Over the course of last year, I ran through another fifty-two roll project. While I didn’t post the images here to this blog, I did post them over on 52rolls.net. This year I made a point to stick to certain rules and methods that I have used in past projects of this type and settled on the following.
- I could only use a Hasselblad 500 series camera
- I could only use the Rollei RPX line of film (RPX 25, 100, and 400)
- I could use any lens in the Hasselblad V system
I also made a point each week I would pick my favourite photo from that week, in mind to but them together in a book (which is happening). But without further delay, here’s my picks for 52 photos from 52 weeks!
Week 01 – Welcome to the Hangover
Week 02 – Winter’s Fort
Week 03 – In the Darkness Bind Them
Week 04 – A Fort for a City
Week 05 – Ghosts
Week 06 – Organized Chaos
Week 07 – A View to a Lake
Week 08 – Fort Town
Week 09 – Throwing Rocks
Week 10 – Capital National
Of course, this project I was euphoric with, I mean by the half-way point I had worked through some failures, accepted the losses and posted the photos anyways. Now I had toyed around with the idea of making a book with my first 52-Roll Project, not so much in the second, the third would have also made a good book. But this fourth one grabbed onto me, so I started collecting up my favourites from each week.
Week 11 – Jewel in the Crown
Week 12 – A House Divided
Week 13 – A Lovely Downtown
Week 14 – Just Won’t Quit
Week 15 – A Fort Named George
The design of the book will be pure, middle gray for the background with white text in a sans-serif font and simply titled “52: A Year on Film” each image presented with a small write up on it. The write-ups will be new, not taken from any blog post or Flickr description, as the book is a reflection on the image, what it means now, not then.
Week 16 – In the Neighborhood
Week 17 – No Place I’d Rather Be
Week 18 – Longwoods
Week 19 – The Gully
Week 20 – Welcome to the Jungle
What goes into picking your favourite photos, thankfully some weeks I had only seven picks from the roll, others I had the full twelve. I usually trust my gut when it comes to this; I wait for a single photo just to jump out and grab me. Ones that I’m on point with exposure and composition, an image that speaks to my soul and shows the theme or subject I had photographed for the week.
Week 21 – Welcome to the Roc
Week 22 – A Farmer’s Life
Week 23 – Battlefield House
Week 24 – The City that Works
Week 25 – The Old Kirk
Week 26 – Close to Home
Week 27 – Ships of Summer
Week 28 – Cruisin’
Week 29 – Lovely Saturday Drive
Week 30 – Contest of Fortification
The big task will be to go back through my negatives and to rescan each one, then going through and editing each image again in Photoshop but using the same technique and style for each. You might have noted the jarring sepia tone on “A House Divided” Yeah, that wouldn’t look good in a book that I’m aiming to keep a consistent look. It also will allow for some of the old negatives that had a nasty curl to be scanned better.
Week 31 – Vieux-Québec
Week 32 – Lakeshore Evenings
Week 33 – Transit
Week 34 – Wednesday Night Blues
Week 35 – Muskoka
Week 36 – Castle
Week 37 – Shaken, Not Stirred
Week 38 – Saturday Morning Coffee
Week 39 – Black Creek
Week 40 – Grand Old House
The project also gave me a deep appreciation for the Rollei RPX line of films, a fantastic stock that’s new in the film community. And I do plan on continuing to shoot the RPX 25 as my new choice for slow films, RPX 100 and RPX 400 are decent films, but I’ll stick with FP4+ and Tri-X.
Week 41 – Battle Ground
Week 42 – Royal City
Week 43 – Make No Little Plans
Week 44 – Disillusionment
Week 45 – High Flight
Week 46 – Distant Voices
Week 47 – Finding Nemo
Week 48 – Steel City Blues
Week 49 – Upon Avon
Week 50 – Burlington Races
Week 51 – Once More with Feeling
Week 52 – All’s Quiet
