Anatomy Films – Seeds of Hope

Above Image: Nikon F5, 50mm, Tri-X

Originally, I was going to have a analog photographer friend interview me. Then I thought,…”That’s stupid”. First thing he asked me, since he knows me, is; “What are the questions?” Uhhh,…I can’t give you the questions! What do I look like,…CNN? Then I thought about just copying and pasting some old interviews. But they would make no sense now. So, I’ll just tell my story. Show a few images. Yada, yada, yada. Condensed. And include a few film images. Old-ish and new-ish, when I actually used cameras like a Minolta 370, to my present day Contax G1, G2 and Nikon F4s. (yes, I’ve used a Nikon F5) When I use a flash, it’s a Nikon SB-80dx and Contax TLA-200. Pretty simple outfit. I also extensively used a Rollei 6008, but haven’t used it for a few years.

Some Film Cameras

Other cameras I’ve used on jobs and personally,….Minolta 370, Speed Graphic, Mamiya Pro 330, Mamiya RB67, Nikon EM. I have used digital when either, A: Commercially forced to, (like when an Art Director wants to “Direct Me”) or B: Uploading web snapshots to Facebook/Social Media. (Nikon D2Hs) Which I would do for free for underground clubs in NY/Atlanta/Miami. Scanning made no sense. BTW, a 4.1MP camera required me to “reduce” image size just to upload to the web!

I had my studio in the Meatpacking District in NYC. The front entrance was on 13th St., across the way from Hogs and Heifers. My bar. Sadly now closed. And across the street from Steven Klein. (on Greenwich and Gansevoort) Blocks from Industria, Albert Watson, Milk Studios,…and more. Back when it smelled like the Meatpacking District!

Things were going well. Working with big ad agencies, some nice mags, (even local stuff,…Village Voice, Out, etc.) Even cable TV, doing images for VH1’s Hip Hop Nation, MTV and more. All the while doing more and more personal work, published in Tectum books, and working on my own book.

Not Big,…But Going Forward

Lived in the art center of the world. Billings were good. Life was good. Not the $4M a year of a Peter Lindbergh, and others ,…but slowly progressing. Having one of NYC’s best black and white printers in my building was a plus.(printer for Ellen von Unwerth and other well known photogs) And my short tenure on the board of directors of APA/NY was enlightening. (in the business sense)

Then it happened. I had a stroke. Not a dribbling, in a coma stroke. Just a wheelchair stroke. (I can walk fine now) The problem when you are in ‘perfect’ condition,… not overweight, no high blood pressure, no high cholesterol, strong heart, no blockages, etc,…is you’re more startled than anything else. Well, I would have thought these multi-million dollar MRI machines would tell me something. Nada. Doctors? Nada.

Oh, well, shit happens to people. What can I say? Now I’m coming back slowly. Life throws things at you. It’s how you respond that demonstrates your real character. Not that I have much character. 😳 But while I was in the hospital a good friend came to see me. While I was laid up, feeling sorry for myself, he came to tell me his wife just died! What? She was 33. Just had her annual checkup the month before,…passing with flying colors. She had a brain aneurysm. How can we predict such things? We can’t. Accept it and do your best to make yourself happy every day you are gifted another moment on this earth.

Hanging With an Analog Photographer

Or ‘Analogue’, as my friends over the pond would say. I get questioned almost weekly; Why a film site? Not enough real users out there, dude. Well, that’s simple. Not being able to shoot off 10 rolls a day means I should try to promote as many users of my true love: FILM. I don’t “hate” digital. And it definitely has a ‘look’. Not bad, not good. Just a unique look.

I’ll mark each image with camera used, lens used, and film. Though I do have the negatives/positives stored, I’ll jog my memory and make my best guess on everything. (I’m too lazy to rummage through everything) Many of the shoots I’ve done are quite memorable,….should be no problem. However, being an analog photographer also means,… no EXIF!

This site makes no money,…but love is crazy like that. The seeds of hope are promoting the worthy unknown analog photographer, featuring the known analog photographer and remembering the film masters. Handling analog cameras is like caressing what photography was always meant to be. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. For me, that perfection is rooted in chemicals.  BTW, people that know me know I used a Nikon F5 most of the time. Just see here why I switched “backwards”. ~ Federico   Find Nikon F4s or Find Rollei 6008 or Find Nikon Nikkor 50mm AI-s f/1.2