Travels With Color Film - Alcácer do Sal, Portugal, October 1998 (Ektachrome 100S)

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Maybe some of you had the chance to watch the wonderful movie “The Bridges of Madison County”, adapted from the novel by Robert James Waller.

Clint Eastwood plays the role of a not-so-young photographer (Robert Kincaid) on assignment for National Geographic magazine, shooting a photographic essay on some covered bridges in Madison County, in the U.S. state of Iowa, not far from Des Moines.

Robert, the photographer,  meets Francesca (Meryl Streep), a somewhat-frustrated and lonely-also-not-so-young-but-still-very-attractive lady, italian war bride, who runs a farm with her husband. She happens to be alone for a couple of days, as her husband and kids are away at the 1965 Illinois state fair…

This chance encounter rapidly evolves to a very intense and dramatic once-in-a-life-time love affair. One can hear the deep voice of Johnny Hartman sing ballads in the background, and the whole story is described and interpreted with astounding artistry. The ambiance is very passionate and tasteful.

An overwhelming movie!

Besides picking up his beer from a cool box in the back of his green pick-up truck, Robert also stores in there his color films, subsequently changing them to Francesca’s refrigerator, when the growing lady’s hospitality permits him to share her house and bed comfort.

 Yes, Iowa in Summer can be a hot place! I have experienced it myself. I also went to Des Moines to photograph some buildings by Mies van der Rohe, although I must have to concede that I didn’t know about the covered bridges back then.

What a pity!

Those of you old enough to remember the existence of color reversal film, probably know what I am talking about: great care is needed to avoid excessive heat  on your films, or you risk to get back home from your dreamtrip only to find out that the colors have changed and shifted.

Yes, color film is heat sensitive and prone to surprises (black and white too, altough to a lesser extent).

Packing 30 or 40 rolls for a trip is also common procedure, taking most room on your bag, albeit with lesser weight than your photographic equipment. Despite the big volume and all the trouble, one also has much less shots at one’s disposal than in some small memory cards…

Well, having a cool-box with you is a good excuse to bring along some fresh beer. You don’t need nobody’s freezer!

The pictures that I show on this post where shot on Kodak Ektachrome 100S reversal film, with Canon gear. I was on assignment for the defunct magazine “Portugal Português”, which was associated with the better-known, but also defunct, “Casa Decoração”.

I made some assignments for both magazines for a while, before it was adieu, farewell.

Obviously, it was some celebratory date in Alcácer do Sal, but I don’t have a clue about what or why. I was too much busy (or too much lazy for notations?), back in those days, so I was happy when the client had his/her images and I could jump to the next spot, very often on the other side of the country.

The notations often got lost somewhere along the way, only the images and the feelings remained...

I would like to say thank you to all the people who have been supporting this blog.

You give me strength to keep going on!

Technical Data:

Camera - Canon EOS 1n

Lenses - Canon EF 17-35mm f/2.8 L USM + Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM

Filme – Kodak Ektachrome 100S

Location – Alcácer do Sal, Portugal

Date – October 1998

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Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)

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"Would You Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone)"

(David Allan Coe)

Would you lay with me in a field of stone?
If my needs were strong, would you lay with me?
Should my lips grow dry, would you wet them dear,
In the midnight hour if my lips were dry?

Would you go away to another land?
Walk a thousand miles through the burning sand?
Wipe the blood away from my dying hand,
If I give myself to you?

Will you bathe with me in the stream of life?
When the moon is full, will you bathe with me?
Will you still love me when I'm down and out?
In my time of trial, will you stand by me?

Would you go away to another land?
Walk a thousand miles through the burning sand?
Wipe the blood away from my dying hand,
If I give myself to you?

Would you lay with me in a field of stone?
If my lips grow dry, would you wet them dear?
Would you bathe with me in the stream of life?
Will you still love me when I'm down and out?

Would you lay with me in a field of stone?
When the moon is full, will you lay with me?

From the album “American III: Solitary Man” – Johnny Cash (2000)


(Canon 30D + Leitz Telyt 6.8/400mm, 2011)


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Laughing

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“Laughing”

(David Crosby)

I thought, I met a man
Who said he knew a man
Who knew what was going on.

I was mistaken,
Only another stranger
That I knew.

And I thought, I had found a light
To guide me through
My night and all this darkness.

I was mistaken,
Only reflections of a shadow
That I saw.

And I thought, I'd seen someone
Who seemed at last
To know the truth.

I was mistaken,
Only a child laughing
In the sun.

Ah, ah, ah ...
In the sun...

From the album “If I Could Only Remember My Name” – David Crosby (1971)


(Leica M4 + Summicron-M 50mm, Agfa APX 100 in Kodak XTol 1+1, Fátima 2011)


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Up From The Skies

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“Up From The Skies”


I just want to talk to you,
I won't do you no harm.
I just want to know about your different lives
On this here people farm.
I heard some of you got your families
Living in cages tall and cold,
And some just stay there and dust away
Past the age of old.
Is this true?
Please let me talk to you.


I just wanna know about
The rooms behind your minds,
Do I see a vacuum there
Or am I going blind?
Or is it just the remains of vibrations,
And echoes of long ago?
Things like "Love the world" and
"Let your fancy flow"…
Is this true?
Please let me talk to you,
Let me talk to you.


