Strange fruit

Organic food, by the way. And the photo was taken only a few meters away from where the film was eventually developed.

(You noticed the song title, didn't you?)

Legs

Another one from last week.

Hidden

A poster in Hamburg a few weeks ago.

Form follows function

A bus stop in Hamburg, about a month ago.

October 4

Seemed like the perfect picture for today.

Detail

From a poster at Bahnhof Altona in Hamburg.

Taken on April 6, 2010 with the M4-P and the 90mm Summicron. Tri-X in Rodinal.

God

A poster somewhere in Chelsea. March 14, 2010.

The M7 with the 35mm Summicron, Tri-X in Rodinal.

Passage

Lisbon, 1999, M4-P, Tri-X.

Empire St. Building

This picture kind of complements one that I posted last year. Of course, it doesn't show the real building but rather a poster again. It was taken in the real New York, though, on March 16 this year.

It's also the first photo in this blog that I took with my 90mm Summicron. It's a pretty old lens (1985) that I bought used for a good price some months ago. Already when I bought it I knew I wouldn't use it much as I prefer wider lenses and I don't like changing lenses when I'm out on the street. But last month in New York I attached it to my old M4-P and had that camera with me most of the time as a second body in addition to the usual M7/35mm combo.

Film was Tri-X in Rodinal. The photo was cropped a little bit.

Maybe

What I already said about billboards applies here as well. But in addition to that, this picture is also a play with words and a graphical comment on this being a photo of a photo as you can clearly see the halftone pattern of the poster.

Seen in Hamburg on February 1, 2010; taken with the M7 and the 35mm lens on Tri-X which was souped in Diafine. It was, BTW, a Tri-X (from the same source as the Neopan 1600 I recently mentioned) which still says "5063 TX" on the film strip - showing how old it is. (The new one says "400 TX" and was introduced in the beginning of the last decade.)

Incidentally, I recently learned that Kodak just discontinued TXP in 120 and 220. It doesn't affect me personally as I only shoot TX in 35mm which still seems to sell well, but I hope it's not a bad sign...

I'll be out of town for a few days, so there probably won't be any new photos for about a week.

Right here

A billboard again, although a pretty abused one this time.

Shot in 1998 in New York with the M4-P on Tri-X.

8 Eyes

In the Akihabara area of Tokyo on November 10, 2008. I'm not sure anymore if the title was inspired by the photo's content or if I was rather subconsciously reminded of a Japanese Jazz LP called "Eight Eyes and Eight Ears" which I've had for a long time.

Taken with the M8.2 and the 28mm Elmarit at ISO 320.

The picture was converted directly to black-and-white in Lightroom without the aid of external tools. It was then slightly cropped and I added a small border because it looked as if it would otherwise fall apart.

The tie and the monkey

It's easy and fun to shoot billboards. Somebody already did the hard work of creating a good layout and you just have to find the right detail and frame it. Expect more to come.

This one I found in London near Euston Strret on March 27, 1996. The shutter speed on my Leica was 1/125, the aperture on my 35mm Summicron was 11, and the film was Tri-X which according to my notes I developed in Rodinal.

Lines

This one was taken in September 1995 at Hanover's main train station. I don't recall that particular day, but it is pretty obvious that I liked the interplay of the wooden planks on the right with the lines of the coat and the traces of rain drops on the poster. I still think the photo ain't too shabby.

Leica M4-P with 50mm Summicron on Ilford HP5 Plus.

Fake shadows

This one's from 1996, taken in Whitechapel in London. I like the shadows in this picture, the one of the mother, the one of the traffic light that we don't see, and the fake ones of the birds on the billboard. And also how the hairdo of the little girl echoes the movement, both its own and that of the ducks.

I took six photos at the same place in a few minutes, but this is the one I like most.

Again, this is the M4-P with the 35mm Summicron on Tri-X, developed by myself. I took notes at that time, so I know it was March 27, and the shot was taken with f/16 at 1/250.

Another hole in the head

Although I started with one of my earliest photos, I certainly wasn't intending to continue chronologically. This one here was shot almost four years later in New York City. I tend to think that it was characteristic for a lot of my photos at that time (and maybe today as well) - it is graphical and at the same time depicts an everyday urban motif, a bit like an objet trouvé.

I have two almost identical versions of this shot. One is at the very end of one film while the other one is the first one on the next film, so that was obviously only a safety measure.

The camera was a Leica M4-P - which I had bought used in the fall of 1995 (selling my FM2 for it) - with a 35mm Summicron lens. This is likely the combination the vast majority of my photos so far have been taken with.

Film is Kodak Tri-X developed by a local lab. I stopped developing films myself when I left university in 1997.

Update: On September 26, 2011 this picture was published here.