Mamiyaroid 4

Novelty

Photography is a good container for your obsessions. That can be said of any art form, but unlike writing, when you flip through a stack of prints, or scroll through your camera roll, it’s all so obvious. There’s no subtext to interpret.

Some photographers prize consistency of results and then you have those who seek novelty. I think I fall somewhere in the middle. I’ve owned several lomography cameras and while they can be fun, I hate using zone focus, and after a little while you yearn for some control. That said, my boyfriend found this weird camera, the Chinon Genesis II, for $5 at a thrift shop upstate sometime in the winter. It’s bulky and looks like a camcorder. It has the ease of a point and shoot without the slim profile of a point and shoot, and some of the features of an SLR, without all the manual exposure controls of an SLR. It’s pretty goofy, actually, but I tested it out and what I like about it is the 35mm-80mm zoom lens. To me that makes it an ideal street photography camera. No worry about it getting banged up out in the field, and you have the option to zoom in.

One of my obsessions. Chinon Genesis II, Kodak Gold 400

A typical image from me. Chinon Genesis II, Kodak Gold 400

Speaking of novelty, here is a Polaroid 600 print made with black and yellow duochrome film. Limited edition, of course. I saw people taking lots of average photos using this film and I decided to be more selective and went through my archive and selected images I love that I thought were well suited to the film and made prints using my Polaroid Lab. This is from a roll of fuji velvia 100 iso 120 film I shot in 2018 at the Yayoi Kusama Narcissus Garden exhibit at Fort Tilden. I used my Fuji GA645zi, which is as close to a point and shoot you’re going to get with a medium format camera. Another weird hybrid camera. I guess that’s my thing. A little novelty as long as I’m guaranteed performance.

Until next time…

Adalena

I love to receive comments and questions about photography and cameras!

My email: adalenakavanagh@gmail.com

Instagram: @mamiyaroid (instant/film) @5redpandas (personal)

Twitter: @adalenakavanagh

Also, if you’re thinking of buying Polaroid film for the first time, here is my referral code, which gets you 10% off, and I get some reward points.

Original photography prints: adalenakavanagh.bigcartel.com (If you see something you like, let me know, I’m happy to make you a print. I am trying to put the Kusama print up in my shop but it’s currently not cooperating. If you’re interested in it let me know!)

-Adalena Kavanagh