West Village | Corner Bistro
Leica M6 TTL, 50mm Noctilux, Agfa APX 400.

Corner Bistro, West Village © Doug Kim
Leica M6 TTL, 50mm Noctilux, Agfa APX 400.

Corner Bistro, West Village © Doug Kim
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
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
Shot with a Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron, Kodak Tri-X.

Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Rockefeller Park © Doug Kim

Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Rockefeller Park © Doug Kim

Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Rockefeller Park © Doug Kim

Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Rockefeller Park © Doug Kim

Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Rockefeller Park © Doug Kim
Shot with a Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron, Kodak Tri-X.

Denver Art Museum © Doug Kim

Denver Art Museum © Doug Kim
Shot with an M6 TTL 0.58, 35mm summicron, Kodak Tri-X 400.

Coney Island © Doug Kim
At my best, when I am shooting B&W, my images are all about light and the way it interacts with the world. I will often shoot the source light itself, the sun or a bank of windows, all blown out and creating an area of dead space.
With film also, metering when shooting the source light is tricky because the range of exposure stops within the image is large. I tend to point the Lecia at the area that will have the proper exposure for the figure in the light, such as the floor, and then reframe. Another great metering tip with the Leica in tricky situations is to take a reading off of your hand when in the same light as the subject, the hand being the greatest gray card.
In this instance, shooting these two standing in front of an installation at MOCA, I metered the room and opened up three stops. I neither wanted the bodies completely silhouetted in black nor the light source completely blown out. I got exactly what I wanted which is a half and half mixture of luck and experience.
Shot with a Leica M6 TTL, 35mm summicron, and Kodak Tri-X 400.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles © Doug Kim
Shot with a Leica M6 TTL, 35mm Summicron and a Mamiya 67 Pro II, 85mm and Agfa APX 400.

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.