Ben Wilhelmi

some Kodachrome pictures in the US parks

 

Kodak, killing the golden goose again, stopped that marvelous film some years ago, that is the Kodachrome 64 (after the 25 and the 200). It was still possible to develop it through 2010, so I used some of my last rolls on a road trip in May 2010, the rest in Tanzania. All with a Leica M6, a 28 and a 90mm lens.

Monument Valley, Arizona. Dust storm coming on the top picture.

 

 

Just leaving Zion, Utah.

 

 

Bryce Canyon, Utah. Karine and I were lucky: snow was still hanging around

 

 

Arches park, Utah

 

 

Near Telluride, Colorado.

B/W landscapes on medium format films, USA

 

Monument Valley.

 

On the great scenic route 12 near Bryce Canyon, Utah.

 

the Little Colorado River near Grand Canyon.

 

OK here there is a trick, this is an infrared picture in Zion nat’l park, Utah.

 

 

My beautiful Rolleiflex 3.5F, a medium format twin lens reflex that uses 6x6 cm negatives. This vintage great beast is from 1961, But older models from the 30’s , barely different, are still out there doing great pictures. Not the easiest camera to use but it gives great pleasure.

Paris, Street b/w photography with a Rolleiflex

a 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F medium format to be precise.

The advantage of a ‘weird’ Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex is that it looks so special that people don’t see it as a threat. Maybe these 2 pretty girls wouldn’t have posed and smiled at me had I been pointing with a bulky modern digital reflex and big lens… then they may have seen the link between my vintage camera and their vintage Vespa?

 

this other pretty unaware model didn’t even notice me. Special feat of the Rolleiflex: the usual position to shoot is to hold the camera on your belly. People sometimes don’t even notice you're snapping away. 

 

on the Trocadéro scene.

street photography, Cologne in the eighties

 

the colors by then...adults would wear that too!

Paris, B/W photography

 

I’m not a translator, but basically here we go

“Passer-by, stop here, the building was dedicated to the muses and to the joy by R.S., he welcomed therein the famous Cabaret du Chat Noir”. The Muses and Joy… what a program

 

Cologne, street B/W pictures, eighties

 

I was just 18 or 19, roaming Cologne streets and practicing street photography…

Masai portraits, photography on film

 

during my early years in Tanzania, from 1999 till 2002, I was flying for an NGO, Flying Medical Service, and during my numerous mobile clinics, I had some spare time for my hobby, that is photography. Initially equipped with a Minolta X700, I switched to Nikon F3 and FM2.

B/W street photography, Cologne in the 80's

 

During holidays and some weekend, I’d pay a visit to Mom who lived very close to Cologne, Germany, like 20 min by train. Funny enough I was not that inspired to go to Brussels and shoot street pictures there. Of course I lived far from Brussels, and it was quite a mission to reach the capital…

these guys were numerous on the cathedral square…

once in a while, a priest would come out and ask for calm…

 

Paris on B/W films, street photography

 

 

one of the excellent  Yellow Korner galleries. A young connoisseur admiring nudes.

 

did you know LP’s are back, brand new? There was a t-shirt with various dates of birth and death for music tapes, Walkman, LP’s…but for the latter there was a rebirth date!

 

 

street photography in Cologne, Germany, 80's

 1987, I turn 18, Mom asks what nice gift I'd like. Instead of a car, I chose a camera, an excellent Minolta X700 with a 50 mm. Perfect lens to learn the basics and later improve greatly. So since I visited Mom a few times every year in Germany, Cologne, the next big city, became my photographic playground.

2 regular drunk dudes.

 

Köln is Cologne in German.

 

Cologne had a slight advantage over Belgium where I could share my pictures with friends: fashion was distinctly different. There were also a lot more of street artists of various kind. And a lot more would pour in from Eastern Europe and further when the Berlin Wall collapsed 2 years later.

one Gay Pride in Brussels

 

in 2004, experimenting with a new camera (with Kodak Portra VC 160 film)

London, street photography 20+ years ago

 

1989 to be precise… I had been mostly learning photography in the street by then. London…only 5 days unfortunately. 

