Thodoris Markou 11/22/13 Thodoris Markou 11/22/13

Isabel Marant pour H&M: the polaroids

a polaroid large format session: using the Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar combo on a fashion editorial for Isabel Marant and H&M.

two weeks ago, H&M Greece and Ozon Magazine gave me an opportunity to shoot a fashion editorial with the Isabel Marant line before its worldwide launch. I did it the analog way: on large format, using medium format film as a backup. yes, there was a digital camera on set - I brought along the new Sony A7, which I used as a lightmeter.

I used the Speed Graphic / Aero Ektar combo, shooting polaroids for the sake of speed and convenience, as we needed to have part of the editorial online three days later. I also shot 4x5 film, b/w as well as color, and a couple of medium format rolls with the Pentax 67 as a backup.

there will be two more posts about this photoshoot, one showcasing the large format shots and one with the 6x7 results, after they've been published. the results are quite different, especially on the color large format shots.

it was hot and I didn't have enough brains to pay more attention to the backstage, so here are some smartphone photos with the setup:

Graflex Speed Graphic | Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm/f2.5

Graflex Speed Graphic | Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm/f2.5 | Fuji FP-100c

Graflex Speed Graphic | Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm/f2.5 | Polaroid 669 and film holders

you can see more backstage shots over at OzonWeb, where this polaroid "webditorial" was first published.

there was half a pack of Fuji FP-100c in the polaroid holder, so I finished it up, before switching to expired Polaroid 669 film. the difference between the two films is huge. it's a big shame you can't get a negative out of the polaroid 669 (which you can do with the fuji film) and an even bigger shame that you can't find this film any more.

I shot a total of 25 polaroid frames. all images presented below are a straight scan from the positive print. the first three images are Fuji FP-100c, the rest are Polaroid 669. you can see where the Polaroid 669 didn't like going against the sun. the double exposure was deliberate.

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Fuji FP-100C film

Isabel Marant pour H&M editorial | Speed Graphic & Aero Ektar 178mm/f2/5 | Polaroid 669 film

Thodoris Markou 2/6/12 Thodoris Markou 2/6/12

polaroid goes fashion

...bleach the hell out of your negatives.

two days ago, I attended ozon's fashion live event. it was a studio shooting so I chose to bring my "compact" polaroid land camera. I hadn't used the polaroid with electronic flash for a long time and I struggled to remember the correct settings to get a proper exposure, what with the camera being fully automatic (idiot-proof) and 45 years old (they didn't have electronic flash back then), but in the end I managed to get it working and I got a handful of frames. the positive prints first...

...and the corresponding negative scans, after the necessary bleach treatment...

Thodoris Markou 1/20/12 Thodoris Markou 1/20/12

ella-s fashion atelier

...a fashion photoshoot from early 2010.

spent last evening trying to organize my archive, and I came upon a photoshoot I had done for fashion designer ella-s. this was back in early 2010 and I wasn't too strong with analog then, so I went with digital for the main photoshoot. still, I snapped away one roll of black & white film with my mamiya c220 (this was also before I decided to clean it - during that process I screwed up the focusing plane... the camera is still out of order, I'm gonna have to send it for repair one of these days). there's no artificial lighting in these photos, I only used a reflector in some of them.

antonia kallimoukou is the wonderful model, I still remember her walking fully-dressed towards the grocery store in kolonaki and one woman exclaiming "my god, she's so beautiful". another guy mistook the whole wedding dress situation for a real wedding and wished her a full and happy life.

out of the 12 frames on the medium format roll, these came out nice...

...and here's the digital shots, for reference. now that I'm thinking about it, it's a shame I didn't shoot more film that day. I mean, I keep imagining the candle frames with film and they would have come out great... (to this day, I still can't choose between the two candle frames, so I'm presenting both.)