Argus C3
An older gentleman who takes care of things around my building noticed my iPad the other day and seemed fascinated by the technology. He remarked about its incredible ability to store thousands of photos in one small tablet. While the magic is less of a miracle to some of us, even I can still remember how much space negatives, contact sheets, and prints took up in my earlier days as a photographer. A little digital tablet that could store and display my entire portfolio, while taking up less space than a spiral-bound notebook? That would have seemed impossible when I was coming up. But there it was, sitting on my coffee table. Funny that my iPhone can do the same thing.
Knowing that my friend also spent a few years behind a camera (including an old Graflex 4×5) back in his day, I said, “Yeah, the iPad’s cool. But check this out.” I pulled my Argus C3 off my bookshelf and handed it to him. “I love these old cameras.” I knew he’d appreciate what he saw. He popped the back open, clicked the shutter, and said excitedly, “It still works!” This, of course, made me want to go out and blow through some 35mm rolls of film. Yes, even though beautiful, sharper images can be made with my iPhone.
Central Park. iPhone, Camera+ app. without vintage/film effects.
Taxi. iPhone, Camera+, Instagram with vintage/film effects applied.
As I’ve often said, you’ve got to get back to your roots now and then. Some of my favorite images are from my early days as a photographer. They were shot on film, with bad lighting, pushed and expired film, and had plenty of technical imperfections. Back then, I was just a kid who loved to take pictures, and had yet to hear of megapixels and superior lenses. But the old and the new are never really far apart. It’s great to be able to use a digital camera now and get film-like results, instantly and at almost zero per-image cost.
After taking it, I realized how funny it was that the first image above, of the old “vintage” Argus film camera, was shot with the new tech of an iPhone, published immediately to the world via a shared portfolio called Instagram, which people like for its ability to make hi-res digital photos look like they were shot on old vintage film cameras. Kind of a “going full-circle” thing. If you like to post your Hipstamatic and Instagram and actual film and Polaroid images you probably get it; there’s art there, everywhere. Sometimes you just have to point a camera at it and filter away the “better quality” of digital. The beauty can be easier to see without all that punchy detail getting in the way.