Agfa films and a Minolta X700 camera.

‘

Yep that’s me, experimenting with mirrors…

 

chatting up girls…

 

Street photography, Brussels

 

Lace is supposedly a Belgian specialty. I admit I found this girl’s curves more interesting….

 

the legendary and wonderful Grand-Place in Brussels.

 

a Manneken Pis (litt’ the little pissing man) copy, here peeing chocolate in a chocolate shop.

street photography, spring time in Paris

 

Champs-de-Mars, near the Eiffel Tower, people enjoying some puffs.

 

Prints for sale, Les Tuileries.

 

La Pyramide, le Louvre.

 

Le Pont des Arts, nice place ofr pedestrians to relax over the Seine. Notice the numerous padlocks on the fence. They express eternal love or wishes for…

 

les Colonnes de Buren.

 

les Tuileries near the Obélisque entrance.

  

Paris is peppered with many little green spaces.

Paris in B/W photography

Spring in Paris, "à la Doisneau", that is a with an old Rolleiflex camera, his favorite. 

Burma, B/W photography

 

recycling seems to be taken very seriously by Burmese people. These shops were selling the smallest oldest and most various items, salvaged from any appliance. Smoking ladies are common sightings.

Pictures above were shot in Rangoon but the same vision could be seen anywhere else in the country.

 

Burmese food… luckily there were big Indian and Chinese communities for proper food. I did try some Burmese dishes for the sake of it but that’s it. Prunes marinated in salt will always come to my mind… I was later confirmed that salt intake was skyrocketing in the local diet, enough to give kidney problems to many people in their 40’s.

I was a bit surprised, in 2004, to spot these modern clothes and attitudes on many youngsters. Not what I expected to find there according to my readings.

 

a tourist and a camera seemed to be a rarity in this neighborhood. One girl left running but giggling, the other one stayed there laughing too.

 

My Leica M6 at work, its first trip outside Europe and Africa.

Paris, b/w pictures

 

 

shot with a 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F, medium format

a Rolleiflex in Paris, b/w street photography

 

 

a wink to Cartier-Bresson, a man in partial profile with family eating on the Seine bank.

 

wildlife, Tanzania

 

lion feasting on a roan antelope (une hippotrague rouanne). A rare antelope that I’ve only seen in Katavi park.

Obnoxious hippo chasing lions off. Such a territorial behaviour!

a ground hornbill ( un bucorve en français)

Pink Floyd, concert in Werchter

March 1989 in Belgium, Pink Floyd made the incredible honor to visit us. The concert took place in a an open field. Much more quiet atmosphere than Woodstock of course even if dozens of thousands were attending. The audience is wide here, from teens to grandparents. Fans dating from the mid sixties. Everybody was seated on the ground, not missing a bit of the show, some people crying softly.

In Versailles, June 1988, at a previous Floyd gig, 100.000 people! we had been standing up for a while. There had some movement near me, a girl from our group had fainted of pure emotion. Her boyfriend didn’t notice or didn’t want to because when he was notified by one of us, he hardly looked down, just said “later…” and kept staring and listening at the gig. No way this guy was going to miss a second of the show! Of course the girl took it badly when she woke up on her own, realised she was not worth a few seconds of  Pink Floyd. The guy must have thought there were plenty of other girls on this Earth, but not many Pink Floyd gigs…finally he was a smart philosopher, wasn’t he? By the way none of us helped her either… but then we were not even dating her so why bother? Facing the Floyd, I defy any gentleman to keep his manners haha

 

the laser show was breathtaking.

 

Burst of fire on stage.

 

Nick mason on drums, Nick Wright on keyboards.

 

The Pig, a big balloon floating over the audience. The eyes were powerful light spots.

 

David Gilmour.

