Category: <span>Uncategorized</span>

Category: Uncategorized

Friends of Flexaret 2021

 

The 2021 meeting of the Friends of Flexaret took place in Hradec Králové in June. The meeting was (again) kindly sponsored by Foma Bohemia, so there was no shortage of material to waste put to good use.

As is usual for meetings of this type we had a short photo walk in the town, followed by a lunch and an intensive discussion session in one of the local pubs.

two photographers taking pictures of a third with Flexaret cameras

A defining element of this year’s meeting was an oppressive heat. Our photo walk was, by necessity, shorter than usual. Some of the Friends even sought refuge in the waters of the Elbe river – of course maintaining decorum, and their dedication to Flexaret cameras, at all times.

photographer shooting Flexaret while deep wading

You’ve gotta brainwash them young!

Getting the next generation of photographers hooked on shooting & printing in the film way is very important for our craft to survive. The delayed gratification of having to finish a roll and have it developed complicates things somewhat when compared to digital. We are fortunate to have the dark magic of darkroom work to compensate for this.

I count myself lucky in a number of ways: one of them is that I was able to set up a permanent darkroom at home. The second, and more important one, is that I have a young daughter that shares my passion. The subject matter may not be the highest of high art, but we all have to start somewhere, don’t we?

RC photos drying on a clothes line

Meeting of the Friends of the Flexaret

 

On 12th May 2018 the fourth meeting of Czech fans of the Flexaret cameras was held in Hradec Králové. More than 30 Flexaret enthusiasts (and their Flexaret cameras) took part. The event was sponsored by Foma films, so everyone got a couple of rolls of film, and there was no excuse to not waste some of it.

We started out with a photo walk in the city –  Hradec is justly famous for its modernist architecture – and continued to a bar for beer stories and swapping of secret developer formulas.

A fun fact is that the second party in our venue was a meeting of Baby Reborn life like dolls (they were actually rater death like, as they lay there silent and still). Such company made us – fans of analog photography – feel almost mainstream.