The major problem with getting back into film photography is that almost everything that one wants is no longer produced and so I suppose one should say thank goodness for eBay, because without doubt it is a wonderful source for almost everything. I’ve heard it said that eBay is very much on the side of buyers as opposed to sellers. I’m not sure if this is true but I have been grateful for the couple of times when I’ve received something that was not as described because eBay has dealt with the return of my money very quickly and efficiently.
One of these cases related to a film back for a roll film camera. It came from Japan and it was quite expensive so I did have a little panic at the time. However, it was dealt with so efficiently that my anxiety was short lived. Some of my purchases have been from companies but in several cases, they’ve been from individuals and the little personal notes that have accompanied the objects have reminded me of how much many people cared for their equipment in the days of film photography.
One of my purchases was a twin lens reflex, a Minolta Autocord. I haven’t handled a camera like that for 50 years and my first sensation of picking it up was sheer delight. it felt surprisingly heavy and because it seemed to be made entirely of metal it felt like a bit of precision machinery. This was one of the purchases where the vendor enclosed a note. It said ‘Hope you love it’
In a complete change of direction, recently I’ve returned to a film on Netflix called ‘The Colours of Infinity.’
It’s presented by Arthur C Clarke, and when I first saw it a year or two ago, I thought that it was a new film though I couldn’t understand why Arthur C Clarke was using a computer which was not much bigger than a shoebox.
Eventually I realised that the film was 30 years old which explained everything but not, I shamefacedly admit, the fact that I knew nothing about its subject, the Mandelbrot Set and Fractal Geometry. I say shamefaced, not because I should be interested in mathematics, but because in demonstrating the Mandelbrot Set, the film shows the most beautiful and complicated moving colour patterns which I’ve ever seen. I have looked at this film a dozen times. To my mind it has the most tremendously powerful spiritual centre, Indeed the recurring visual motif is called the thumb print of God. I think that every artist should watch it. It will not leave you unchanged.