A Dream of Babylon by Holger Nitschke

The photographer Holger Nitschke from Lower Saxony has been photographing for 17 years with a focus on portrait and fashion, but only for the last year and a half in analog. The analog madness began with his friend and analog lover Reimund Belling, who also developed Films for Holger in the beginning. In the meantime, Holger does everything himself, from photography to scanning, and he's also trying his hand at making paper prints. Always at his side is his partner Ilka, who is responsible for the styling of the Models. Holger stumbled upon Lomography in his research on experiments with expired film and has since shared his unique portraits in his LomoHome.

For his last shoot, Holger had his Contax 139Quartz with 50mm/1.7 Planar by his side, and our new Babylon Kino ISO 13 Film in his luggage. He shares his wonderful shots and also his thoughts about this super slow film in the following interview.

"Besides some deliberately defocused images, I have extended the exposure time with the intention of creating "blurred" (dreamlike) images."

You tested the Babylon Kino Film - what is your first impression? What did you particularly like?

First of all: the packaging is totally cool and stylish (but that's what it is with every Lomo product). Honestly, it's very important to me how products (especially those related to photography, music, art) are packaged.

The Babylon Kino is an absolutely "light-weak" film, which makes the sun or spotlight almost indispensable. During our shooting, we faced the problem that the promised evening bombshell sunlight was unfortunately covered by clouds. Since I absolutely don't like to work with tripods (and forgot my Rotolights at home) and prefer to use the available light on-location, I had no other choice than to adapt to the local light conditions. Since I love to experiment, I liked that I had to adapt my way of working (restricting would be the wrong word).

In conclusion, I can say that otherwise I probably wouldn't have created such pictures (like those of this series).

Did you have a special approach/theme for the series?

I like to be spontaneous and improvise, especially when I have a model in front of my camera for the first time, as was the case with Lena We chose a light and a dark outfit – to show the contrasts of black and white.

I really like the whole series, my favorite is the photo where the light breaks through the clouds with Lena blurred in the foreground.

Last but not least, tips and tricks for all those who want to use the Babylon Kino Film in the future?

Don't forget your lamps at home – but seriously, pick a Camera, a fast lens and off you go – expose as long as you want, look for stronger contrasts in the surrounding area, and don't overexpose the pictures.

Many thanks to Holger for the wonderful photos and for sharing his thoughts and impressions of the Babylon Kino ISO 13 Film. Check out his Website, Instagram, and his LomoHome and get inspired! Many thanks also to model Lena.

written by alinaxeniatroniarsky on 2020-09-25 in #gear #news #people