 

 

I had sneaked my camera, a great Minolta X700 and a 135mm 2.8 and a 50mm 1.7  lenses all hidden in my thick leather jacket sleeves, some Fuji 1600 asa films in my cowboy boots. Security was there but body search was limited. By then 1600 asa was a magic and maximum number for color films. I dream of shooting  the same gigs with a Nikon D3 at 25000 asa, or even 102.000! The D4 to come is announced at more than 200.000 though quality is not that great at that extreme setting.

lions eating an elephant

 

the elephant died around lake Ndutu in Ngorongoro conservation area, Tanzania. The 2 lions were very protective of their meal which lasted for a few days, and still, wouldn’t share any of it. The various scavengers would have to wait for the last bits when the lions’ bellies were about to explode.

Paris, B/W street photography

 

with a Leica M6, great camera for street shooting. Zeiss and Voigtlander/Bessa for instance have done great similar great rangefinder cameras too. Nikon and Canon too but decades ago...

Burma, B/W pictures

 

smoking home made cigars is very common even amongst women.

 

shot on Leica M6, Tri X films (another probably dead film soon when Kodak goes on its belly...)

Pink Floyd, a gig in Werchter, Belgium, 1989

March 1989, my second Floyd concert. Man, I would have done the complete tour in Europe and over. Too bad I was stuck in the Air Force… even if you can fly high in both, I don’t think the Air Force would have agreed to give me free time.

a detail from the screen. I nearly missed that picture. I had dropped my camera, convinced the light was too low, not worth giving a try. A friend in our group, Jean-Louis whispered, insisted “Just take it, fucking hell!!!!” So I did…luckily.

Nick Mason drumming…

 

David Gilmour.

 

the famous pig from the Battersea power plant picture on “Animals”. That huge balloon was dangling overhead the audience.

 

 

Nick Wright, RIP, at the keyboards (middle).

 

Pink Floyd in Belgium

 

Werchter 1989, Pink Floyd on show. The screen showing a videoclip, I forgot which track, “Time” I bet?

 

David Gilmour, right, and the fabulous choir, not sure if Clair Tori was in there, but they were just fabulous, especially on “the Great Gig in the Sky”.

 

Why a venerable and splendid Dakota, out of all the airplanes….? Great choice anyway.

The Pig, the famous pig. Not as big as the Battersea one but big enough when hovering over the audience. DCA spots from the eyes!

a bed and a dummy passed over us and crashed on stage with flames and loud noises.

 

wildlife, Tanzania

 

Scars, hippos are so stroppy and aggressive, always fighting and biting each others.

 

Old pictures, all shot on film cameras, usually Nikon F3 or FM2 or Leica M6.

Flying Medical Service, people and medical outreach

 

while busy flying with Flying Medical Service, I have got some opportunities to take some pictures. Here are some of my early shots from 1999-2002.

wildlife in the rain season, Tanzania

 

Katavi nat’l park, S.W. Tanzania. At some the camps have to closed down because the grass grows high, like 3 meter high. So animal viewing is seriously hampered, and dangerous. Once, though driving slowly across the bush, we nearly touched  an elephant’s bum.

 

all shot on films and Nikon cameras, F3 or FM2 and usually a 300mm 4.5 AIS lens (yes old gear)

spring time in Paris, B/W photography

 

 

Leica M6, Delta 100 films

Pink Floyd, concerts

 

A few more pictures from the Pink Floyd Versailles concert in 1988. As said in a previous post, I was too much of a rookie without proper equipment to bring good pictures. At the time, “A Momentarily Lapse of Reason” was their lastest album.

 

but then Pink Floyd came again in Wechter, Belgium, March 1989. Yes yes Pink Floyd in Belgium, on parity with Pompei, the great Pyramids, Venice…! By then I knew a  bit more about the difficult lights to deal with in concerts. So I took a bright lens, a 135mm 2.8 instead of a 100-300 mm 5.6, went early and closer to the stage and suddenly the results got much more acceptable, see below.

David Gilmour.

 

The huge screen showing a stunning video clip alongside “Time” track.

 

Gilmour on the left, Nick Mason drumming.

 

More soon.

Paris, B/W, Rolleiflex

 

that is a vintage 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F

Notre-Dame.

Montmartre, caricature artist at work.

Le Sacré-Coeur

Pink Floyd, Versailles concert, 1988

 

With all the fuss this year about Pink Floyd and incredible released remasters on the market, I thought I could fish for some old stuff too.

