I know it’s cliche to say, but February went by way too fast and it’s hard to believe spring is nearly upon us (although I’m very much looking forward to less rain and more flowers in PDX).
TESTING THE WATERS
Around the holidays, I acquired many old family cameras that thankfully were still in working condition. Some of the cameras hadn’t been touched since the 1950s and also came with lots of negatives and slides that my family had captured with the same cameras, and I’d been itching to test out the cameras ever since.
I met up with musician Julia Logue to experiment with my great-aunt’s Samsung Maxima Evoca 35mm point and shoot, my cousin’s grandpa’s Omega 120, and my thrifted Polaroid.
I was a little let down by the point-and-shoot as many of the images were overexposed (the images below took a lot of editing to look like that) or out of focus, and I’m not sure if it was the camera’s fault or user-error.
The Omega 120 ended up working really well though, and its uniqueness made it all the more fun to shoot with: To advance the film after each shot, a crank on the side of the camera has to be pulled, making me feel like I’m loading a shotgun every time I take a photo.
The star of the show ended up being the Polaroid, I think partially because it wasn’t my first time using it (unlike the other cameras). It’s a 1981 Polaroid Sun600 with a fixed focus, and it’s been challenging to get an in-focus shot out of it. But I feel like I really focused myself while using it this time, instead of just pointing and shooting, and got better results because of it.
This shoot with Julia inspired me to test out more of my family’s cameras, and to start scanning all the negatives given to me from my grandma, too. If you’re interested in working with me on a test shoot, fill out the form below and we’ll make something happen!
NEW YORKKKKK
A couple weeks ago, my boyfriend Alex and I traveled to NYC to visit my brother and celebrate Alex’s birthday. There for nearly a week, we explored so much around the city.
The shining event of the trip though was attending Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in concert at Radio City Music Hall. A sold-out show, it was an incredible night full of Gandalfs, Hobbits, and beautiful music performed by The Orchestra of St. Luke’s as well as a full choir.
It was also exciting to visit my brother in Brooklyn, and I snapped some pics of him and his roommate Marco in their neighborhood. I miss New York already and can’t wait to go back.
TO WRAP IT ALL UP
Other fun events this month included a cover shoot for a punk-adjacent album to be released later this year. It was so creatively invigorating to collaborate with the musicians on the visuals, and I can’t wait to share what we came up with.
I’ve also been photographing the PDX Jazz Festival that has been going on the past few weeks. As the only woman covering the festival, it was a little disheartening to not be assigned to photograph any female-led performances. In fact, every group I’ve photographed so far has been all male, which is nothing new in the jazz world.
But I have appreciated the opportunity to cover part of the festival again, and all the shows I have documented so far have been nothing short of amazing. Just an interesting trend I’ve noticed, especially having performed jazz myself. Here’s hoping the music industry becomes more diverse and gender-inclusive!
Thanks for following along,
Camille
How fun to read all your activities. Can’t wait for the next chapter.💕