Ben Wilhelmi

Aerials over lake Natron, Tanzania, analog pictures

 

 

Lake Natron is a magnificent salt lake in the Rift valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shot on a vintage camera, a 1961 medium format Rolleiflex camera and chrome films.

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....

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Death Valley, medium format film

 

Shot with a splendid 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F

 

 

 

 

 

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…

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.

Paris, B/W films

 

 

 

 

People in the Tanzanian bush, shot on Rolleiflex

 

Some slide films at work in a superb Rolleiflex camera from 1961.

 

 

 

 

The beauty, cosmetically nearly unchanged from 1930 till the 80’s.

But B/W films work wonders too.

Tanzania, B/W portraits, on films

 

These 2 are recent pictures, I still shoot some films nowadays.

 

Some oldies below.

 

B/W infrared photography, USA

 

 

 

 

 

Rolleiflex 3.5F, Ilford SFX 200

USA, landscapes on films

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Rolleiflex 3.5F from 1961 was used.

B/W photography, portraits in Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

shot with a medium format Rolleiflex 3.5F, 1961

Paris, B/W film street photography

 

 

 

 

 

Rolleiflex 3.5F, films Ilford Delta

a beauty from 1961, in pristine condition.

USA, landscapes on films

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Rolleiflex 3.5F from 1961 was used.

B/W landscapes on films, USA

 

 

 

 

 

Rolleiflex 3.5F

Paris, B/W street photography

 

 

Those bags seem like offerings to some goddess. Goddess of cute butts?

 

Le Louvre… street art can’t be worse than that Pyramid.

 

 

Rolleiflex 3.5F, Ilford Delta.

B/W street photography, Paris

 

with one of my favorite cameras, a 1961 Rolleiflex loaded in Ilford Delta films.

 

The camera looks so special that it brings smiles like from these two cute girls, who have probably never seen one, or a tear in the eye in older people. In turn street photography is sometimes easier. I just asked the girls with my best smile et voilà. Or was it just my natural charm…? Keep on dreaming…

 

 

Sweet moment…I live in Africa and this gesture would be frown up or bring ire in many countries. Or jail time…

Paris, street photography, B/W

 

Dreaming girl, she never noticed me.

 

And there are people against sweet moments like these…

 

 

 

 

 

my favorite toys: a mix of Leica M6 and Rolleiflex 3.5F, Delta 100 Ilford

aerial views on slide films, Rolleiflex, lake Natron

 

usually I use Fuji Velvia slide films. One of the best films available after the Kodachrome, the latter was killed by Kodak some years ago (those punks deserve their bankruptcy I’d like say if only the managers were affected...) and the Velvia is soon to be off the shelves, say the rumors… sad news.

 

 

 

 

Rolleiflex pictures, Tanzania

 

 

a medium-format camera designed in 1929, hardly changed over the next 5 or 6 decades. Mine is  a 1961 model. Here loaded in Aerochrome infrared slide film.

 

 

those huge seeds, from sausage trees, are transformed in gourds.

 

infrared photography, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shot on Kodak Aerochrome EIR slide film, loaded into a Rolleiflex 3.5F

aerial photography, lake Natron, Rolleiflex

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s my baby, a Rolleiflex 3.5F from 1961. Flying AND using that cumbersome beast at the same time is a bit of a challenge… but fun exercise.

people in Tanzania, pictures with a Rolleiflex

 

 

 

 

Paris, B/W pictures with a Rolleiflex

 

for a second I was looking for a horse or something but the fireman truck was modern.

 

shot with a 1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F, a beauty of a camera.

aerial photography, Rolleiflex, lake Natron, Tanzania

 

medium format camera, 6x6 cm negatives, slide film (usually Fuji Velvia)

 

 

 

 

 

street photography, Paris in B/W

 

street photography with a vintage Rolleiflex is not always easy nor convenient but what a rewarding feeling when your pictures are OK, at least technically. Mine is a 3.5F from 1961.

Opéra Garnier and Minnie Mouse.

 

Trocadéro and the gilded statues.

b/w street photography, Paris, Rolleiflex

 

 

1961 Rolleiflex 3.5F, medium format

photography with a Rolleiflex, Tanzania

 

Rolleiflex so that is analog photography. I’ve got a splendid 3.5F model from1961 (thanks Mom) and it work beautifully. Not the easiest camera to handle but it is then even more rewarding when the results meet your expectations.

 

I’ve even tried aerial photography with it. Being the pilot at the same time, that proves a bit challenging but there is a way to go through…just know your machines. both of them…and passengers are optional.

these 2 pictures above show lake Natron.

 

B/W shots of course as the Rolleiflex were conceived in 1929. Here is volcano Lengai'.

 

 

Arusha with masai riders.

 

Lengai and Masai people.

 

why not some infrared pictures? Serengeti and around…

a bit special I agree but in an era of lomography, I thought I could experiment weird colors including people.

 

here is the beast.

medium format film, that is 6x6 cm negatives.

