Picturing Wanteete: Project Update #1

by: Michael Raso

For folks just tuning in, Louise Contino, a New York-based photographer is spending four months teaching the villagers the basics of film photography from February to June 2014. Her goal, to help the poverty-stricken community to tell their story via the medium of photography.
Read all about it in our first blog by FPP Correspondent Viviane Li HERE.

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above: The Wanteete community presented Louise with Pineapples upon her arrival

Picturing Wanteete Photo Collective Project
Update by Louise Contino / April 2014
I have reached the halfway point. The past two months in Uganda have been a whirlwind of amazing and challenging new experiences for me. Two months remain and I am so grateful for this additional time because I am certainly not ready to return home yet!
In fact, things are just starting to get really, really good! And so interesting!

above: Here's half the class working on their first lesson on manipulating the camera controls for correct focus and exposure.

I am happy to report that the project got off the ground successfully and that we are making a lot of headway. The Wanteete Photo Collective is composed of seventeen beautiful people that represent different key actors in their community. Some of the roles we have represented in the collective include a mother, a father, a teacher, a school organizer, an elder, a male student, a female student, and a community leader. Bringing such a diverse group of people together allows this project to represent seventeen distinct voices and unique perspectives on the Wanteete community, which I think will be extremely valuable to the narrative in the end. Not too mention, we have loads of fun together.

We meet twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays for a few hours. We make art, we laugh, we learn the basics, we engage in serious conversations about the community's struggles and visions for change and most of all we enrich each others lives in unforgettable ways through this crazy cultural exchange that I've concocted.

 

Please visit the Facebook page to get a closer look of what really goes on "behind the scenes" in the photo collective each week. I just released a post on Picturing Wanteete that features 96 photos documenting the evolution of the Photo Collective and some of our best milestones. Highlights from this album are included in this MEGA update, but please peruse the rest of the album at your leisure to get a fuller picture. It is my pleasure to share this with all of you!
Over the past five weeks I have witnessed wonderful changes in the self-esteem and confidence of several collective members through participation in this project-- most especially in Robinah (age 15) and Mpiima (age 13), the collective's youngest members.

Before joining the collective, most people had never seen a camera before let alone operated one. It has been a slow, difficult and magical journey to teach them how to use their camera as a tool. I am pleased to report that we are getting terrific results.
Last Friday the Photo Collective learned how to hand-process film for their first time. Logistical issues have required me to assume the responsibility of developing all the film on a bi-weekly basis. It's a LOT of work, but I don't mind.

Of course, I wish that everybody could be responsible for developing their own film all the time. However, some logistical roadblocks stand in our way. Mostly it's the lack of running water, limited equipment and supplies, and the technical challenge of mastering film processing as a novice (we have little room for error because film stock is limited). The good news is that later this month I will be spending 10+ days in the community living with all my new friends, and I plan on engaging the Collective in film processing again at that point.
So far the Collective has taken over 1,000 photographs. MY GOODNESS THAT'S A LOT OF IMAGES! Sorting through all of them requires a significant portion of my time, and planning group critiques for 17 students is certainly challenging.

Now I really need the students to focus (quite literally, please focus your cameras people!!) and zero in on what they really want their final photo narratives to be about. Of course, I don't expect the Collective to be producing masterpieces but it is important to me that the final product communicates a meaningful message to the world about the community struggles and the strength of the Wanteete people. We have lots of work to do, and thankfully everyone still is very inspired and engaged. It is so exciting to think of where this hard work will lead us.
The project's website will be up and running soon too. I look forward to sharing that with you also, so stay on the lookout. For now, it's your turn to share. Please visit the Facebook page, "like" it if you have not yet, and share it widely with your friends. This project is all about building awareness and with your help I can be sure that the Wanteete Photo Collective's story reaches a wider audience throughout the world.
After processing all the film, I scan all the negatives into my computer with this nifty portable film scanner that your contributions allowed me to purchase! Thanks again to each and everyone of you for your continued support. I simply could not be doing any of this without your encouragement and financial backing. You're awesome!

