The Paris Sessions - March 1977 (The Minolta Years)

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In a way I still seem to believe on those words...

All my life I have felt like a kind of "cosmic clochard": I am nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

I am home wherever I feel at home!




























What do I have to say about these images?

I took them 34 years ago, how could I remember?

From my notations, I used a Minolta 303b for the snaps (my first serious camera, a true revelation after my Olympus Trip 35...).

I fed the apparatus with either Ilford HP5 or Kodak Tri-X, developed in Tetenal Emofin and in Kodak Perceptol 1+1, respectively.

From looking at the photographs, I would say that I have used my Minolta Rokkor 21mm, and most probably, also the Minolta Rokkor 80-200mm.

The rest are very vague memories.

The passion for Photography still remains...






Me at the end of the film, looking like a "Spiegelei".

I was so young and hopeful back then, I still had such a long road ahead...


Technical data:
Camera - Minolta SRT-303b
Lenses - Minolta Rokkor
Films - Ilford HP5 and Kodak Tri-X
Developers - Tetenal Emofin + Kodak Perceptol 1+1
Location - Paris, France
Date - March 1977
Scanner - Epson Perfection 4990 Photo


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Der Schornsteinfeger und die Prinzessin - Heidelberg, Germany, February 1977 (The Minolta Years)

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I must admit, that at first I didn't know what this peculiar man was all about!
I thought that he was just dressing some kind of Fashingskostüm, as the calendar was reading February...

I had never before seen a Schornsteinfeger (chimney sweeper).
The man, which I met in the Bergheimer Strasse in Heidelberg, Germany, was kind enough to make a little interruption in his work, and allowed me to take some pictures.

I still regard his portrait (the first image) as one of the best photographs that I took in those times.

I guess, that he must habe brought me luck... I am a fortunate man!

Some seconds for eternity!

Likewise I came upon this beautiful Faschingsprinzessin, which I also met in the Bergheimer Strasse.

I chose several negatives to give you an idea of the evolution of this happy encounter.

Besides, I think that it is funny to reminisce about the cars and the shop signs that decorated our streets then.

Do you still recognize the legendary VW Käfer, the Fiat 127, the Ford Cortina?

Time heals!

Yes, time can improve some ordinary images, turning them into some sort of documents.

This photograph of Feuermänner in Bismarckplatz, Heidelberg, might be rather banal at first look, but then I have noticed that Baden-Württemberg was then celebrating its 25th anniversary, and all of a sudden the picture had a new meaning (Baden-Württemberg is the third largest state in Germany).

Time heals and makes feel old...

Just like the image before, this one is part of the roll that includes the little princess.

For no particular reason, but being nice, I close with a bucolic view.

I am not able to recognize the village on the background, but I am sure that it is the surroundings of Heidelberg: Dossenheim, Schriesheim, Ladenburg?

Somebody out there to refresh my memories?

Cheers!


Technical data:
Cameras - Minolta SRT 303b (chimney sweep) + Minolta SRT 101
Film - Ilford HP5
Developers - Ilford Perceptol 1+1 (chimney sweep) + Tetenal Emofin
Location - Heidelberg, Germany
Date - February 1977
Scanner - Epson 4990 Photo





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Circus Willy Hagenbeck - Heidelberg, Germany, March 1977 (Mamiya C330f)

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It is rather hot, I've been maybe drinking too much beer and wine, but if memory still serves me any good, the first Medium Format camera that I have ever owned and used, was the Mamiya C330f (6x6), with two distinct lenses. Please, don't ask me about which ones, I could almost declare that the 180mm was one of them...

Beeing a fine camera, with fine lenses, I believe that I was not yet mature for this, somewhat heavy and cumbersome, TLR (Twin Lens Reflex): I sold it again after a short time.

Oddly enough, I would later on fall deeply in love (up until today) with other TLR cameras: the wonderful and elegant Rolleiflex!

Honesty makes me concede, that the Mamiya has some "advantages" over the Rollei: interchangeable lenses, 120 and 220 film capability, focusing bellows for easy close-up photography...

But, like everything else in life, chemistry sometimes doesn't work...

These are the first "serious" square format photographs that I ever took of a circus (another long-lasting photographic love of mine): Circus Wylly Hagenbeck, pictured in Heidelberg, Germany, on the 2nd of March, 1977 (Shit, time flies!).


Can you dig it? The film was still Ilford HP-4! (Yes, FOUR!).
I developed it in Tetenal Emofin, and the negatives are a little thin for my taste...
What should I care, these are "historic" images (well, at least for me...), nice to look at on a hot summer night.
Who cares if they are not so good-looking?

I still had (and have) a loooooong way to go...

Camera: Mamiya C330f (6x6 TLR)

Ilford HP-4, developed in Tetenal Emofin.

Circus Wylly Hagenbeck, Heidelberg, BRD, 1977

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Assorted Moments

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I have been turning the pages of an old book that I bought in Cologne, Germany, in 1982. Every once in a while I like to glance through it.

I am talking about a little volume with photographs by André Kertész, called "Americana", edited by Nicolas Ducrot and published in 1979 by Visual Books Inc., New York City.

I must confess that I am not necessarily a great admirer of Kertész, although I find some of his images absolutely outstanding.
It is such a case with this book, and also with the book "Of New York", for example.

Both show some extraordinary work, and both also display some images that look almost commonplace...

My humble opinion...

But doesn't that happens to all of us? Don't we all have our very special days?

Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Bretagne, France, February 1977

Without daring to compare myself with this exceptional photographer, I feel that many of my images are rather average, too much trivial, too much "bread and butter"...

To discard our own not-so-much-interesting images is not an easy task for sure, as they are a good part of our own memory, of our own heritage, our legacy for the future.

Having said that, life has shown me that the patina of time suddenly can turn a common photograph into one deserving better attention.

Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Bretagne, France, February 1977

Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Bretagne, France, February 1977

Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Mont-Saint-Michel, France, February 1977

Minolta SRT 101, HP5 in Emofin, Normandie, France, February 1977

These are images from my "Minolta Years", from my beginnings as a photographer.

Amateur photographer, that is...

Amateur in the true sense of the word: I ate and slept photography. I nourished my body and soul with it.

I was obsessed and passionate about it.

I was in love with it!

Leica M4-2, Strasbourg, France, April 1982

In the meantime, I had traded all my Minolta equipment for the Leica rangefinder system (except for the light-meters. I still use a Minolta Spotmeter).

As far as I can recall, I was by then only using Leica / Leitz cameras and lenses. It simply better suited my street-photography style, that I used to practice almost exclusively in those days.

I still miss my Minolta XM and the very fine Minolta Rokkor f1.8 35mm, though.

I should have kept them...

Leica M2, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984

Leica M2, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984

Leica M2, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984

Leica M3, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984

Leica M3, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984

Leica M2, HP5 in D-76 1+1, Bremen, Germany, March 1984

As far as I remember, I only went once in my life to Bremen. From these short visit, I don't have much memories left, but some photographs...

Hasselblad 500CM + Carl Zeiss 60mm Distagon C, TMY in D-76 1+1,
Lisboa, Portugal, August 1988

Hasselblad 500CM + Carl Zeiss 60mm Distagon C, TMY in D-76 1+1,
Lisboa, Portugal, August 1988

When I took these photographs in Lisbon, I also was already using medium format on a regular basis.

I found it to be a nice complement to my 35mm rangefinders.

There was still a lot to come, though...

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