January 2023.

Untitled: First self shoot on the Argoflex

Shot at midnight in collaboration with my partner Eben. This was only our second time experimenting with the camera. I really wanted to do a self portrait shoot but the Argoflex doesn’t have a self timer so thats where Eben’s assistance came in.

We consider the first photo in this set to be shared ownership between us because he helped with the posing (aka telling me to suck my cheek in and throw my head back) and also fired the shutter. We collaborated on the settings of the camera as well, since we were both new to the Argoflex. I offered a more artistic pov while he offered a more technical pov (though he is also artistic….I’m just not very technical :^)).

Other fun facts:

• We decided to shoot this on Ilford XP2 (a black and white film that processes in C-41 chemicals). That way, I could throw the roll into the color processor at my film lab job the next day….rather than waiting to hand process like a standard black and white roll :).

• I chose not to edit out the dust on the scans because for me it is a time stamp to mark where I was at in my job. I had started the job in October 2022 but was new to medium format film and still getting the hang of using a drum scanner… and it shows….which I LOVE!