Shooting Film in Miami
A few years ago, I posted a video to my YouTube channel titled “Miami on Film”. This video came at what I would call a turning point in my photography journey. I had been living in New York City for a bit over a year or two at that point; I started to really discover my photographic voice through street photography, and I was recently gifted my first film camera. When I would visit home, Miami, I would feel lost whenever I would go on photo walks. The type of photography I used to do when I lived there wasn’t appealing to me, and the photos I would attempt to make weren’t resonating with me. But when I returned with a film camera, a Ricoh KR5 Super, it forced me to become more methodical, think more about the subjects and themes I was interested in, and helped me focus on the type of photographs I wanted to make. To some, it may seem almost lazy or unrealistic that a simple switch in format could have this much of an impact, but it did. Since then, I have become more of a film photographer, although I still shoot both digital and film. I return home to Miami at least three times a year for usually a week or two at a time. Whenever I do, I continue to build my body of work in Miami. While I am still trying to connect the dots of what this body of work looks like, the themes or ideas I feel work best are a sense of personal nostalgia, a sense of meaning to a place, and a focus on the environment and the people who make it. The work is a mix of street photography, landscape, and some still life. Putting words like this to the body of work makes it seem way more serious than it actually is, but I think the intention behind it is there.
Anyway, I recently went back to Miami for a week and wanted to do a follow-up video titled Miami on Film Episode 2. This video features three separate days of shooting. First, an afternoon walk along the Coconut Grove waterfront and a quick trip to Key Biscayne. Day 2 was a short roll of 120 6×6 with my Yashicamat 124g at home, which is a major theme in this body of work. Day 3 was an exciting day at the Miami Beach Air and Sea Show on Memorial Day Weekend. Here’s the video below:
What’s different this time? I’m continuing to shoot only in black and white this year, which has been a great practice for me overall. I explained this in a previous blog post and video, but black and white in Miami is difficult for me because a lot of the nostalgic feelings I get from Miami are very well described using color. I also brought my new-to-me Yashica Mat 124 G, which was used a lot on this trip. I also had my Leica M4-P with my Ultron 28mm lens. Overall, I really liked this setup as the Yashica is light enough for a medium format camera that I don’t mind taking it with me while also using my Leica. Both cameras were shooting Tri-X at box speed the whole trip.
The Photos
This blog post already feels longer than I intended, so I will go ahead and just share some of my favorite photos from each day. In the video, I share way more, so feel free to check it out if you’re interested. Also, all of the photos from this trip were developed by Contact Photo Lab in Brooklyn. I scanned the 35mm myself, but they did scan all of the 120. They are an awesome lab and space. If you want to check them out in person, or mail in your film, check out this link: https://www.thefilmlabnyc.com/?ref=JON You can also use code “Jon10” for 10% off your order.
Day 1 - Coconut Grove and Key Biscayne
Every photo in this gallery is from my Yashicamat 124g with Tri-X 400. Developed and Scanned by Contact Photo.
Day 2 - Home
Every photo in this gallery is from my Yashicamat 124g with Tri-X 400. Developed and Scanned by Contact Photo.
Day 3 - Miami Beach Air and Sea Show
Every photo in this gallery was shot on my Leica M4-P with my Voigtlander 28mm Ultron. I also shot with my Yashicamat on this day; you can see those photos in the YouTube video above. Tri-X 400 developed by Contact Photo and scanned by me using my Sony A7RV and the Valoi Easy 35mm scanner.
The Miami Project Continues
I am not a photographer who thinks of his work in projects. But if there is anything in my photography that feels like a cohesive enough body to call it a project, it’s my Miami work. I’ve talked about it on YouTube a few times, but street photography in Miami is really challenging. I’ll save the details of why for a future post. But it means whenever I return home, I photograph in a way that feels very different than how I photograph in New York City. It’s a great change of pace and subject. My loose and long-term goal is to continue this Miami photography project while I live in New York City, alongside my NYC street photography work. Then in the future, if I ever decide to move back home, I can start putting together a book or zine of this away-from-home work. If you made it this far, thank you. Be sure to check out the YouTube video above!
