Ben Wilhelmi

B/W portraits on films, in the bush, Tanzania

 

Sieving some analog black and white through my archives...before digital times. it had its perks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B/W film photography, Masai people.

 

 

One of my little privileges of living in Africa is having the time...well I am obviously still a bit obnoxious about it but I have some free time nevertheless and opportunities, like bringing vintage cameras to remote areas, here around lake Natron with a magnificent 1961 Rolleiflex allowing 12 shots per medium format film roll, very old fashioned.

Why...? Because l can? Because l couldn't afford such an expensive camera 20 or more years ago. And well it is just about driving a venerable car or listening to a LP...

 

B/W portraits, Sonjo tribe, Tanzania

For a change here are some pictures from a lesser known tribe, the Sonjo from the Sonjo valley west of lake Natron. The women are not flamboyant like the Masai women, strange as they are neighbors. The young on the other end tend to copy the Masai warriors. It seems it is not out of awe but out of fear to be spotted in the bush and killed. Pretending can save one skin. These tribes have been enemies with the Masai for centuries...like most tribes which happen to cross paths and cows with the Masai.

 

 

 

 

 

 

B/W film Masai portraits, Tanzania

 

 

 

All shot recently with a Rolleiflex 3.5F, a medium format beauty camera from 1961. Sometimes it feels good to show the millennials that there was life of various sorts before digital era, before selfies....

 

B/W portraits, Tanzanian bush

 

 

Young Masai mother and a traditional cheek scar. She will keep her hair uncut till the baby has officially been named during a proper ceremony.

 

This woman wanted to wait to wait while getting prepped up for the pictures.

 

Sonjo woman using an umbrella to protect from the scorching sun in the Rift valley.

 

 

Some masai women in full regalia.

 

(Picture shot at 12am in natural light but with a +3 stop correction while the model stood under the aircraft wing)

 

 

 

B/W portraits in the bush, Tanzania

 

Good ol' B/W pictures on films from the archives...I still happily use my analog cameras. Mainly 2 here, others in Belgium. Here shot around 2000 in northern Tanzania, an area pretty remote by then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B/W portraits in the Tanzanian bush

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some B/W portraits, Tanzanian bush

 

A little selection over the years

This one reminds me of good memories. This young lady was shy at first, posed like for a passport picture. After 5 or 6 shots, the other girls were getting impatient to pose I guess and started to tell her to smile for my benefit. And this is my favorite shot, it has been printed in big size and has immodestly enlightened my flat for years.

 

 

Young Masai boy who has been recently circumsized. This main event in his life shows by the jewels and mostly the black cloak.

 

 

B/W portraits in the Tanzanian bush

 

 

 

 

B/W sepia portraits in the bush, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bush portraits in sepia, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

B/W portraits in the Tanzanian bush

 

B/W portraits in the bush, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portraits in B/W, Tanzanian bush

 

Northern Tanzania, Loliondo greater region.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B/W portraits in the bush, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

Paris, street photography on B/W films

When I modestly pretend to follow Robert Doisneau’s footsteps in Paris with a similar camera, a 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F.

 

 

 

 

 

Paris in B/W films

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why use analog films in digital era…well the movies didn’t kill the theaters, photography didn’t kill painting, keyboards didn’t kill handwriting (yet…). In a similar fashion, why drive a vintage car or fly a biplane. Everything vintage is on the rise. Just I never stopped shooting in films. I even bought 2 more film cameras in digital times…

B/W portraits, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Infrared picture, hence the funny foliage)

Death Valley, medium format film

 

Shot with a splendid 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F

 

 

 

 

 

B/W portraits, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paris, B/W films

 

Victor Lenoir’s tomb. A French doctor who was a pioneer in women’s fertility. Notice the erection on the statue! Would see that in America I guess. The legend says his erection will help fertility so women come and rub it, some even sit on it.

 

 

 

La Madeleine.

 

 

 

B/W street photography on films, Paris

 

 

La Madeleine.

 

 

 

Along rue de Rivoli.

 

Les Tuileries.

Paris on B/W films

 

 

Jim Morrison’s grave still attract many pilgrims, Père La Chaise cemetery.

 

 

 

 

 

Asian tourists still come for the romance.

B/W portraits, South Sudan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paris, B/W film pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paris, B/W street photography on films

 

 

 

 

 

 

All shot on my beloved Rolleiflex from 1961. A bit of a strange beast that puzzled that smart girl. I say smart because she is not part of the selfie crap…

Some pictures in South Sudan

 

2 impromptu portraits.

 

A truck parks in a C130 tail to get offloaded..

 

USAid was there, delivered 1000’s of these 50kg bags.

 

Bullet hole in a military vehicle. The fate of the driver is unknown.

 

A nice smile from a passenger.

 

The Billy Boys.

 

This traditional Spanish dress has travelled a long way….

Rolleiflex pictures, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s my beauty, a 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F. Medium format film, that is 6x6cm negatives. Not the quickest camera I have used so far but I love it. Many masters of the previous century have used it beautifully. It is then a good incentive.

Portraits in B/W, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

Portraits in B/W, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

Paris, B/W films

 

 

 

 

B/W art photography, aerials over lake Natron

 

my favorite photographic exercise: aerial photography over lake Natron, northern Tanzania. This salt lake is a natural piece of art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

lake Natron in B/W from above.

 

Northern Tanzania in the Rift Valley lies this stunning lake, part of a chain of salt lakes all the way up to the Death Sea.

 

 

 

Cologne, Germany, street photography, 80's

 

I was born in Cologne, or Köln, and left when I was a teen but Mom stayed there for quite some more years. So when I turned 18, I asked a camera and got a lot of practice while visiting her on holidays

Street photography before it became fashionable. I was young, eyeing Doisneau, Cartier-Bresson…I learnt a lot with a great Minolta X700.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah I know I should clean those white specks and scratches. But I wanted to show what it looked like in B/W before hitting the brush and ink and correct the whole lot. Painful work. As opposed to the various editing programs nowadays.

Portraits in Tanzania

 

 

 

 

B/W aerial photography, lake Natron

 

 

 

 

Tanzania, sepia portraits in the bush

 

 

 

 

lake Natron, B/W aerial photography

 

 

 

 

 

Portraits in B/W, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

Tanzania, B/W portraits in the bush