Analog Disaster
This year's last Saturday occurred something that only can be call a catastrophe. There has been some time since something like that happened to me. The catastrophe: the camera I was using (the Zenit-E) had a light leak that I didn't notice, because when my brother gave it to me (with film included), and he didn't check the camera's condition. The light leak (as you can imagine) rendered the film in the camera useless. All the photos were ruined... The moment the photo shop attendant pulled the blank film out of the process machine, like a magician pulling a hankyshift out of his sleeve, looking at me saying: "This is completely blank!"... was horribly shocking. Thanks God that iDoux was with me. I didn't know that would affect me so much. It's not that I fucked up, because I didn't know about the camera's dreadful state; but I never should go out to take photographs ignoring the state of my equipment.
So many unique moments and subjects that I thought I captured on film... lost forever.
The first photos I took: Was a lovely asian girl, seated waiting for someone. She was focused on her city map. She looked beautiful, so I took a picture of her. Then I walk a few blocks and on my way back, I find her standing up, still reading the map. I decided to take another picture of her, but I wanted to capture her lovely face looking at the camera. So I gently shout at her direction to call her attention, and in the moment she looked at me I press my shutter, knowing I had her forever on that 35mm frame. She didn't mind been photographed, she even enjoyed it, letting me know with a smile.
Afterwards I was walking down some street and went across a place that looked like a hair dressing class was taking place. The teacher was dyeing some girl's hair to show the students the procedure. The scene was delightful to watch. Everyone seemed so focused on the teacher's doing, and the teacher was so methodical during the procedure, and she looked so beautiful while doing it. Another picture taken. A little bit difficult this time concerning light, because they were in a closed place, and I was outside on the street.
I keep on walking and reached the Capitolio, and took a few more pictures. One of a beggar taking the sun in a very unique pose (looked like a neoclassical statue), a red haired tourist drinking beer in the stairs on the Capitolio, a lovely Japanese girl also seating on those stairs, and a kid flying his kite.
Later on the Parque Central, a spotted three German tourists with their baggage piled up on the street, and they standing around it. They looked kind of lost. One was standing besides the pile of bags, looking to the distance, another was leaned forward looking a city map, and the other was seated besides the bags, with the classic "Where the hell are we" tourist face. I nailed them completely, because they were so focused on their orientation tragedy I didn't need to hide with the camera. Besides, the light condition was perfect.
On Obispo Street I photograph two interesting subjects. One dressing 'a la Hemingway', smoking a Cuban cigar and waiting for his order on a classical Cuban bar. The other reading (very focused) his menu at another cafeteria.
A took a bunch of other photographs, but the one I describe above were the most important ones. The ones I didn’t want to forget. The ones I want to remember twenty years form now.
Well, at least I learned my lesson. Never take things for granted regarding equipment, and always double check it PERSONALLY before loading film or hitting the streets. If this didn’t happened, I wouldn’t notice the tiny but still fatal hole on the shutter curtain on my Zenit 12, something I haven’t discovered until now. Mainly because I didn’t get all paranoid checking it. But now, with my lesson learned, I found that fatal flaw in that camera. When the shutter is cocked, and the curtain is loaded to a side, is when only you can see the hole. And it also had a light leak on the viewfinder! Nothing weird in old cameras, as I later found out doing research on the internet. Now the only thing left to do is taking the two cameras for servicing and hoping for the best.
So many unique moments and subjects that I thought I captured on film... lost forever.
The first photos I took: Was a lovely asian girl, seated waiting for someone. She was focused on her city map. She looked beautiful, so I took a picture of her. Then I walk a few blocks and on my way back, I find her standing up, still reading the map. I decided to take another picture of her, but I wanted to capture her lovely face looking at the camera. So I gently shout at her direction to call her attention, and in the moment she looked at me I press my shutter, knowing I had her forever on that 35mm frame. She didn't mind been photographed, she even enjoyed it, letting me know with a smile.
Afterwards I was walking down some street and went across a place that looked like a hair dressing class was taking place. The teacher was dyeing some girl's hair to show the students the procedure. The scene was delightful to watch. Everyone seemed so focused on the teacher's doing, and the teacher was so methodical during the procedure, and she looked so beautiful while doing it. Another picture taken. A little bit difficult this time concerning light, because they were in a closed place, and I was outside on the street.
I keep on walking and reached the Capitolio, and took a few more pictures. One of a beggar taking the sun in a very unique pose (looked like a neoclassical statue), a red haired tourist drinking beer in the stairs on the Capitolio, a lovely Japanese girl also seating on those stairs, and a kid flying his kite.
Later on the Parque Central, a spotted three German tourists with their baggage piled up on the street, and they standing around it. They looked kind of lost. One was standing besides the pile of bags, looking to the distance, another was leaned forward looking a city map, and the other was seated besides the bags, with the classic "Where the hell are we" tourist face. I nailed them completely, because they were so focused on their orientation tragedy I didn't need to hide with the camera. Besides, the light condition was perfect.
On Obispo Street I photograph two interesting subjects. One dressing 'a la Hemingway', smoking a Cuban cigar and waiting for his order on a classical Cuban bar. The other reading (very focused) his menu at another cafeteria.
A took a bunch of other photographs, but the one I describe above were the most important ones. The ones I didn’t want to forget. The ones I want to remember twenty years form now.
Well, at least I learned my lesson. Never take things for granted regarding equipment, and always double check it PERSONALLY before loading film or hitting the streets. If this didn’t happened, I wouldn’t notice the tiny but still fatal hole on the shutter curtain on my Zenit 12, something I haven’t discovered until now. Mainly because I didn’t get all paranoid checking it. But now, with my lesson learned, I found that fatal flaw in that camera. When the shutter is cocked, and the curtain is loaded to a side, is when only you can see the hole. And it also had a light leak on the viewfinder! Nothing weird in old cameras, as I later found out doing research on the internet. Now the only thing left to do is taking the two cameras for servicing and hoping for the best.