I have written before of my brother and I enjoying the darkroom days together. All black and white coming into sight slowly but surely, dripping chemicals, and praying that nobody opened the door to the basement. We timed things perfectly… sometimes. We didn’t have a warning light on the door, just the light needed to develop and a Timex watch for watching the progress. Silence and holding our breath was bigtime.
I can remember not going into *the room* when color film became more common for Peter’s way of shooting. After all, it was *his* darkroom and I was only his helper *if that* so telling him I liked B&W much more, he could have cared less. At that time I didn’t even have a camera that was new. They were handed down to me including the Instamatic and Grandpas, and rarely worked, let alone afford film to put in them. He was the owner and CEO of The Room. Now I am the keeper of some of his photos, as he is passed. Still, those memories have stayed even though the developing process has faded in my mind.
I have a load full of negatives that I scan when time allows. This one is my youngest brother and me. Peter is the shadow taking the photo. The year was 1968 just a few months before moving to Alameda where I began High School and Peter began a serious hobby of darkroom happiness in the basement of the Tilden House.
While deciding what to photograph for this week on Cee’s Black & White Challenge, all I could think of was that dark room in the basement. I snapped a plate full of negatives which are all over the place right now because of organizing everything, and in knowing Cee has an “open topic” this week it was helpful having my photo boxes in front of my face. The fact I got to break in a new lens was even better *happy face*.
The featured image and the one below were shot with the new Macro 100mm on the 5d Mark III. Getting this close is going to be fun. I could never read the word “film” below without magnifying glasses and this lens has great clarification. I didn’t have to do anything to the shot at all except watermark it and take the saturation all the way down. Swift and clean.
The photo below was one of the negatives above. It must have been taken sometime in 1972-1973ish. You can see my graduation photos on the mantle. My brother looked very dapper in the 70’s. He never liked to drink or dress funky. To see him grungy back then would be a shock. He was very grounded when he wanted to be and this photo shows just that.
*the rabbit ear’ed tv is killer*.
I have hit Yosemite instead of my brother (he always wanted to shoot there) and have thought of him often while photographing, a whisper in my ear to get that one pic is all I need from him. He was a creative guy and could do just about anything he put his mind to. So I am happy to share this little tale here while being a part of Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge. It was fun to remember being Peter’s shadow in that room.
Thanks for stopping in.
Til next time…
21 responses to “~Peter’s Shadow~”
[…] photos lately with an instamatic just for the retro look and no post editing. Unlike my post on Peter’s Shadows where we black-roomed our negatives as kids, this is instamatic and in-the-moment-now-fun. This new […]
I always liked the smell of fix on my fingers.
Yes…or just entering the room. A nice smell of its own indeed.
A lovely recollection.
Just nominated you for the Liebstar award. Details here: https://wordpress.com/post/raindried.wordpress.com/348
Thank you.
[…] negatives into images, albeit on Lightroom now and not in the darkroom for a post on my other blog Tales From My Lens, and as such, this week’s Artsy Fartsy for 365 came into […]
Lovely post. Thanks for sharing your memories. I think it’s good to talk of people — it celebrates their life. In Japan, on the 1, 2, 6, 12, 16, 32, and 49th of a death anniversary, people gather for a ceremony — besides the home religious ceremony (prayers and offerings at home in front of the person’s photo), people talk of the person, remember them and it is believed this helps the soul on it’s spiritual journey. I think also because of the memory sharing about one person by family and friends gathered that the children also get to hear stories of the things the person did so their life can also inspire another generation. I like that — that memories and love shared with that person continues.
I think that is so beautiful. The memory lives on through tradition. Lovely. Thank you!
Beautifully written ❤
Thank you!
What a delightful post!
Thank you!
Lovely memories – and, oh, those 70s fashions!
Ha Ha! Yes, those days had some doozies! Thanks for stopping by! Looking forward to your next journey read!
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I love the picture of you with the shadow of your brother who is taking the picture. What a great set of memories you shared here today!
Thank you Paula! It was great to see you visit. Hope all is well with you!
Wonderful post and photos for this week Thanks for participating.
Its always fun Cee!