Amboseli NP and Kilimanjaro, infrared film

 

 

 

 

 

shot with Rolleiflex on Kodak Aerochrome EIR film.

lake Natron, aerial photography on film

 

once in a while, I make an extra effort and use an old film camera, a 1961 Rolleiflex. It’s absolutely not a convenient camera to use while flying the airplane myself but I enjoy the challenge.

this is a detail of the stunning salt pan. The colors are ever changing, today brown and blue, tomorrow red and pink, or maybe yellow and black… endless combinations and shapes.

 

a delta joining the waters.

 

a view from the northern side, volcano Lengai lies on the horizon.

 

extinct volcano on the northern shore.

 

a delta in the rain season.

 

this is the lovely beast, Rolleiflex 3.5F, medium format film, 6x6 cm negatives.

photography with a Rolleiflex, Tanzania

 

that is the Tanzanian bush with that old medium format camera on a slide film, the excellent Fuji Velvia 50 . Mine is from 1961, still produces sharp pictures especially with a film like that.

This shot is from October when the first rains were coming, here a thunderstorm brewing late afternoon. These Masai kids were a bit shy but that never lasts, curiosity is too strong usually.

 

Lake Natron in the Rift valley….

Natron is a salt lake always offering interesting salted patterns and bright colors. Here is a vertical shot of those salt pans.

 

Masai people attending a Flying Medical Service clinic near the Serengeti.

Kids are always around even if they need no medical treatment or vaccination.

Paris, B/W street photography, Rolleiflex

 

Paris…a wonderful city for a street photographer. People from all over the world go through and the same sceneries will be different every day. That day, there was a movie shooting with a Spanish crew.

 

La Bastille, a proud woman showing her green beliefs against nuclear energy, just after the Fukushima disaster. Notice the Japanese writing on the far placard.

 

Opéra, a funny band member.

 

These 2 pretty girls must have been laughing at the unusual camera I was using, see below.

 

Make up and siesta time.

 

 

This is a Rolleiflex 3.5F from 1961. That thing is a serious street weapon: you normally keep that camera on your belly while composing, focusing and shooting. Very secretive technique. And if by any chance the subject spots you, you’re usually not considered like some weird pervert because the camera is too cute and unthreatening, as opposed to a big digital reflex plus long lens.

Infrared landscapes, Tanzania

 

 

This is lake Natron, an aerial picture, which is not as red as the pictures below because there is little vegetation. Only the mountain and the horizon show the infrared look.

 

Here is more red tones thanks to the grass and the trees. The triangle on the horizon is the volcano Lengai.

 

I was surprised to notice the rocks turning pink.

 

 

 

 

shot on a medium format camera, a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Kodak Aerochrome EIR slide film (most likely not available anymore)

Paris, Montmartre, B/W photography

 

It was a beautiful spring time. Karine and I loved to wander around with various cameras, though we selected some for each day. Weight is one issue, we were not on an assignment but just shooting for our own pleasure. Another issue is to limit your choice of gear to a minimum so you focus on what you have, not on what you’d love to have, nor what you should have taken. You don’t waste time swapping lenses or even zooming instead of walking around your subject. For instance, that day, I just had a vintage Rolleiflex with the 80 mm built-on lens and B/W films. No hassle to wonder what to do, to think of the many options you’ve got in your bulky bag.

 

 

The city passed a law recently: sketch artists and painters have to take an exam before performing legally in the streets. Similar case for the musicians in the metro. Nothing wrong with that restrictions I’d say. Now one can go at ease and get a sketch done without too much disappointment.

 

The flight of stairs down the Sacré-Coeur, overlooking Paris.

infrared photography, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

Green foliage turns pink whereas red, like the red cross on the tail or Masai clothes, turns orange

 

 

 

Again I used a now defunct slide film, the Kodak Aerochrome EIR, a red or yellow filter, and a medium format Rolleiflex.

Tanzania, infrared film photography

 

What’s the point f shooting people or landscapes in Africa with infrared films? Well why not? Anyway I saw one picture in a Nat’l Geographic magazine some months ago, shot in the Congo with the same film, the defunct Kodak EIR Aerochrome. These shots are from 2010 with a Rolleiflex 3.5F.

The striking difference is the foliage getting red. On black people the skin is getting red too.

 

Some old Masai men having a reunion under the big tree. Women forbidden! In Masai culture women are second class citizens and are kept in the dark... I once landed and complained about the bad airstrip condition to my Masai colleague. I wanted a message to be delivered to the leader to sort this out. My colleague answered that there was nothing he could do since only women were present. Just to deliver  message?? I had to insist to give a try but I clearly saw he rolled his eyes!

 

Masai women waiting in the queue for the doctor. Flying Medical Service operates about 30 outreach flying clinics in northern Tanzania.

 

 

 

 

My beautiful Rolleiflex, from 1961 and still working perfectly.

volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania, shot from the air and the ground on film

 

Those large B/W square pictures were shot with a medium format Rolleiflex camera, a vintage beauty initially designed in 1929 though mine is a later 1961 version. But the design harly changed over the decades, a bit like the VW Beetle or the Citroën 2CV. Below are some portraits of an active volcano in the Rift valley called Oldoinyo Lengai.

Not the easiest camera to use, especially for the aerial pictures below while I’m flying at the same time!

 

below are some of my very earlier pictures in Tanzania with the volcano in the background, from 1999 till 2002.

while climbing down that incredible mountain.

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.

Paris in B/W photography

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