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 03 – In the Darkness Bind Them
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.
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 17 – No Place I’d Rather Be
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 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 34 – Wednesday Night Blues
Week 38 – Saturday Morning Coffee
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 43 – Make No Little Plans