I need to give specific shout outs to two amazing people who made the long journey to visit me in Uganda and show their support and love. The first is Bruno B. Feder from Brazil, my lovely project assistant. Bruno and I became friends through the community at the International Center for Photography, and he offered to come visit me in Uganda and help assist the project. I didn't really believe him. . . but then, he really did show up! And at the perfect time no less. I was really sick with a stomach virus when Bruno arrived and he was such a good friend to me that I got better in no time! He was an immense help with getting the project established in Phase 1 and it meant the world to me for him to volunteer his time and talent to my project. Woo Hoo Bruno!

Then, on the day Bruno left the country, my brilliant, handsome and amazing boyfriend Eli Kinigstein arrived en scene. We spent one week working on my project and one week traveling west together to venture on several amazing expeditions in and around the Rwenzori Mountains of the Moon. I am a seriously lucky lady to have such a supportive partner. Sorry if this makes you blush Eli, but thanks A LOT. You're the best.
Sending you all my love and gratitude from sunny, beautiful Uganda. Be well and please stay in touch. Happy Spring to you all!
My very best,
Louise Contino

Beautiful Film Photography by Ramon Spaeti

Photography is one of man kind’s greatest breakthroughs. Before it, representations of the self or images of places you liked were a thing that only the well and truly upper class could afford, since the only people that could provide you with them were painters.
Photography changed all that, making images readily available for a much wider group of people, and eventually revolutionizing things like journalism and even art. Truly, we owe a lot of what is modern society to the invention of film.
But modern society is slowly turning its back on film. Not entirely without reason, mind you. Film requires resources to produce, and, whichever way you take it, digital is the smart choice. But there is no denying that film photography looks and feels completely different to its often times impersonal sister, digital photography.
Film photography is more personal and feels more permanent. The photo you get is the photo you get. It is not like you can go experimenting in Photoshop with different filters and see which one fits the picture best. Once you have decided what you are going to use, you are stuck with it. That’s why you have to have a very clear picture of how you want the photo to look, and really know how to produce that image in your head.
Usable photography dates back to the early 1820′s, when, in 1822,  Nicéphore Niépce produced the first photoetching. Sadly, the image was destroyed when attempts to create prints from were made. The oldest surviving photograph is View from The Window at Le Gras, which is also one of Niépce’s works, and was made in 1826 or 1827.
John Herschel was the first person to ever use the terms “photography”, “negative” and “positive” in this field, but the first person to actually make a negative was William Fox Talbot, who came up with a paper-based photographic method, which he made public in 1839. This method initially required hours of exposure to create an image, but after only one year, in 1840, the exposure time was reduced to minutes, making it comparable to the quickest method of that time, namely the daguerreotype, invented by Louis Daguerre.
Color photography took a while longer to make its debut on the scene. The Lumière brothers introduced the first commercially successful color method in 1907, dubbed Autochrome, and it is was used up until the 1950′s.
1935 saw the appearance of Kodachrome, a color method introduced by none other than Kodak, and 1936 was the year that brought us Agfacolor Neu, a method that closely resembles all the modern ones still in use to this day.
As we have mentioned earlier, modern society is turning its back to film photography, and embracing its new love, digital photography. There are, however, people out there producing Instragram-like photographs, using pre-Intragram methods of obtaining said images, namely the good old-fashioned film camera.
Today we will be showing you one such artist: Swiss photographer Ramon Spaeti.
Bases in Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city, Ramon is a self-taught photographer, as well as a Design Director, graduating as a Design Engineer, and having an MBA in Industrial Design.
His passion for analog photography has lead him to exclusively use film cameras to take photos, and his main interest seems to be fashion photography.
His works have been published in some pretty cool magazine like Voltaire Magazine, Vogue Italia and Aesthetica Magazine, gaining him quite a bit of attention, and we would not call it unwarranted attention.
To show you what we mean, here a few of his works.

Get Stalked in Montmartre

These are some photos taken from a photoshoot he did for American Apparel in Paris. The model’s name is Daria.

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At times, fashion photography has to capture moments of intimacy, or at least pretend intimacy. You can see how well-suited film photography is for this. The pictures are grainy, unlike the high-definition digital cameras offer, but not unclear.
Of course, the artist has a huge role to play in how good the pictures come out. The artist is the imagination, after all, and his idea of “getting stalked in Montmartre” really comes across in the pictures, especially the one where you also see the photographer’s reflection in the window.

