Capturing Breath on Film with Max :: Paris

behind the scenes

 
 

I had 5 Capturing Breath on Film photo sessions in Paris.

This one was with Max.

I hadn't seen him in about 7 years.

He's the son of a friend of mine who met my son Max and they just love each other. Max was so sweet to my Max. It was touching to witness. A lot of people shy away from ( avoid ) my son so when someone just comes up and starts to interact with him and include him without hesitation....well my heart melts.

Fast forward:: This Max has grown up! I think he's 6'4" now, living in NYC and going to Art school there.
He's a photographer, model, surfer and so many other things. He happened to be in Paris for Fashion Week to model and I didn't know if we'd be able to pull this off with both of our schedules being what they were. But it happened! ** Thank you Julia for connecting all the dots!**

He only had about 20 minutes and that's actually all the time we needed. I took 2 shots with Kodak Tri-X film. It was a 1 second exposure at f/8.0 and then I bracketed the next shot a little more wide open in between 8.0 and 5.6 to let in a little more light. Sometimes a little nudge one way or the other can make a ginormous difference in the exposure being just right.

It was great to work with Max and reconnect and learn about what’s important for him these days…

He told me about his Mamiya RZ67 medium format camera.
That's the direct path to my own heart.


I got a Mamiya RB67 ( not to be confused with the “RZ” he has.. it’s not a typo… ) in 1992 when I graduated from art school and used it for years and years to create my conceptual photography. It's on my bookshelf right now. Looking right at me. It's a "tank". It's so super heavy. It's not easy to travel with.. but it still works and the last time I used mine was to create portraits with "my Max".


We talked about a beautiful 35 mm Leica film camera. I don't remember the model. I was too busy looking through the viewfinder of the one he brought with him and pretending it was mine. Most photographers in the world want a Leica. It’s a classic, beautiful, well built machine with the finest “glass” ( lenses ) you can use.

We talked about the 4x5 camera I was using for our shoot ( Pretty Girl ) and now he wants to learn how to use one. After I photographed him he took a moment to put the dark cloth over his head and used my loop to see what it's like to use my camera. It’s always so cool for someone new to this camera ( and all large format cameras ) to experience the upside down and backwards image of the subject they’re taking a picture of. It’s an adjustment for sure.

I sometimes have a tiny bit ( ok sometimes a lot ) of social anxiety around people and it melts away when we start to do our photo sessions. We both sink into the energy of the experience and I fall right into the truth of who I am and they do the same about themselves. This process with Max was no different.

When he left to head to his next event I did my usual Paris ritual… I broke out my favorite goat cheese, olives, prosciutto, slices of nectarine, pistachios and made myself another espresso..sank into my favorite chair near my favorite window and listened to my favorite city hum to me.

This was my last photo session of the 5 weeks I was there. I have so much more to share about the others and I have the final photos from all of those photo sessions to show you! Stay tuned for more!

I'm back in Los Angeles now and I'm going to drop the film off at my favorite lab ( Icon ) to be developed. I’ll share the images once I get them picked up!

** All Cameras and film are hyperlinked to websites that sell those products. I’m not affiliated to any of them. I don’t make money from those links. I linked so you can see what these cameras are and some details about them.

If you have any questions about this session, my work, the cameras, Paris… just send an email over to support@catherinejust.com








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