Going analog

I got in the Photo Store, with my Zenit held in both of my hands like I was keeping an egg warm cause it's hatching.

It was 9:15 in the morning and they just opened. Together with the refusal I got yesterday at the mall, where they stopped developing film one year ago, I also got that look from the lady chewing gum at 9:00 in the morning. It was a sad look. Like "my God are u awkward!". I was probably half asleep myself, eyes still sticky but I had just finished my first black&white film the night before and the damn thing wouldn't roll backwards. After opening it in the darkness of the bathroom, I kind of saw that the film has been ripped open from the cage and it was all rolled on the right. Not coming back from that. Couldn't roll it back into the barrel. That, together with the sheer fear of maybe ruining the film when I opened the back of the camera to check, made me roam the last "photoshops" in town looking for somebody to save my opera.

So yesterday morning, I stumbled into this other shop, over the employees still having their morning coffee. Who the hell goes to a photo store, Monday morning at 9:15? Only a madman, that's who. Even if you are a photographer and you HAVE to print something, you would wait until 10-11:00 o'clock, like decent folks. Well, I had no time to waste.

• Good morning! I have a black&white film rolled all the way down on the right side.

The lady looks at me and on her face, a superiority smile appeared and she just said:

• Oh dear... you have to talk to him.

And she points to a young guy, skinny guy, looked like he needed something to eat. Almost felt pity for him and invited him to McDonald's. The guy looked at me in panic, then he took a look at my old Zenit, looked at the lady on the counter that pointed him while sipping from his coffee and he tried to mumble something like "I have no fucking clue what to do man!" while his mouth was still full.

• Ok. So can I still develop here...?! said I, asking around maybe the guys in the back, on their computers, would hear and have a miracle solution.

I swear to God that out of nowhere (maybe from somewhere like under the table) a midget appears. The guy wasn't there a moment before, I turn my head, he is there and he is taking my Zenit from my hands with the precision and delicacy of a Swiss clock maker. In his 50's, an experimented guy for sure, he looked at me over his glasses and said:

• I can take it out for you but how could I give the film to you? I have no darkroom container for you to walk around with.

• Why? Won't you give me the developed film, in 4-5 shots pieces?

• I can't develop it for you.

Taking a look around I see that they had films for sale. WTF?! My money are no good here?

• But you do develop here!

• Yes, we do, but only on C41 and I doubt that you have a black&white film that develops on that. Where's the film label?

• Well, inside the camera. On the left side.

He takes the camera, goes behind the counter, a little bit unhappy by the fact that some crazy dude ruined his Monday morning BUT still somehow smiling and trying to be of help, and puts my precious Zenit inside a small dark room, he puts his hands inside, does some magic trick behind the curtain and he pops up with the film canister.

• I really don't know why they even sell you these things anymore. Who is going to develop it for you? Even if you would be able to take the film, I don't really know more than 2-3 stores in Bucharest that will do that for you.

• Stick with the colour ones...

The voice came from behind.

• You'll just edit them.

It was a well-built guy, behind some fancy computer. The post editing hand in the shop.

• Yes, but you know... I wanted to try some grains and go into some interesting film details.

He only said something like a "yeah!" but under the form of some grunt and then he returned to his computer. He didn't seem to care about the details I was talking about.

The older guy returned to me meanwhile, with the camera and the canister and he said to me in a fatherly voice:

• Stick with the ones that have C41 written on the labels. So I can develop it for you, ok?

So I lost my first 36 shots. Composed, exposure measured inside the lens of the Zenit, everything in place... aaaaaaaaaand it's gone. I had to take the film out. Too much time to waste going to Bucharest for something that may be ruined.

I have to say that I love photographing like this though I can't seem to be able to get over the urge to look inside the preview after I take the shot. The only problem is that instead of the preview I get a black, Russian made door.

The camera is sleek, it makes your posture different and the way you can "hide" is way easier than with a DSLR. Usually bulkier and heavier, the digital ones are incredibly crisp in everything they do; but somehow this vintage allure, a classical SLR has, can't be equalled.

And it's so easy to understand this camera that it only makes me curious about the outcome. You have the absolute "ready-kit" to compose shots but nothing more than that. Is like a Romanian Dacia (communist car): it will click and if it will not, you'll tie it with some rope and it will work.

  Posted also on my blog www.ddma.ro, a place on the world wide web where I'm trying to promote Steemit, my writings and my country. In that order. I post through the @steempress-io plugin and I make my life easier (writing and formatting in Wordpress is much easier than on steemit.com or busy.org)