bit surreal. I thought of a fishing boat photo in a harbor at sunset. I always think that these boats are dreaming of the open sea as this iron horse is dreaming of endless winding roads in the Arizona mountains.

A few words about my cameras:

For almost 50 years now I have been using mechanical cameras. A few of them have survived and still work. These are Kievs and FEDs from the Former Soviet Union days. Along the way I have collected more than 40 cameras, all considered classics although many of them like the Leica rangefinder cameras, the Rolleiflex TLRs and the Nikon F and F2 were workhorses for war and peace photographers.

Regarding TLR, which I especially like for street photography as looking down into a camera affects people much less than lifting a camera to your face and looking at them, my favorites are Minolta Autocord and Yashica. I do have a Rolleiflex from 1948 but I am not inclined to run miles of film pellicule through it.

Why? Not because it is not still perfectly capable of great results, but because I have duplicates of my other TLR cameras and have learned the essentials of camera repair over the years. So, out of my 40 some cameras, about 15 are “organ donors”!

My Yashicas are no exception. Here is my Yashica 124 which works like a 21 jewel Rockford Railroad pocket watch. I have now used it for over 30 and ran enough film strip through it to circumvent most Arizona mountains, and it feels like pulling a rabbit out of hat every time I use it. Or, as in this photo, a hare out of a horse’s hoof!

The Yashica 124 has two “donor” Yashicas – a Yashica-Mat from early 1960s and a Yashica 124 G from the 1980s. The Yashica-Mat is quite collectable because the earlier models were equipped with 75mm Lumaxar taking and viewing lenses believed to be manufactured in West Germany. All following models of Yashica TLR cameras have 80mm lenses made in Japan. 

Over time I have taken mirror, focusing screen, focusing hood and a few springs from these cameras and built the 124 to my specs.

I even built a shade for the 1984 Yashica G which is now on the 124!

I am delighted to get back to the streets and towns with my cameras. I am sure there are many human behaviour moments awaiting photographers like me.

 

May 9, 2021

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2021