That’s what she told us after we couldn’t help her reach the most touristy spot you could imagine, which was closed on that day. The woman and her two friends, with their red necks showing the strain of all the latest camera gear, were clearly stressed. Phil and I just left the metro station at ICC, where we started our photowalk, and then went to the main building with the iconic tower at the trade fair grounds. In the underground, we’ve been enjoying the vibrant tiled walls and broken escalators that have been all over social media. I let them shine their projection through my Pentax MX camera, which I’m trying to make my favorite, with the 50-millimeter lens, to burn the beautiful color contrast onto black-and-white Kodak T-Max 400 film. I recently bought it to give my usual Ilford stock some competition.

The first thing the middle-aged woman with the X-T5 (worth about 1,500 euros today) on her neck said to us, just after we climbed back to sunlight and let our eyes slowly adapt to the overcast day’s sunlight, was “I thought you were street photographers, but it seems you’re just using analog cameras.” After a brief moment of realization, I responded with something about how analog street photography on film is also an option. Looking back, it was a misguided approach to have a non-biased conversation about photography. Then, of course, there was the whole conversation about “good” photo spots nearby, which led to the aforementioned highest level of photographic nonsense you’ll ever read in a blog title. Both of us were pretty shocked by the close-minded way of thinking about art, so we decided to stop wasting time worrying about other people and get back to work!

It was the first time we went out with Phil having us both equipped with analog cameras. Usually, I’m the one behind the camera, but after I sparked Phil’s interest in film photography, I’m sure we’ll be doing a lot more photowalks in the future. He’s a natural artist, and he recently added photography to his already huge portfolio of wood and light works. Around two or three months ago, I lent him my own first film SLR, the Fujica ST801. After he got some good results, I was asked to get him his own one. I’m glad I agreed and got a great deal on a Chinon CE-4 with a Pentax 50 mill. I cleaned it and replaced the light seals, and it was good to go. He added some yellow leather replacement that he cut himself, and made it his own unique tool that he wanted to carry around most of the time.

Back to the ICC: there’s already plenty of writing and photos of the time-frozen 80s interior, so I was looking for some favorable angles that would look good in black and white. The evenly lit environment provided by the gray blanket of sky above us left us with only the naturally shown structures of the architectural monster in front of us. There aren’t any harsh shadows or dark spots that make the already dramatic forms and edges stand out even more. They seem to be stuck to the facades and don’t really serve any other purpose, except as an example of what architecture could look like in the ’80s.

When I started with film photography, on my second or third roll, I did a self portrait. I put the camera on a tripod and used an integrated self-timer. Since then, I’d been planning to take more analog pictures of myself, and I finally got around to it this summer. Today I found some great backgrounds to stand in front of, and I’m really happy with the results. I can definitely see this working well and plan on doing more of it in the future.

I had a great time on this artistic photo trip. I’ve been kind of in a creative slump lately, and it hit me that I need to put more time and effort into my art than I’m currently giving it. I usually have my camera with me and try to take artistic pictures of the ordinary stuff I see every day. Usually, the results are kind of disappointing, and the whole thing feels rushed. Besides a few lucky shots, most of the work is quickly forgotten. These moments when I can really focus on taking photos for a longer time bring back the flow I’m so eager to find. This time, the lesson is pretty obvious: I need to make sure I include longer photo outings in my plans for my free time. And that “bad light” is just an excuse for not putting in enough effort.

Thanks, Phil! Thanks to you lovely people who read so far. Talk to you real soon!