Osoyoos, 2013 /  by Nathan Jones

Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss 80 mm f/2.8 Planar, Kodak Tri-X 400, Kodak D76.

From 2009-2013, or thereabouts, I carried a Rolleiflex TLR camera with me wherever I went. Almost invariably it was loaded with black-and-white film, which I developed in my bathroom at home. A few weeks ago, I began the process of re-examining the archive of my negatives with the goal of producing a photobook that seeks to make thematic sense of my relationship to photography over the last 15 years. The four photographs shown above may eventually be included in this work.

Here is my current selection of photographs for this project.

Here are brief descriptions of my current projects and a list of abandoned/defunct projects.

Another Main Street Portrait, 2011 /  by Nathan Jones

Rolleiflex 6006 Model 1 (equipped with 645 back), 80 mm f/2.8 Planar, Kodak Portra 400.

I love the Nikon F this fellow photographer is carrying. I have added the upper photograph to Candid, a gallery of colour photographs of my family, friends, and acquaintances.

The Leica R7, a Flawed Diamond /  by Nathan Jones

The Leica R7 was the last in the line of electromechanical SLR cameras descending from the German-Japanese collaboration that produced the Leica R3 in 1977. That camera, which shared much of its DNA with the Minolta XE (released in 1974 as the XE-1 in Europe and the XE-7 in North America), was the lighter, smaller, and less-expensive-to-manufacture successor to the famously over-engineered and unprofitable Leicaflex SL2 that was produced by Leitz from 1974 to 1976. The partnership between Leitz and Minolta culminated in the release of the R7 in 1992, twenty years after the two companies had signed an agreement of technical cooperation. In 1996, the R7 was succeeded by the R8, which was designed exclusively by Leica and was a radical break from the R3–R7 line.

Keep reading my review of the Leica R7 …

Fall Tedium, London, Ontario, 2009 /  by Nathan Jones

Top left frame: Rolleiflex Automat 3, Zeiss 75 mm f/3.5 Tessar. All other frames: Rolleiflex 6006 Model 2, 80 mm f/2.8 Planar.

Film and developer: Fuji Acros 100, Kodak D76.

I have added these images and others to my Retrospective, a growing collection of photographs shot on black-and-white film using Rolleiflex cameras over the last 15 years.

Looking Glass /  by Nathan Jones

As I continue the process of re-examining the 15-year archive of my negatives, I am not surprised to discover recurring themes among the photographs. Occasionally, one of these emergent themes demands closer consideration. To that end, I am now curating a collection of photographs called Looking Glass. In these images, I peer from the street through ground level windows into buildings (and occasionally vehicles) to glimpse the people inside. Often, my reflection is captured in the glass, and sometimes the inhabitants look back, quizzically and disapprovingly. Over the coming weeks and months, I will enlarge this collection as I unearth old photographs from the archives and take new ones on the street.

The photograph above was shot in Gastown, Vancouver, during the summer of 2018 using a broken Voïgtlander VF 135 point-and-shoot rangefinder loaded with Kodak Portra 400 film. I owned this camera briefly: neither the rangefinder nor the point-and-shoot appeals to my way of shooting, so there was a two-fold reason for letting go of it. While I don’t regret selling the VF 135, I regret the loss of its Zeiss 40 mm f/2.3 Sonnar lens, which is sharp and contrasty—as this photograph beautifully attests. It is a surprisingly good lens for such an inexpensive camera.