Chasing Light

West Village | Corner Bistro

Leica M6 TTL, 50mm Noctilux, Agfa APX 400.

Corner Bistro, West Village © Doug Kim

Nashville, Tennessee | Dominican Drive

There were a bunch of people hanging out in front of this local corner mart as I pulled up. It was early evening in the summer, that great time between the days chores and the night’s revelry. There was a group of guys that I wanted to shoot, smoking and lounging by their cars but they were extremely wary of me as it was obvious I was an outsider. I walked up to these girls instead and started chatting, shooting a few frames as the group of guys dispersed quickly in their cars.

I did not get the shots I wanted but I had a good time hanging out and talking with these girls on a sticky summer evening.

Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron, Agfa APX 400.

Dominican Drive, Nashville, Tennessee © Doug Kim

Dominican Drive, Nashville, Tennessee © Doug Kim

Dominican Drive, Nashville, Tennessee © Doug Kim

Nashville | Hatch Show Print

First printing back in 1879, Hatch Show Print is one of the world’s oldest letterpress print shops, now owned and operated by the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is just a block away. Located on Broadway in historic Nashville.

Amazed that I left there without making a purchase.

Shot with a Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron, Agfa APX 400.

Hatch Show Print, Nashville © Doug Kim

Hatch Show Print, Nashville © Doug Kim

Hatch Show Print, Nashville © Doug Kim

Some offerings from their website:

Flatt & Scruggs Show Poster - Sandy Ridge Sandy Ridge, North Carolina, from 1958. Hatch Show Print, Nashville

Johnny Cash - Triple Johnny. Hatch Show Print, Nashville

Alrico Coal. Hatch Show Print, Nashville

Graves Whole Hog Sausage. Hatch Show Print, Nashville

Portrait | Leyla

Shot with a Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron and a Mamiya 67 Pro II, 85mm and Agfa APX 400.

Leyla, Union Station, Los Angeles © Doug Kim

Leyla, Los Angeles © Doug Kim

Leyla, West Hollywood © Doug Kim

Leyla, West Hollywood © Doug Kim

Leyla, West Hollywood © Doug Kim

Leyla, Santa Monica © Doug Kim

Leyla, West LA © Doug Kim

Seoul | Tongdaemun

Tongdaemun, Seoul © Doug Kim

Tongdaemun, Seoul © Doug Kim

Tongdaemun, Seoul © Doug Kim

Tongdaemun, Seoul © Doug Kim

Shot with a Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron, Agfa APX 400.

Portrait | Cheryl Daro

Shot with a Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron, Mamiya 67 Pro II, Agfa APX 400 and Fuji NPZ 800.

Cheryl, Pepperdine, Malibu © Doug Kim

Cheryl, Downtown Los Angeles © Doug Kim

Cheryl, Downtown Los Angeles © Doug Kim

Cheryl, Downtown Los Angeles © Doug Kim

Cheryl & Perry, Downtown Los Angeles © Doug Kim

Li Po | Listening to a Flute in Yellow Crane Pavillion

I came here a wanderer
thinking of home,
remembering my far away Ch’ang-an.
And then, from deep in Yellow Crane Pavillion,
I heard a beautiful bamboo flute
play “Falling Plum Blossoms.”
It was late spring in a city by the river.

-Li Po

Bongeunsa, Seoul, South Korea, Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron, Agfa APX 400

Agfa | Eulogy

The B&H page is still up for this film though it is of course listed as "discontinued"

Ah, I really miss Agfa. For years, all I shot was Agfa APX 400. The 100 ISO was a much better film but I needed the leeway shooting on the street. Great contrast, fine grain quality, tonal structure (especially in the mids) and inexpensive when compared to other films.

I do not know the technical specs or chemical characteristics of why or how it looked like it did, but it was a lush film with a classic look. It was not known as a push film but I never had a problem with it. Kodak’s Tri-X is a fine, legendary film and it is what I  primarily shoot now, but it is not the same. My favorite mode was to expose the 400 at 250 ISO and develop it at 300 so it was under by a quarter stop. I like my shit dark.

Even if you did not shoot their films, you had your prints made on their papers. Their 111 multi-grade paper was a favorite as was their 118 warm eggshell paper.

I can remember when it was announced that they were going out of business and in Los Angeles, the last shipment of Agfa paper was on its way. Those few with enough foresight bought up the remaining paper in that shipment to hoard like dragon’s gold. My friend is a B&W printer in Los Angeles and one of his clients has a stash of Agfa paper which he only brings over when he needs some prints to be made.

Below are some scans of photos shot with Agfa APX 400 and printed by Nourredine El-Wariri on Agfa’s 111 and 118 papers. It’s a bit silly because I am trying to show you how great an extinct film and paper were through a computer monitor which makes as much sense as videotaping oil paintings.

Tiananmen, Beijing, Nikon N90s, Agfa APX 400, printed on Agfa 118 © Doug Kim

Market, Hanoi, Nikon F5, Agfa APX 400, printed on Agfa 111 © Doug Kim

I.M. Pei | National Gallery of Art, East Wing

I.M. Pei, Leica M6 TTL, 35mm summicron, Agfa APX © Doug Kim

This was taken a few years ago when I was wandering in the National Gallery’s East Wing in Washington, DC.

In front of a huge Mark Rothko was someone standing close to the painting, maybe inches away, his hands clasped behind his back. For some reason, I knew it was I.M. Pei, inside one of his best (and one of his favorite) creations, admiring a wall decoration on a wall he designed. I rushed up behind him to take a photo of this diminutive giant in front of this massive Rothko. I was too slow with my Leica (bastards!), and missed the shot.

I managed to take this photo soon after but I can still perfectly recall the image of him in front of that ten foot painting.

Bastards bastards bastards.

Go into the gaps

Go into the gaps. If you can find them; they shift and vanish too.
Stalk the gaps. Squeak into a gap in the soil, turn and unlock—more
than a maple—a universe. This is how you spend the afternoon, and
tomorrow morning, and tomorrow afternoon. Spend the afternoon. You
can’t take it with you.

Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Hanoi, Nikon F5, 35-70mm, Agfa APX 400 © Doug Kim