MUDAM

First results from the study trip series are in. All were taken with the Bronica RF645 on a mixture of films. The two shots above were on Ilford chromogenic XP2. Depicted is the MUDAM, the Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean on the Kirchberg Plateau in Luxemburg city. The building is a design by I.M. Pei, who won fame with, amonst others, his Louvre pyramid.

I am very happy with this first batch of pictures. The images are fairly grainy but pin sharp. They show a wonderful acutance and 3-dimensionality. The versatility of the Bronica with its standard lens is well demonstrated by the two pictures above. The first photo could have been taken with a modest wide-angle, say a 35mm, whilst the one below looks as if it has been taken with a 75mm.

I have started to compile a Blurb book to document our journey. More soon.

Winter at Plateau Rosa

Mid-March I was briefly in Cervinia to discuss a potential collaboration with Giovanni Zannetti on the Matterhorn Project. Mr. Zannetti has produced two earlier books on the history of the mountain, more particularly focusing on the feats of the famous Carrel dynasty of mountain guides. It was guide Antonio Carrel who put me in contact with his client. Eventually the contact proved to be fruitful and Mr. Zannetti agreed to produce an essay for the book I'd like to see happening.

When I arrived on that Friday, I was lucky. The Mont Blanc massif had been an effective barrier against the bad weather moving in from the west. The Aosta valley was still sunny. So I took the opportunity to to take the 4x5" op to the Plan Maison ski station to take a picture of the mountain's wintery south-eastern face. Skies were clear but it was extremely windy. As a result most of the ski area was closed. The only option for me was to huddle behind a small chalet and take a picture from there. Despite the wind protection, I wasn't sure at all whether it would be a sharp image.

The result was worth the effort, I think. I am quite pleased with this image. It is quite sharp, for a start. And I like the compositional simplicity, the strong, almost lithographic contrast and the smooth tonal range which really connect it to a Sella-kind of aesthetics. Definitely one for the book.

The wealthy heart of Europe

I just returned from a 10-day study trip in the context of my study of urban planning (a Masters of Human Settlements at KULeuven). We traversed the wealthy heart of Europe, visiting urbanistic and architectural projects in Luxemburg, Karlsruhe, Zürich, Luzern, Basel, Mulhouse, Strasbourg, Nancy and Metz. What struck most was the amazingly quality of life in these places (with Mulhouse perhaps not meeting the lofty standards set by the other cities). There is no doubt that this part of the world must be the best place to live anywhere on this planet. If one wouldn't know better these cities could lead one to believe that the world really works. This experience of the good life was reinforced by an exceptional spell of sunny and balmy spring weather. Anyway, it was a good opportunity to get into some serious photography again. I took just the Bronica RF645 with its 65/4 lens and a mixed bag of 120 B&W roll films (including chromogenic Ilford, Efke 100, Kodak Pan 125, Tri-X 400, around 30 pieces in all). The purpose was simply to document our journey, keeping faithfully track of all the projects we visited. I was happy to experience how much energy I drew from this sustained effort to photograph.Taking pictures simply makes me happy! Because of such a long spell of inactivity I'd almost forgotten the feeling. The Bronica continues to feel like a wonderful camera. I didn't feel constrained at all by having only a single lens at my disposal. It's energising and relaxing at the same time. I am now looking forward to getting the films back, scanning them and bundling a nice selection together in a Blurb book.