In the late-1950's, when I was six or seven years old, I started to watch detective shows on TV, including Perry Mason, Dragnet, the Adventures of Ellery Queen, and Peter Gunn to name a few. I watched these shows on a TV that was black-and-white only, and reception was via a small antennae on top of the TV that we referred to as "rabbit ears". Because the reception was so poor, the picture on the TV screen was not only black-and-white, but it was filled with grain (or "static" as we called it). Perhaps my early love of b&w analog photographs was partly due to the fact that they looked much like what I saw on our TV screen.
Occasionally I stumble across a moment that instantly triggers my brain and transports me back in time -- often it is so strong that I literally feel as if I've gone backwards in time. I love it when this happens, and I love it even more when I can capture the moment with my camera.
I happened to have my Leica M6 film camera with me as I traveled through a tiny Indiana town, and this scene instantly caught my eye and reminded me of a 1950's detective movie on our old b&w TV. Fortunately I had Kodak Tri-X film in the M6 and I knew that by under-exposing slightly I could get a dark, grainy scene just like I saw in those detective shows on our old TV.
Once developed, I was not disappointed with the photograph. It captured exactly what the scene had triggered in my brain. Not a sharp, grain-free perfect photograph, but instead what I used to see on our old TV. And for just a moment, I was that little boy back in front of that TV in our house on Main Street. And all was well.
Clarks Hill, IN
2021
© James Rice, All Rights Reserved
Leica M6 TTL, 0.72
50mm Summicron
Kodak Tri-X 400
Developed: The Darkroom Photo Lab, San Clemente, CA
In the late-1950's, when I was six or seven years old, I started to watch detective shows on TV, including Perry Mason, Dragnet, the Adventures of Ellery Queen, and Peter Gunn to name a few. I watched these shows on a TV that was black-and-white only, and reception was via a small antennae on top of the TV that we referred to as "rabbit ears". Because the reception was so poor, the picture on the TV screen was not only black-and-white, but it was filled with grain (or "static" as we called it). Perhaps my early love of b&w analog photographs was partly due to the fact that they looked much like what I saw on our TV screen.
Occasionally I stumble across a moment that instantly triggers my brain and transports me back in time -- often it is so strong that I literally feel as if I've gone backwards in time. I love it when this happens, and I love it even more when I can capture the moment with my camera.
I happened to have my Leica M6 film camera with me as I traveled through a tiny Indiana town, and this scene instantly caught my eye and reminded me of a 1950's detective movie on our old b&w TV. Fortunately I had Kodak Tri-X film in the M6 and I knew that by under-exposing slightly I could get a dark, grainy scene just like I saw in those detective shows on our old TV.
Once developed, I was not disappointed with the photograph. It captured exactly what the scene had triggered in my brain. Not a sharp, grain-free perfect photograph, but instead what I used to see on our old TV. And for just a moment, I was that little boy back in front of that TV in our house on Main Street. And all was well.
Clarks Hill, IN
2021
© James Rice, All Rights Reserved
Leica M6 TTL, 0.72
50mm Summicron
Kodak Tri-X 400
Developed: The Darkroom Photo Lab, San Clemente, CA