Ishan Mahapatra

There are two reasons we say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

The first is pretty obvious. It gives the other person dignity. It acknowledges their humanity. It implies that at some level, this engagement is voluntary.

But of course, none of this is true when we’re talking to Siri or Alexa.

There’s a second reason.

It helps us realize that we might be acting entitled. We forget to bring humility along. “Please” is a narrative to ourselves, one about gratitude and choice. When we start barking orders without regard for what it costs to follow those orders, it’s easy to forget that time and resources are always scarce.

Even when it’s not voluntary, it turns out we benefit when we act as if it might be.

[And should an AI say please and thank you to us? Probably.]

Caroline Wagner started taking pictures as a child and then turned her hobby into a professional career, studying at the Ostkreuz School of Photography in Berlin. She works as a freelance photographer and cites portraiture as her preference. In addition, she works at the Museum of Photography in Berlin and teaches photography. She spent last summer with the Leica X Vario taking portraits for her project, “Among People”.

Q: “Among People” has a rather broad theme. How did you come up with it?

A: For about three months I took the camera with me nearly every day and just photographed people. I got into all kinds of situations. Some of the moments were very private and the intimacy in the pictures was intentional. Many shots were taken on the Baltic Sea coast, often of people I’d just met for the first time. Others were taken at festivals — in other words, wherever I happened to be that summer.

Q: Did you always plan to make it a black-and-white project?

A: No, not at all. I started out taking all the pictures in colour, then simply converted some into black-and-white, and realized that I actually preferred them like that. I don’t really need the colour information, because I like the graphic effect of black-and-white. It’s kind of abstract and simplified, which I like a lot. I’m also a great fan of analogue photography and do a lot of work in the laboratory. It’s simply what I do: I like to finish my own projects in the lab, because I am fascinated with doing everything myself – which may well be why I studied photography in the first place.

Q: Is digital not your usual medium?

A: Nowadays, when it comes to commissioned work there’s no other way but digital. It’s very rare that a client wants me to take a portrait using analogue film; but, I often work with film in medium format, which adds a certain amount of time to the process, but that’s the nice thing about it. You have a different approach to the materials, and you also give more thought to what you’re photographing, rather than simply firing away.

Q: So did you take more pictures with the X Vario than you would have normally done?

A: It’s practically an automatic reaction, though even with digital I try to only photograph the essential. Even so, it is a different way of working.

Q: If you normally work with medium format cameras, what did you think of the very small and inconspicuous X Vario?

A: If I use my rather clunky small format digital SLR camera I often get labelled as a professional photographer, and consequently people become more reserved. So, with the Leica it was very pleasant; for example, at the Baltic Sea I took pictures of people watching football — a situation where people are often very sensitive. I must say that everyone was very friendly, even the parents of kids, who often don’t like it so much. But, to be fair, I rarely have problems with my medium format camera either.

Q: One thing that stands out is that the children in your pictures appear somewhat thoughtful — you seem to take them more seriously.

A: I put myself at the same level as the children. Children are often photographed from other perspectives — from below or mostly from above, because it’s easier. I try to move to their level and to look straight at them.

Q: In addition to converting the pictures to black-and-white, did you try to give them an analogue look?

A: No, not at all. I really didn’t do much to the pictures and I’m not really a big friend of heavy post-production. I find that things become too homogeneous and I don’t like that. I want to be such a good photographer that I create the pictures with the camera when I take them — not afterwards. Even when I work in the photo lab, I don’t influence the pictures much, as I’m basically a purist … or maybe I’m just a little old-fashioned.

Thank you for your time, Caroline!

- Leica Internet Team

Click here to read Caroline’s interview in German.

Jackson Clements Burrows bring us the Trojan Residence in Melbourne, Australia. Initially an ordinary family home, the structure underwent renovations out of the need for space for the owners’ three children. The architects added a projecting wooden “box” perpendicular to the garden that “cantilevers” the children’s rooms above it. The jutting structure is outfitted with thinly cut timber — as is the interior — for an extremely organic yet modern finish.

See the Cantilevering Trojan Residence in Melbourne, Australia is a post by Elaine YJ Lee on Selectism.

Hello Steve

My name is Pasha Koroviev and im from Athens, Greece.

Recently I was wondering what creative could be done in a living room with me as a model a photographer stylist and everything else.

All the images were shot with Olympus e-520 and 11-22mm/2,8-3,5 lens and in some cases fl36r strobes were used.

These were all shot in 2 months time, for each I would spend 2-3 hours to shoot and then a bit more to process.