S Magazine

S Magazine is a biannual editorial focused on art, fashion and sensuality. It stands to reason that Ramon would have jumped at the chance to do a photoshoot for such an illustrious magazine, especially as his method of taking photos is so excellently suited for capturing all three of the magazine’s focus points.

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The model’s name is Christy, and Ramon’s grainy photos once again make you, the viewer, feel like you really are sharing a few brief moments with her. She isn’t looking at the camera for most of the pictures, which makes it seem like she is unaware that she is being photographed, which in turn makes the photos seem voyeuristic in nature.

Stunning Foggy Photographs

Stunning Foggy Photographs

by Khánh Hmoong 

Photographing foggy/misty scenes requires much skill from the photographer. Fog usual occurs in the evening and lasts until early morning. Fog and mist naturally knock out colour, rendering the scene quite 'flat' and lacking in contrast, so longer exposure times are required to achieve a good photograph. Below are 12 stunning analog photographs shot in foggy/misty weather.

untitled by beetlephoto

untitled by (Jt)

untitled by emilyharriet

untitled by nuzz

Follow me... by zane&inzane

Shallow grave by ξαβλ

Passage by monkeytime | brachiator

fog by rumorebianco

untitled by .cascata.

Moon and window by Anton Novoselov

WTC 3 by stevensiegel260

untitled by rbnisonfire

The Konstruktor DIY Camera Super Kit – A Review

by Jeff Guyer 

I’ve written before about what shooting film means to me, and I almost always have a film camera in my bag alongside my digital arsenal. I find it relaxing. In many ways it becomes something of a ritual for me. Loading the film. Advancing the frames. Resetting the counter. Taking my time. Doing my best to make every frame count. Don’t even get me started on barricading myself in the darkroom for hours on end. I know that a lot of photographers talk about “making” photos rather than “taking” them, but nothing brings that sentiment home for me more than shooting film. Thankfully, there are legions of photographers out there who still enjoy shooting film– even if just occasionally– which means that there are still companies catering to our need for the film experience. One such company is Lomography, a website dedicated to cameras, films, lenses, and accessories. I recently had the chance to build and test their Konstruktor DIY Kit.

Specs

• 35mm film
• 50mm prime lens
• f/10 fixed aperture
• Two shutter modes. N (1/80s, assuming proper assembly) or B (Bulb for long exposures)
• Adjustable focal length (0.5m, 1m, 2m, Infinity)
• Magnifying Chimney Hood Kit
• Close-up and Macro Lens Kit (15cm focal distance on Close-up and 5cm on Macro)
• Konstruktor brand plate and stickers to personalize the look of your camera

Fully assembled, with standard vertical viewfinder hood.

Assembly

The last time I built a camera kit, the printed instructions were basically useless, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened the Konstruktor box and found high-quality, (mostly) easy-to-follow assembly instructions. While technically the kit does come with everything you need to put the camera together, I would suggest making sure you also have a small flashlight and a tweezers on hand. The spring that connects the shutter mechanism is so small and attaches in such a tight place that it’s almost impossible without them, particularly if– like me– you have big hands.
Here’s another tip. The kit includes at least three different sizes of some of the smallest screws you’ve ever seen, and it’s often difficult to tell one from the other in the diagrams. Unfortunately, they are all packaged together in the same bag. I’d suggest separating them before you start putting the camera together. They are close enough in size to each other that using the occasional wrong screw isn’t the end of the world, but my finished product does have a slight flaw which I’m pretty sure is because I used the wrong screw.
Despite the minor setbacks along the way, the Konstruktor was really not that difficult to assemble. The front of the box tells you it will take 1 – 2 hours, but if this is your first time assembling a camera kit you should probably expect it to be closer to the 2-hour mark.

With optional Magnifying Chimney Hood.

Impressions

For a plastic camera, the Konstruktor has a very solid build. Unlike other camera kits I’ve seen, this one was designed with excellent attention to detail, particularly where moving parts like the lightbox and focal length adjustment on the lens are concerned. While most camera kits give you tips on estimating the film advance (e.g., “turn the dial one and a half times”), the Konstruktor has an actual frame counter which works rather accurately, assuming you remember to reset it when you load a new roll of film.

