The sun rose early, and I could explore the quiet streets, some quieter than others.

I’d watch the streets fill with people making their way to work, to school, to anything...

...while I floated in a temporary void, needing to be nowhere in particular, enjoying the New Ordinary.

#japan #travel #photography #film #hipstamatic #osaka #street

[ Photo notes: the 3x black & white ones are from the same roll in my trusty Olympus XA2, the square one’s from Hipstamatic on my iPhone ]

This was a post from Cos.

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My wife found it odd. I couldn't really explain how songs seep into your bones over time, but it related to how I needed to experience a more random nature of Tokyo beyond other people's top-N lists.

We could've seen anything at all here, and it would've helped a few more connections form somewhere in my brain. That's what I'm looking for – the joy of less-conscious discoveries. After all, it's up to you what the image means.

#music #travel #japan #tokyo #photography #film #digital #memories

[ photo notes: the first one's on film from my Olympus XA2, the other two are from my Leica M Typ-240 with an old Canon 35mm M39/LTM lens ]

This was a post from Cos.

You can follow this blog on the Fediverse at @cos@apintandaparma.club or subscribe in your RSS reader.

My lovely collection of film cameras, no matter how often I dipped into them to try a different one on each short trip, spent their time at the bottom of my bag while I walked and moped and struggled to find beauty in the everyday. When I did find a shot, my phone was just too convenient to avoid. Even when I recently travelled overseas – at last! – hoping for some inspiration in other places, the film shots didn’t come back looking that great, especially compared to the phone ones.

It feels like I’ve finally had a breakthrough, though, with a bunch of “keepers” from my first roll of JapanCameraHunter Streetpan 400. It’s enough to make me love black & white film again:

Wandering back in my archives, though, tells a slightly different story – there’s been a few more (film) winners in the last two years than I remembered, both from my much-loved Leica M6:

...and the medium format point-and-shoot Fuji GA645i that still occasionally surprises me after a decade:

But this is why I should be spending more time with my archives – it’s a great way to remind myself of what I have done, and helps challenge the devil on my shoulder that keeps telling me “meh. You’ve lost interest. It’s time to get rid of all that gear.”

#photography #travel #archives #film

This was a post from Cos.

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