June 1988, still in some final exam period, some dudes and I went to Paris. Initially the exams were supposed to be done by then. Things change…but we were not going to let some exams prevent us to assist to a Pink Floyd gig. At 19, a bit of rock’n’roll attitude for f… sake! Convincing mom was quite easy being a fan herself. Going to Versailles was easy in one afternoon.

But it took many hours by night and early morning to come back from neighboring Paris since we lived in the middle of nowhere Belgium…I think there was  an alphabetical order for taking exams, so we didn’t have to worry that much for arriving early at school that morning, still without stopping home for breakfast nor showers. Not quite fresh for oral exams… I had a biology exam but that teacher was a cool post hippy kind of guy who seemed quite interested in the concert after all, asking a few questions about it and I didn’t have the feeling he tried to trash me. He must have grown up with the Floyd, maybe even a fan. My friend jean-Louis had a harder time with his P.E. exam, haha.

Anyway, Versailles…yes the castles, Louis XIV and all… in the middle a Floyd concert! How the authorities and the band ever got a deal puzzles me. But then there was Venice, the Pyramids, there had been Pompei…

As in many concerts, photography is prohibited. With all due respect to Floyd… and I brought some gear. I still bought the VHS and CD’s later on (1988, remember) but I liked the challenge and still do to get my own stuff. Now I was a real rookie by then and thought nothing better than bringing a 100-300 mm zoom! Too dark zoom and the films by then…400 iso was the maximum for decent pictures. 1000 or 1600 iso films were extreme, and rarely great, touchy to use. For my next concerts, including another Pink Floyd, I had a 135mm 2.8 lens, much better.

The security guys searched everybody got me take the batteries out of the camera, didn’t spot my spare batteries luckily. For all the cheap cameras or the ones working without battery, it was either going back or dumping them on the high piles of cameras behind, with no return I suppose. Rookies but we planned ahead still. Like spare batteries, or Jean-Louis carrying the big zoom only. So when he got searched he pretended the zoom was only to be used as binocular, got searched a second time for a camera body and was let go. Obviously that staff knew nothing about cameras.

 

so, poorly equipped, lack of experience, some pictures turned blurry but some were OK to salvage.

David Gilmour under the spotlights, Nick Mason on drums.

 

Pink Floyd being Pink Floyd, the screen was showing incredible video clips! Here along with “Time” track.

 

Some got blurry as said earlier.

Laser shows were all the rage in the 80’s

Burma, people at work, B/W

 

 

 

B/W street photography, Paris

 

my great Leica M and black’n’white films at work in Paris, springtime.

Champs-de-Mars, 2 girls napping after lunch.

 

ZZ Top on the Seine?

 

Jardins des Tuileries, an illegal souvenir seller bothering 2 girls.

 

la Pyramide du Louvre and around.

 

la cour carrée du Louvre.

 

Colonnes de Buren, young model having fun.

 

les Jardins du Palais Royal.

 

complementary t-shirts.

street photography in Germany, 20 years ago

 

my early days of photography in Köln, late 80’s.

this tramp enjoyed the good weather and the public fountain.

 

sect recruiting?

 

aaah white socks and short.

 

hot weather though…I read tramps sometimes lose their ability to feel or regulate body heat.

 

Paris, vintage cars in B/W

 
B/W film, Leica M6.

Steve Mc Queen's Ford Mustang in "Bullit". What a beast, huh? Paris got a few hills but nothing to match San Francisco.

 

more of the Ralph Lauren's collection. A Ferrari above and 2 Alfa Romeos below if I remember well. And I remember well that pictures were forbidden...a concept I just can't stand in exhibition places.

and a Jaguar below. What a profile...

 

a Citroen 2CV, a myth! The big competitor of the Beetle, well at least in Europe since the USA refused to let them in for some obscure safety reasons. On the other hand, and I love America for its numerous paradoxes, no problem for junk and OGM food or free guns for all (especially for the unspotted retarded...)

