St. John of the Cross

During the last year I spent many hours reading the poetry of Saint John of the Cross and also his biography. It had such a profound effect on me that I decided to visit the places where he lived, trying to see a bit of what he saw, to be where he was, in an innocent attempt at better embracing his philosophy.

The project is incomplete, since there are still unchecked places and also some others that demand a second, more thoughtful visit. I will do so when I’ve saved enough time and silence to do so.

All photos were taken with the Rollei SL66e and Portra 400. I am satisfied with the results but next time I will bring the Mamiya 6 or the Mamiya C330 instead. The Rollei is not only way heavier but it also feels a bit fragile to be used in the countryside with dust and all.

Trombone

Summer was coming to an end. It had been a hot day and the streets of Madrid were empty with most people still on vacation. Silence was caressed by the jazz notes of a trombone.

Cinestill 800 is a tricky emulsion. I used it with a Carl Zeiss 35mm f1.4 and a Contax body, pushed to 1600 and the results were... just ok. I had to increase the exposure a bit on Lightroom for the images to be usable. I find the green dominant a bit uncomfortable. What do you think? Have you used it? And if so, for kind type of photos?

Pensions

I’m sure that pensions and modest hotels hold better and much more interesting stories about their guests than fancy ones. I sometimes like to spend my travel nights in them, often in small towns, wondering about the motives, hopes or worries of those who stayed before me: why did they stay there? How many nights did they spend? Was it a family trip, business, or perhaps a visit to a sick relative? Was the person who preceded me on that bed happy? Was he or she worried? Old or young?

Rollei SL66e, Kodak Portra 400, developed at La Peliculera.

Mom

Not only a beautiful soul, also the best mother I could imagine and a great artist with an extreme sensibility for colors. She’s still shy about her painting work, but you can get a small glimpse of her last work here.

Mamiya c330 and Ilford XP2 400, developed at La Peliculera.

This photo comes from one of my first rolls shot with the Mamiya c330, which was a bit intimidating at first —too many wheels to check prior to taking a photo— but became almost intuitive after a a couple of rolls. The results ended up being as good (perhaps even better since the C330 is a bit easier to focus), also smooth and textured as with the big Mamiya RB67 for half the size. 

Questions later

Olympus OM-2n, Kodak Gold 200, developed at La Peliculera.

South

A home facing south is one of those luxuries one starts appreciating at a certain age. The gifts it brings are generous all year long; they come just at a different time of the day.

Mamiya 6, Kodak Portra 400, developed at La Peliculera. 

AVE MAD-BCN

Hundreds of bodies rushing out of trains that braked after traveling at unimaginable speed. Those rays of sun invite me to stop and ask myself if all that rushing is really necessary, when January is presenting us such morning.

I doubt between taking that train to Barcelona or staying there, watching, letting that warmth caress me.

I took the photos with an Olympus Olympus OM-2, a Zuiko 50mm f1.4 and Kodak Gold 200 film (except for the last one, which is Kodak Ultramax 400) All of them were developed at La Peliculera.

Skin, light and cotton

Three textures: skin, light and cotton. Wet, sky and warm. The tones the engineer who formulated Kodak Gold’s emulsion probably dreamed about.

All these photos were taken with an Olympus OM-2n with a Zuiko 50mm f1.4, a tiny kit that is a joy to use because it adds the only sound that’s allowed on a calm Saturday morning.

Olympus OM-2n and Kodak Gold 200, developed at La Peliculera.

Ulm

FujiFilm Tiara II con Fomapan 400, revelada en Yetilab 

Atardecía en Ulm tras una jornada agotadora. Mi hijo descansaba en la habitación del hotel mientras yo me daba un paseo por los alrededores. Ulm tiene una de las catedrales más altas del mundo (se disputa el mérito con la de Colonia), de antes de que la reforma protestante transformase esos templos erigidos a la gloria de Dios en modestos edificios de “estudio evangélico”.

La FujiFilm Tiara viñetea un poco las fotos, lo que sumado al imprevisible grano del Fomapan le da a la escena una textura casi de época. 

Conchas en la arena

Mamiya 6 con Agfa APX 100, revelada en Yetilab

La arena de Sanlúcar de Barrameda es especial, no es de mar ni es de río, o es las dos cosas: donde el Guadalquivir se une al Atlántico. Está salpicada de conchas con formas muy irregulares, todas distintas entre si, aunque todas de ese color blanquecino.