Once Upon a Time in Old Heidelberg, Germany (1981-1986)

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Looking at these photographs, don’t search for perfection.

Color film in those days, particularly slide film, could be a pain in the neck!

Kodachrome 25 and 64 were really wonderful, showing sometimes breathtaking results, but by the time you loaded your camera with Ektachrome 100 troubles began to surface.

Going beyond, or above that - say Ektachrome 400, or other film with even higher ISO/ASA -, you felt like committing suicide.

Fun, for sure, but highly unpredictable!





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scanning those old pieces of film is not a simple task: what was already bad, just gets worse, you soon begin to shiver with hallucination, your unassuming photograph may well turn out a surrealistic masterpiece…

 

Don’t understand me wrong, nothing compares to a beautiful Kodachrome reflecting back from the projection screen.

Yes, slide film was intended to be projected – not scanned -, and there it genuinely shone!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographs made with Leica cameras on Kodak film.

 

 

Heidelberg is a very nice town, and I am glad that I had the chance to live there.

Three of my four kids were born in this friendly place, and that is where my long-lasting love affair with Leica cameras began.

I have not cut ties with Heidelberg: my son Luís and some good friends live nearby, so I am longing to go back there.

I won’t forget to bring the Leica along!

 

 

Technical Data:

Cameras - Leica M (M2 + M4 + M4-2 + M5)

Lenses - various Leitz/Leica, some with Visoflex III

Films - Kodak Kodachrome + Kodak Ektachrome

Date - between 1981 and 1986

Location - Heidelberg, Germany

Scanner - Epson 4990

 

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Volvo Ocean Race - Algés (Lisbon), June 2012

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Photographed with Leica M3

 

 

Technical data:

Camera - Leica M3

Film - Kodak T-Max 400

Developer: Kodak D-76, 1+1

Location - Algés (Lisbon), Portugal

Date - June 2012

Scanner - Epson 4990

 

 

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Lisbon - City of Light, City of Pain (III - 2012)

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Leica M4 + Summicron 50mm "Versenkbar"

 

 

 

 

 

Technical Data:

Camera - Leica M4

Lens - Leitz Summicron-M 2,0/50mm ("Versenkbar" / "Collapsible")

Film - Agfa APX 100

Developer - R09

Location - Lisbon, Portugal

Date - February 2012

Scanner - Epson 4990

 

 

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860-880 North Lake Shore Drive-Chicago, Illinois, USA (architect Mies van der Rohe)

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Horseman SW612P + Rodenstock lenses

(detail Gandolfi Variant + 6x7 Linhof Rapid Rollex)

 

 

 

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900-910 North Lake Shore Drive - Chicago, Illinois, USA (architect Mies van der Rohe)

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Horseman SW612P + Rodenstock Lenses

 

 

 

Facing the beauty of Lake Michigan, The Esplanade Apartments on North Lake Shore Drive − not far from the famous Navy Pier − designed by architect Mies van der Rohe, probably enjoy the most beautiful situation of all his works.

These seminal and innovative buildings used unprecedented construction technologies, which became the standard used by Mies in all his future high-rise projects.

Completed in 1951, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive were the first towers in the world to exhibit the promise of glass-and-steel-frame construction, while the 900–910 towers, finished in 1955, were the first to totally accomplish the aluminum and glass curtain wall which became the hallmark of Mies’ oeuvre.

On the neighbourhood of The Esplanade Apartments is the John Hancock Building – which you can admire on the first photograph −, the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue and Oak Street Beach. Also not far from here, you can go for a walk in Lincoln Park, which I also showed on a previous post about Mies' Commonwealth Promenade Apartments. 

I have used the Horseman SW612P, with Rodenstock lenses and a 6x9 roll film back, to produce these photographs on Kodak Ektachrome E100S film.

My son Jorge, assisted me on this rewarding task, in 1999. I think that we will never forget the days we have spent in Chicago.

 

 

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