Wednesday, November 21, 2012

A Communist Past: The Temperamental but Effective Results of a Rollei Film via an Olympus Trip

By Olivia Maria Hărşan

Although my favorite camera is undoubtedly my Porst Reflex, I decided against taking it to Europe this year and breaking my back with it (it gets heavy after a while, especially when you're backpacking!). I replaced it with my little Olympus Trip that I picked up for a ridiculous $3 at my local op shop. Little did I know that it had a light leak, but between this flaw and the intolerance of the Rollei film, my Olympus achieved some interesting results. Below are some photographs I took in Sighişoara, Berlin and Prague. P.S. The last three are taken on B&W Kodak film.

Props to my close friend Aaron Bensaude who helped me scan my film with his high tech photo scanner. Aaron is currently living in London and in the process of publishing a book on his grandfather's beautiful photographs, which focus on rural life in Portugal. He would not be happy with me as I have not yet tweaked these in Photoshop, but I'm all for imperfection in photography. So here they are in their imperfect state, enjoy.


Biserica din Deal/Church on the Hill in Sighişoara, Romania
(June 2012)


Casa Cu Cerb/Deer House in Sighişoara, Romania
(June 2012)


Turnul Cu Ceas/Clock Tower in Sighişoara, Romania 
(June 2012)


Abandoned Trabant in Kreuzberg, Berlin 
(July 2012)


Monument on Karlův Most/Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic
(May 2012) 


Musicians on Karlův Most/Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic
(May 2012) 


A back street in Prague, Czech Republic
(May 2012)


Karlův Most/Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic
(May 2012)