Starting in the 40's the last French 2 CV was built in 1989 but Chile kept on assembling them for a while under licence. Like the Beetle the general shape hardly changed, no need to change a winning team. I used to have a bright red one and loved it so much I wish I had one here. The conditions would be perfect as over the decades those cars were notorious for handling world trips without problems. I saw one the Kenyan roads.

 

a bit older, here are a bunch whose drivers stopped by for a take away at Fauchon restaurant, here is the Fauchon doorman.

 
 

Germany, Köln streets, 20 years ago

 

I grew up nearby Köln. It was a cool place to roam when I became teenager and even more later with my first camera (Mom’s gift, did I mention that already?). So Köln, or Cologne, became my photographic playground, the place to polish my skills in street photography on Saturdays usually, way before it came back into fashion these days.

this beautiful mime girl was a regular. I gave her some pictures.

street artists have been numerous in that city. A lot more, usually musicians and highly qualified, flocked in after the Berlin Wall fell down in 1989.

I always wondered if she was blind colored. But then I was told I understood nothing in fashion….

 

survivor punkette.

 

would-be McGyver.

 

the girl in red was Karen, an American au pair, she asked for some pictures to send home, we stayed pen friends for a while…

Cessna 206 at work in the bush, Tanzania

 just  a quick break from the Kenyan road trip...I just came back from some clinics in the beautiful tanzanian bush, and I'm gone again for 2 days. I just can't have enough of that bush and the interesting job I help being performed. I'm just an 'ambulance' flying so to speak, don't call me a saint. Just in case one had the idea...  ;-)

 

above and below, taking off at Pininyi, western shore of lake Natron, Rift valley.

Olorbelin, northern lake natron.

 

Engoveroni, Rift valley. Kerimasi in the background is one of the numerous extinct volcanoes in the area.

a dust devil is a thing to avoid on take off or landing. Trust me. OK to cross when you get speed though, just like having a huge kick in the ass.

 

Sengerema, near Mwanza. Somebody with some sense of humor put an airstrip in the middle of a village. People are not always aware of the dangers of an aircraft. But somebody with common sense had an hospital built just on the edge of the airstrip. So all is well.

 

Olbalbal airstrip  in the rain season, Ngorongoro area.

Paris, cemetery le Père Lachaise

 

the most beautiful cemetery in Paris and around, le Père Lachaise. This spring, I went back to Europe with only film cameras, my Leica M6 and vintage Rolleiflex 3.5F, I had decided to shoot Paris and Brussels old-school style. I had also reused my very first camera, a Minolta X700. Below the Leica at work.

another stylish example. If I were to get some inspiration from this dude, I’d have a statue carved like an aircraft with cameras dangling from the propeller. “His friends and admirers” says the caption, nothing less!

 

Oscar Wilde’s tombstone, angel style for Oscar Wilde?! Cool isn’t it?

 

she looks bored amongst the dead people.

 

 

cobble stones and high heels don’t mix well.

 

 

 

 

ferry MV Liemba, lake Tanganyika, part 5

 

lake Tanganyika makes a border between Congo and Tanzania. Here we are on the MV Liemba between Kigoma and Kasanga, near Zambia.

most of the time, the ferry stops far from the shoreline. People then jump on the little fisherman boats and come to board the boat, or pick friends or relatives or supplies.

boarding through the ferry flanks.

 

the further we went south, the more the boat got uploaded, overloaded. The various decks were hard to cross….event the 1st class deck.

the decks are packed and moving around gets funny and interesting...

 

kids didn’t mind so much that unusual ever changing playground

 

one glorious morning on Mahale mountains.

 

so one engine got a problem and that piece of luck allowed us to disembark in the morning instead of in the middle of the night. Further on the horizon is the Congolese coast. Pirates left us alone. Not to the Somali extent but Congolese pirates used to roam the lake at night looking for fishermen and other small boats to loot. The Tanzanian navy has a gunboat on this lake and at some point did a good job at cleaning up the situation. That was in 2002 and unfortunately things have deteriorated again for the poor fishermen. Congolese pirates are the usual kind of coward people who hide behind borders aftr an attack on helpless fishermen...

we had biking for an hour or so before the ferry resumed her trip.