The vertical viewfinder will take some getting used to for photographers unfamiliar with them. For starters, everything is flipped horizontally 180 degrees. Right becomes left, left becomes right, and it’s going to take a brief adjustment period to get comfortable with it. Some photographers may also find it a bit restrictive in terms of shooting angles. While this type of viewfinder can be a bit frustrating at first, stick with it. You’ll be glad you did. While I’m on the subject of the viewfinder, I should also point out that the optional Magnifying Chimney Hood not only provides magnification, but also does a great job of shielding the viewfinder from the inevitable glare that makes getting a good look at the image difficult, particularly on a sunny day.

Since everything about this camera is manual, the mechanism for raising the mirror is no exception. Placed to the left side of the lens where you are probably used to finding the auto-focus switch on your DSLR, a small lever is used to lift the mirror into position after each shot. Don’t worry about forgetting– you won’t be able to see anything through the viewfinder if you don’t raise the mirror.

Don’t forget– 1/80 is a pretty slow shutter speed. I’m not going to say you can’t hand-hold this camera at 1/80, but you may want to take advantage of the standard tripod mounting hole on the bottom of the camera. I did laugh for a minute when I realized I had a $35 camera sitting on top of a $300 tripod, but you do what you gotta do.

Options

It’s worth pointing out there that we tested the Konstruktor Super Kit, which includes the camera and Magnifying Chimney Hood, as well as the Close-Up Lens & Macro Lens kit. All three are also available individually. While I found the close-up and macro lenses to be nice additions to the kit, it’s really the magnifying hood for the viewfinder that I find to be indispensable.

Optional Magnifying Chimney Hood, Close-up & Macro Lens Kit.

Sample Photos

Wrap-Up and Recommendations

Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve built a few camera kits over the years, with varying degrees of quality and success. The Kontruktor is, by far, the best of them all. It’s important to point out, though, that there is a bit of a learning curve. I’ve been shooting film for a long time and my first couple of rolls with the Konstruktor were disasters. Okay…maybe not disasters, but certainly not what I expected. If this happens to you DO NOT be discouraged. We’re talking about something you put together with your own two hands at the kitchen table, not a precision marvel of modern science that was assembled on a sterile assembly line in a “white room” half-way around the world. Cut yourself some slack and enjoy the experience for what it is– getting back to basics and creating something.
For more information about the Konstruktor DIY Camera Kit and other Lomography products, be sure to check out Lomorgaphy’s website.
[Konstruktor DIY Camera Kit $35 @ Amazon | B&H]

Self-portrait of John Lennon and his Rolleiflex in 1967

Self-portrait of John Lennon and his Rolleiflex in 1967

Self-portrait of John Lennon and his Rolleiflex in the attic of his house Kenwood, June 29, 1967. (via Images&Visions)

Marilyn Monroe with a Rolleiflex

These photographs were taken by John Vachon during the 1953's summer in Canada, where they were filming a movie, it belonged to the magazine Look and was given to the USA Library of Congress in 1971. Marilyn is holding a Rolleiflex 3.5A or MX.

 

Celebrity Portraits with Nikon Film Cameras

Following an old article Marilyn Monroe with a Nikon F, here's a collection of celebrity portraits holding a vintage Nikon camera on their hands.

Benny Andersson (of ABBA) with a Nikon F2

Brad Pitt with a shockingly cavalier attitude towards correct camera handling etiquette

Emma Bunton (aka Baby Spice) with a Nikon F

George Harrison with (left to right) A Nikon F, A  Kodak Retina IIS and his Rolleiflex

Jack Lemmon with a cigar, a slightly manic grin and an Nikon F

Jackie Stewart with his Nikon F "Helmet Cam"

Kristen Stewart with Nikon F2 Photomic

Mia Farrow with a Nikon Photomic F

Michael Jackson with a Nikon Nikkormat FT by Araldo di Crollalanza (1978)

Muhammad Ali and a Nikon F Photomic Tn with the F36 motor drive by Howard Bingham

Roddy McDowall (as Cornelius from Planet of The Apes) with a Nikon F

Roger Moore (as James Bond) with his camera rocket launcher from the 1974 film The Man With the Golden Gun. Looks like it’s a Nikon F