This project is a result of a discovery by my husband. While cleaning out his deceased father’s office, he found a Kodak, Retina IIIc camera. This camera was produced in Stuttgart, Germany, between 1954 -1957 (Coe, Brian, Kodak Cameras, the First Hundred Years, 1988). I was intrigued. Firstly, because I had not used film in a while, digital always seems more straightforward, and this camera has a charming design. I liken this camera to a slide ruler (if you can remember back that far). To use, one must point it at your image, meter the light, turn a dial to align an arrow to the meter reading, then take this number and adjust a bezel around the lens, then determine your f-stop, and then finally remember to focus.
I love these photos for two reasons; one, the delay of gratification when using film and two, the resulting “happy accident” that was realized by a broken camera. I have since had to fix the camera because the cocking rack eventually froze, but I am glad that the photos from a sixty-five-year-old camera still have appeal.
Power and Water
Santa Fe N
The Train
Bolted in Place
New Denver
St.Helena
Union Station