Hope you like them.

www.koroviev.com

P.S. I read about the limitation of 3 images only but I couldn’t decide which ones to send, and I checked on your site and sometimes there are more than 3 images.So if you need only 3 please post which ever you like.

OMG, of course, stands for "oh my GOMZ!" In 1952, the Russian camera company GOMZ (Gosularstvennyi Optiko-Mekhanicheskii Zavod) created a roll film instant camera known as Moment. Polaroid wasn't officially sold in Russia, so GOMZ made a copycat camera and produced a Type 40 equivalent. It wasn't a success. Too expensive and the film was very poor quality, so less than 9,000 were produced. According to Land List, Modern Photography did a review of the Russian instant film, but I don't know the month or year so I haven't been able to locate it. There are other Google-able sites on the Moment camera and GOMZ, so I won't go into any historical details, except to mention that GOMZ became LOMO, whose name was eventually pirated by whom many consider to be the evil overlord of analog photography, Lomography (I'm personally indifferent...any company that promotes film over digital can't be all bad).
So the Moment camera is somewhat rare, though not so rare that there isn't usually at least one available on eBay at any given...moment (haha). It's just a matter of waiting to grab one for a decent price. Which I did. Here it is...

Very similar in design to the Polaroid 110A/B, with some differences. The lens isn't quite as nice as the 110 lens. Easy to remove, though...just screws off.

Film speeds are from Bulb to 200, and the aperture is 6.8 to 22, though it continues to get smaller after 22, looks to be around 32 at it's smallest. On a side note, the aperture blades are behind the shutter.
The focus viewfinder is a bit odd. It's the same finder that I see on other Russian folding cameras of the time.

On the top is a sport finder for framing...

And the focus is controlled by a sliding bar on one side. It actually clicks into place at each number.

So, neat looking camera...but close to unusable, unless you want to find some Type 40 that still works. I'm not much into just having cameras to look at and not use, though I certainly appreciate cool-looking cameras. I bought this to convert to pack film, of course! I've done this previously, and the process is pretty much the same. I figure this is the first time someone has been able to use one of these in 50 years or so, unless someone else has converted a Moment in the past.
First up is removing all of the extra bits from the back.

And the back that will go on the camera...

I had to cut out the film end of the camera to fit the back on and allow for the film to be pulled.

And I had to cut the original back to fit.

And then put it all together!

And I had to tape up a spot on the bellows where the finder rubs against it while the camera is closed.

Let's put some 669 in, take it outside a see if it works!

And it does! Ugly shots, but it works...and it has a leak. After messing about with a flashlight in the dark, I found a couple pinholes along the bellow edges. Easy fix, I just taped up the bellows. Much easier than messing about trying to find a mystery leak where I attached the back.
A couple notes on using the thing. Not sure what's up with the finder. I assume it is supposed to assist with focusing, but it stays exactly the same regardless of the focus setting. Everything is always in focus in the finder. And the finder is square, so it's not very good at all for framing. Trying to use the finder on top is difficult, as well. What you see in it is entirely dependent on how far away your eye is from the thing. So framing with the camera is a mixed bag. The shutter is super quiet, though. Quiet enough that sometimes I wasn't sure if it fired. It is a bit awkward to fire, as the shutter button is on the lens. It's tough to reach depending on how I'm holding the camera. Has decent depth of field, and seems to provide a very pinpoint focus, which makes it all the more difficult to use when I have to guess my distance. I will take it out next weekend and shoot some real stuff with it, see how it handles. Some shots of the final product!

A fun project, done "just because". I know some people have an attitude that I'm ruining a camera (I've actually had comments that I shouldn't have used really old film, that I should be saving it...what's the point in that?). I've taken a camera that has no use other than to hold some books up and given it a second life! Not an easy camera to use, but I will still have some fun with it. It would be interesting to convert a Foton someday. Until I write again, seeya!

UPDATE: A few photos taken with the Moment. The lens is quite sharp and if you can get the distance correct, provides a very nice image. This was Type 669 with the camera at about 125 and 11.

The leak is their occasionally, but I can't locate it. It may be the back itself, which has actually come a bit loose, so I will probably take it off and redo at some point. A couple more shots using 100 Sepia, with the camera at 200 and whatever was beyond 22, the smallest aperture setting. One print and a couple goop scans.

The biggest issue is framing. I can use the glass finder to make sure that whatever I'm aiming at is actually in the frame, but the sport finder is close to useless, it is so far off from what actually appears on the print. At some point I will check the aim with ground glass to compare. More updates to come, I'm sure!