Vivian and Other Strangers

Sometimes I think about Vivian Maier. Not her posthumously discovered photographic archive, but how she had kept it all to herself throughout her whole life. Decades of serious photography and seemingly no urge to show it to anyone! You might remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Self-esteem is right up there in the pyramid. We tend to want the pat on the back. There is a reason for the like button on social media after all. Maybe Vivian thought about her photography in different ways; ways that were completely detached from what we would call "achievement"; the simple love of a picture as a memory for example. Or maybe other forces were at play; maybe she was discouraged by a male dominated milieu. Being a nanny, was there anybody who would've taken her work seriously? It's also a possibility that she just didn't feel like pushing her own work. Without the pushing and promoting nothing tends to happen. The whole thing is a mystery I wish Vivian didn't take to her grave.

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I usually don't stop a person on the street to take their picture, preferring to photograph in the confines of what's available without my interference. But here I was, on the ferry in Istanbul. It was a cold spring day. No matter how cold or wet though, I tend to travel on the upper deck, in open air. The ship was approaching the pier, and the passengers began to make a move, when I saw this young man with his dog tucked into his coat. I didn't think twice, hurried over and asked permission for a photo, which he kindly accepted. "Please, don't bugger this up!" whizzed through my head as I quickly focused the Rollei T (loaded with HP5) and exposed two frames. Thank you, dear stranger!

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I've been using Ilford's cheaper Kentmere range more and more and find both the 100 and 400 speed versions are perfectly fine films. Here are two prints from my last roll of Kentmere 400. It was developed in home-brewed D76 stock solution, together with another roll of the same film. You know what?...if someone had told me these prints were from 100 speed film, I wouldn't have doubted them one moment; the grain is that tight.

The first is a picture I made whilst having a quick and lonely dinner in a local Kadikoy* restaurant. I'd been observing the scene, the comings and goings for a while, then when I thought all looked right, I raised my Leica with 35mm Summicron, focused, waited for eye contact, and exposed one frame. As I lowered the camera the chef ordered the waiter to add the photo to my bill :)

* A district on the Asian side of Istanbul.

After dinner I strolled around in the streets. I've always liked the night-time look of some of the stand-alone cafes by the pier in Kadikoy. They can have a Hopperian air with the neons and the lonely souls. Here, I didn't want to get too close, as I wanted to include the enveloping darkness of the night in the picture. The same camera, same lens, same film, and the same suspense for the "right" moment. 1/30th (or maybe 1/60th) at f2. Man, the Summicron never ceases to amaze me.

Many years ago, I showed my mom some of my pictures. "Why do you take pictures of people you don't know?" she asked. Her question still makes me chuckle today, although I have often asked the same question to myself.

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Finally, let me show you some prints and the Kentmere negs. The prints are on 24x30cm Ilford Classic and slightly selenium toned. It's a bit difficult for me to get even lighting on my viewing board (oh the irony!), so no perfect reproductions here (although I've fiddled around with the file quite a bit to get a decent look), but they should give an idea. They look much better to the naked eye ;-)