Jamie was a quite but striking lingerie and swimwear model. A pretty face, and a very down to earth girl. We found a disused shunting yard for this shoot, and were soon visited by the police (much to Jamie’s embarrassment). A quick and polite explanation from me, and the officer promptly left us alone. He appeared to be just as embarrassed as Jamie was! Although this was well after September 11, I think today we may not have had such a favourable outcome, being in such close proximity to railway lines and petrol storage tanks. My tip to photographers when dealing with police: be polite, be helpful.
Looking back at my work, I believe I photographed Jamie when I was just starting to really understand and take command of film. I had around 7 part-time years on the clock by then, but in this shoot I see a marked improvement in my choices of exposure and handling of the different film types: the bright, boldness of Ektachrome, and the subtle all seeing eye of 160 NC. Film was a hard mistress – she punished you when you didn’t think it through, but rewarded you when you treated her with the respect and attention she deserved.
Scanning these film strips reminded me of the joy of viewing a roll of exposed Ektachrome film – there really is nothing like seeing those images “pop” with their naturally vivid colours, still on the roll.
All of these images are scans from Kodak 160 NC colour negatives, except for the last image, which is Kodak Ektachrome E100GX (slide/positive). Can you see the difference?
