Dreams

梦

I was recently looking through my archives and noticed the scans of the film I’d shot many years ago. It contained photos among which there was a series called “Dreams” that’s already well-known to you. Each photo from this series is unique… As I was browsing one photo after the other, I gave myself to the memories of those days.

t was a beautiful July morning. I was walking by a car boot sale selling some old stuff and saw a film camera Cosina dating back to the 70s. The camera was in a very good condition and was sold at a very good price of 5 dollars. I bought it without hesitation. In a couple of days, I bought a Kodak 200 Gold film and decided to try to make a series of portraits. It was sort of an experiment for me, as I hadn’t taken film photos for around 20 years.

Young and charming Alina helped me implement that photoshoot. At that point, my idea was to make a couple of portraits to check the camera’s performance. I took retro clothes and a bonnet for the photoshoot. The weather was great that day, and we went to the nearby park.

When Alina changed her clothes, I admired her – she was so natural, emotional and charming! She was perfect… Whatever pose she would take, wherever she would turn, she’d always come out very well. I’d just focus my camera and capture particular moments…

A week later, I took back the developed film and felt very excited about how amazing those photos were. There was no excessive harshness – the photos were all about nice colors and gentleness. And, of course, Alina – she was beautiful like a flower in each photo. It was exactly that photoshoot that made me love film photos and use film cameras from time to time.

Today, my collection counts over 30 film cameras of various brands, and I use many of those to film. To be honest, film photos almost always appeal to me more than digital ones. They possess something that’s hard to describe in simple words… They’re genuine… They’re alive…