The Whole Roll: 100 TMax in an Ordinary Place, on an Ordinary Day, in an Extraordinary camera (the Rolleiflex 2.8F).

“I just happen to like ordinary things. When I paint them, I don’t try to make them extraordinary. I just try to paint them ordinary-ordinary.”
— Andy Warhol

The images on an unabridged roll of film can tell you a lot about the person behind the camera. They can give you a glimpse into their photographic process, or lack thereof. They can provide a peek behind the curtain to see how the magic is made, and in doing so can also take that magic away. They can show you where a person’s been, how they got there, and who they took along the way. More than anything, they are a record — hard evidence — of the emotions and events that an individual was trying to capture in the distant or recent past.

I can already hear the analog critics screaming at their screens: “Dude, don’t be so darn romantic and sentimental. It’s just a bunch of negatives on a few feet of film. I got 8,000 images on my one-inch SD card, but you don’t see me waxing poetic!” Film aficionados will understand what I mean. When scrolling through my photos in Lightroom, I know where one roll ends and another begins. There is a palpable sense, a solid transition, a shift in style between the images from one roll to the next, irrespective of the type of film that was used. I just can’t say the same about the photos I’ve captured on my iPhone, which all blend into an unending digital dream.

Revealing the photos from a roll of film in its entirety can be intimidating. (This is my first time, so be patient with me.) To do so, one must be willing to expose the good, the bad, and the absolutely atrocious. I’ve chosen to start small, presenting a roll of medium format film captured with a Rolleiflex 2.8/f (Planar) and 100 TMax. All the images were taken on the same day in early spring, 2024. It was an ordinary day. My wife, Dawn, was gardening in the backyard and my son, Kipling, was busting around making a nuisance of himself. I love this series of shots because they encompass the beauty in the simple routines of everyday life. I also like it because, unlike most of my rolls, this one has more winners than losers. I’ve left out two of the shots from the roll because they were misfires with the lens cap on (I’m still getting used to the Rolleiflex).

If you liked these pictures, please consider following me on Instagram. You can find more of my photos at Leica Fotografie International and Lomography.

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