Summer vineyards | Between pixel and grain

maipenquynh on 15. January 2024

"It must look megaaaa here in summer!"

That's what we said to ourselves as we stood on the banks of the Rhine in the town of Bingen, about 30 kilometres west of Mainz. There you have a wonderful view of the vineyards opposite. However, on a weekend in January this year, when we decided to explore the area, it was all very dreary. Dreary and icy cold.

On the other side of the Rhine, diagonally from Bingen, lies the town of Rüdesheim. It's probably best known for its instagrammable town corners. We were quite astonished when Rüdesheim was pretty much dead. Many shops are closed from January to March, Rüdesheim seems to have adapted to tourism. At least we had some gastronomic offeres. So we could sit down in a café.

Last summer, I went for a long walk with friends not far away from Bingen and Rüdesheim. That particular January weekend, we travelled past the station by train where we started and ended our long walk last year.

In anticipation of summer - but above all to warm up on my mind - I brought a view of the vineyards from exactly that day. I remember very warm temperatures and sweet white grape juice. I also remember a short nap on the bench. I can hardly wait for the warmer and longer days.

Camera + lens: Minolta Dynax 7000i, Minolta AF 50 mm
Film: Kodak Professional Portra 160
Development + scan: ON FILM LAB

Schrammsteine | Between pixel and grain

maipenquynh on 24. May 2023

„Schrammsteine“, that’s a rock formation in Saxon Switzerland (a national park). Not far from where I used to live. As often is the case when you live in a place and the beautiful thing is only a stone’s throw away, you postpone visiting this beauties until later. Until later suddenly means „goodbye“ and beauty is at least 10 stone’s throw away. And so I am writing this text with some kind of nostalgia.

Most probably I remember the name of this rock formation because I took a photo of it. I was very excited about the picture – more excited than I usually am anyways – because this was the first film I developed by myself. I can’t describe it very well but I’ll put it this way: How happyyyyy I was when I hung the developed film up to dry and then discovered „die kleinen Schrammsteine“ on the negative. Joy oh joy!

And even if the photo itself is okay and the motif is not special, the photo is a nice reminder of „I was here!“ And also of those days when I called Dresden my home and Saxon Switzerland was just a stone’s throw away.

Camera + lens: Olympus XA2
Film: Agfaphoto APX 100 (probably; my film is still in the photo lab for scanning)
Developement: self developped (2022#1)
Scan: Charlie Engel Lab 2.0

Drinnen und Draußen, Massives | Sunny 16 #2 (Set 3/6)

maipenquynh on 21. July 2022

Steine, das Massive an diesen Bildern, sehen auf meinen Bildern nicht annähernd so interessant aus wie ich sie fand, als ich sie fotografieren wollte.

Vor der Wand hängt an einem seidenen (Spinnen)Faden ein vertrocknetes Blatt, aber das ist nicht mehr wiederzuerkennen.

Und egal wie rum ich das Foto mit dem Kies und den Blättern auf dem Boden auch drehe, keine der Orientierung ergibt richtig Sinn. Da gab es wohl eine optische Verzerrung, sodass es kein Oben und kein Unten gibt, so scheint es.

Man merkt, dass ich nicht so viel zu sagen habe.

Hard facts! Kamera: Minolta Dynax 9000 , Minolta AF 50 mm f/1.4 | Film: Kodak T-MAX 400 | Filmentwicklung & Scan: Fotolabor Görner Dresden

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