Our friends had a big ol’ party and took pictures of it. Well, mostly video. The business our friend owns had some extra money so they spent it on a photo and video shoot, and they hired our other friends to do the food, which was central because the company makes cast iron pans, so they gotta have aspirational food on them, and this is some seriously aspirational food.  

The boss, our friend, he did it right in my estimation. He invited his parents, his friends, even a great aunt. It was a big ol’ party. We had to record doing cheers about five times and the food was sorta cold by the time we were allowed to ruin the plates, but man, it was great. I respect the choice to make work fun very very much. He had the power to do it, and he did it. His priority is not strictly money, not strictly aesthetic, it is more holistic. 

It was nice hanging out there and taking pictures. I got to explain my past esoteric camera setup and It made me miss it. The Leica m3 is the greatest camera ever made, and explaining why that’s true made me realize it strongly. 

The only rangefinder I’ve ever heard of with an unmagnified viewfinder, it was built for a 50mm lens, before the wider 35mm became more popular. It can handle a 35mm, the bars become the whole viewfinder, which is fine, but sub optimal. 

What’s so cool about the unmagnified viewfinder is that you can keep both eyes open while you shoot, turning your whole field of view into your rangefinder, as long as you’re right handed. Or right eyed?

Further, this works because the 50mm lens is as close to the human eye as any focal length can realistically get. 

This camera setup is as close to walking around with your hands in a little directorial rectangle as photography can get. It feels seemless, documentarian, human, honest, thoughtless, innocent. It is making images of the world largely as it is, just slightly more romantic with the grain and bokeh of a vintage lens and Tri-x. 

The images my digital fujifilm makes are far goopier, far sillier, far further from the Truth, as I like to consider it in image making. The digital grain effect, the film affectations, the computer-zoom, auto-focus, auto exposure, auto-everything...it’s optional but it all feels so...mediated. Nothing about the M3 feels mediated, it ain’t got no batteries.