I have lived here before
The days of ice,
And of course this is why
I'm so concerned.
And I come back to find
The stars misplaced,
And the smell of a world
That is burned.
The smell of a world
That is burned.


Yeah, well, maybe
It's just a... change of climate…
Well I can dig it,
I can dig it baby,
I just want to see.


So where do I purchase my ticket?
I'd just like to have a ringside seat.
I want to know about the new Mother Earth,
I want to hear and see everything,
I want to hear and see everything.


Aw, shucks,
If my daddy could see me now!


From the album “Axis: Bold As Love” – The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)

Experience: Jimi Hendrix (lead vocals, guitar), Noel Redding (vocals, bass), Mitch Mitchell (drums)


(Clouds photographed with Canon 30D + Leitz Telyt 6.8/400mm, 2011)


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Monday afternoon in Monsaraz with Luís and Sara - February 2011

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Luís and Sara have known each other from childhood, then life separated them... Until now: now they are befriended.

Sara was visiting from Germany, so they took the chance and came to spend a couple of days in Alentejo. 

Sara is daughter of Miguel and Marion, long-time friends from Heidelberg, Germany.

So are the circles and turns of life, sometimes we get lost and sometimes we are found...

Photographed with Leica M2 and Leica R5

Technical Data:

Cameras: Leica M2 + Leica R5

Lenses - Summicron-M 50mm + Elmarit 135mm

Film - Agfa APX 100 + Kodak Tri-x

Developer - Kodak Xtol 1+1

Location - Monsaraz, Portugal

Date - February 28, 2011

Scanner - Epson Perfection 4990 Photo

E aqui deixo um pouco de Miguel Torga. Eu não poderia dizer melhor...


 

Coimbra, 4 de Março de 1989.

"Vigília"

Altas horas da noite.
Acordado,
Rememoro o passado,
Analiso o presente
E advinho o futuro.
Procuro,
Humanamente,
Dar sentido
Ao que fui,
Ao que sou
E ao que serei.
Mas a minha verdade
Não tem a claridade
Da razão.
É esta aflição
Continuada
Que no meu coração
Bate descompassada.

MIGUEL TORGA (DIÁRIO XV – Coimbra 1990)

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Industrielandschaften - Mannheim, Deutschland, November 1985

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Three years later, also on November, but on a very dissimilar mood from my previuos post, I felt an urge to shoot urban landscapes.

The Rhein (Rhine) and Neckar rivers are the home of one of the most important European inland ports, spreading around the German towns of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen.

I decided on medium format equipment for the task, bringing along the Hasselblad 500 EL/M and the Rolleiflex T.

Wish I had done these photographs in large format, but that was still zukunftsmusik...

So, will you please excuse me for some inaccurate perspective?

Shot with Hasselblad 500 EL/M + Rolleiflex T

Technical Data:
Cameras - Hasselblad 500 EL/M + Rolleiflex T
Lenses - Carl Zeiss Tessar, Planar or Sonnar (Distagon?)
Film - Kodak Tri-X + Ilford HP5
Developer - Kodak D-76 1+1
Location - Mannheim, Germany (last one on the border to Ludwigshafen)
Date - November 1985
Scanner - Epson Perfection 4990 Photo

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"Those Were the Days" - Schloss Lembeck, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany (November 1982)

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After reading two books by Irvine Welsh (“Ecstasy”, “Trainspotting”), I decided on one by Paul Auster (“Leviathan”).
By comparison, this last author reads a bit like “Reader’s Digest”.
It kind of misses something…

I always felt the same about my humanistic photography: it’s like ice cream with eierlikör on top, it’s like sex with a pillow.
Aiming at the higher-levels of some of my “heroes” (Josef Koudelka, Robert Frank, William Klein…), I am obliged to concede that my efforts seem to be in vain.

My images are a little too soft…

My photography lacks punch!

Wanting to widen my horizon, rucksack on my back, 2000 escudos in my pocket, I hit the road to Germany in the distant year of 1974.

I had met a german girl before, so the first town I lived in was Münster.
What a difference!

Coming from a small and forgotten little land that suffered 48 long years of dictatorship, my young naive eyes would just marvel at this open-minded world.

I felt lost and enlightened at the same time: I couldn’t really feel at home, and I didn’t want to leave and go back to the darkness where I was coming from, either.

The girl soon became my wife. She was coming from Gross Reken, a village not far from Münster, so I quickly became acquainted with Münsterland, a region that I kept admiring and enjoying through the years.

Belonging to Dorsten, Schloss Lembeck is only a short distance from Reken. When I was bothered from hanging around my parents-in-law, I often went for a visit to the Schlosspark (after that Veltins Pilsener would taste even better…).

Again and again I had a Leica with me.

Shot with Leica M4-2 + Elmarit-M 28mm

The images might be soft-spoken, but aren’t those trees beautiful?


Technical data:
Camera- Leica M4-2
Lens - Leitz Canada Elmarit-M 2.8/28mm
Film - Kodak Tri-x
Developer - Kodak D-76, diluted 1+1
Location - Schloss Lembeck, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Date - November 1982


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