The Opening of the Film Archives: An October Saturday in Town with Killian, 2016

Welcome back to another look at the film archives. This time, I’m sharing a few black-and-white street shots from an October Saturday in Nantes, likely taken with the Praktica MTL3 and HP5 Plus film. These outings with my son Killian, which we called ‘Ian and Killian days,’ became a cherished routine, a time for us to reconnect amidst the busyness of life.

He was 17 then, a weekly boarder at his lycée in La Roche sur Yon. On the weekends, we’d often head into Nantes, following the same familiar programme: a visit to the barbershop, a meal at the Sugar Blue café, and finally, a drink at the John Mc Byrne Irish Pub. In the photo, that handsome chap in the barber’s seat is Killian—a little reminder that it wasn’t always Kate joining me on these trips. These outings were a way to stay connected, despite his growing independence. Even with him being only 17, I still felt that sense of responsibility. Once a Dad, always a Dad.

As we went through our usual routine, I found myself facing the familiar challenge of capturing these moments on film. The low light inside the barbershop always made me second-guess whether I could get a decent shot without using a flash. But over time, I learned to trust the Praktica and the HP5 Plus film. There’s a rawness to film photography, especially with Ilford’s HP5. It adds a certain grit and texture to the image, something that digital just can’t replicate.

That’s what I love about film—the imperfections. The grain gives it character, a certain honesty that smooth, polished digital photos lack. It’s not about creating something flawless but about preserving the authenticity of the moment. This shot of Killian in the barbershop, for example, may not be technically perfect, but it’s real. It’s us, it’s Nantes, it’s one of those ‘Ian and Killian days.’

Looking back at these photos, I’m reminded that sometimes, it’s the imperfections that make an image truly memorable. Quite the day, right?

The Opening of the Film Archives—the Hangar à Bananes August 2016

Posted on Aug 28, 2024Aug 29, 2024 Posted in Black and White Photography, Café Culture, Film Photography, Landscape Photography, Nantes Photography, The Film ArchivesTagged 35mm film, Altercafe, analog photography, black and white, Black and White Photography, Café Culture, Candid Photography, childhood memories, Classic camera, D3, documentary photography, Emotional Photography, evocative photography, family heirloom, family photography, family vacation, father-daughter bonding, film camera, film developing, Film Photography, film photography blog, fine art photography, France, France Travel, French, French cafe, hangar à bananes, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Ilford HP5 Plus, Jardin des Plantes, Nantes, Nantes food scene, Nantes tourism, nostalgic photography, olympus trip 35, personal narrative, photo book, photo essay, photographer, photography, photography archive, photography art, Photography community, photography exhibition, Photography Inspiration, photography legacy, Photography passion, photography project, Photography Techniques, Photography Tips, photojournalism, point and shoot camera, scanning film, Street Photography, summer vacation, The Film Archives, timeless memories, Travel photography, urban exploration, vintage photography, Visual Storytelling, zone focusing2 Comments

In my last venture into the film archives, I talked about how there was a time that my daughter hadn’t yet seen me the way I see myself and how she actually still liked me, before turning into a teenager. This is the second part of that special day.

We had explored the Jardin des Plantes and discovered what they had to offer. This of course builds up an appetite in a young lady, and convinces her that she really needs to drink something Daddy. And why couldn’t we go to the Altercafé (now the D3) at the Hangar à Bananes.

So what else was I to do but drive us to the Hangar à Bananes. You will have seen the Hangar in this article, and you will now be completely up to date and know nearly everything there is to know.

Don’t forget that this is a girl who gets an idea into her head and then just goes through with it. That idea is so rooted that it is nigh on impossible to change that idea. I knew what was coming. I would order a chocolate brownie, and Kate would have an Orangina. I could have a beer. How gracious of her.

She had been my model for most of the day and even a top model needs a rest, and just has nothing left to give a photographer. You just know when enough is enough…

Clisson

Posted on Jun 2, 2023Jun 2, 2023 Posted in Architecture, Café Culture, France, History, Landscape Photography, Street Photography, Travel photographyTagged bridge, Castle, chateau, church, Clisson, color, colour, colour photography, countryside, day out, eglise, France, French, french countryside, fuji, fuji x weekly, fuji x100f, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, fujifilmx100f, historical, History, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, live in France, Loire Atlantique, Market, Market town, nature, park, Photo editing, photo reportage, photo shoot, photo walk, photographe, photographer, photography, rural, Street Photography, Street phtoography, streetphotography, summer, town3 Comments

Have you ever come across the articles named “The 10 Prettiest Villages in France,” “The 10 Prettiest Villages in Yorkshire,” “The 10 Prettiest Villages in Northumberland,” or “Some Other Dream Spot in This Beautiful World?” No? The one closest to us, is about 15 kilometres away and not in the south of France, which I believe to be completely overrated. Like most contenders for this type of little town, there is a bustling market every Friday morning (which is actually pretty wonderful, if not a touch on the pricier side), a park that hugs the river and lets you unwind while taking in the gentle sound of the water. A castle stands watch over the entire town. Meandering streets wonder up and down hills as do the locals. It is in wine producing country surrounded by vineyards who would be more than happy to flog you some wine…

Yes, it is one of “those” places, Dear Reader, but it is still beautiful. Clisson is also aware of this. Of course, I’m simply jealous because I don’t live there but wish I did.

In this series of photographs, I also chose to maintain the film-like appearance of my digital photography. It appears that summer is rapidly approaching. The days are already warmer and sunnier, but are not yet unbearably hot. And such weather is simply God’s way of encouraging you to go have a refreshing pint!

Friday afternoon in Nantes

Posted on Apr 29, 2023Apr 29, 2023 Posted in Black and White Photography, Café Culture, Nantes Photography, Street PhotographyTagged amateur photography, approaches to photography, architechture, art installation, babershop, bar, bar staff, barber, black and white, Black and White Photography, Bouffay, Café Culture, cake, camera, church, clouds, day out, drink, drinking, France, French, friend, friends, friendship, fuji, fuji x100f, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, fujifilmx100f, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Irish Pub, Nantes, photo walk, photographe, photographer, Photographic exercise, photography, sean tucker, street art, Street Photography, Street phtoography, streetphotography, teaLeave a comment

Today was a good day. I like good days. A mixture of barbershops, photography, cake and tea, and most importantly, friends. On this sunny Friday afternoon, I had the afternoon off from work, it would be a perfect day to go to the barbershop and get this beard of mine seen too. I knew it was sunny just by looking out the window, and thought, let’s go manual today.

There is a rule in photography called sunny 16, that says when it is sunny, and not a cloud in the sky, you can put your camera at F16, the shutter speed identical to the ISO, or film sensibility, and all your shots should come out fine or at least well exposed. It means that all you have to do is to concentrate on the moment and press the shutter when the moment is right, and by that I mean, when you have the composition that you want from a scene.

Sean Tucker did a whole video about it and I thought, well, you’ve taken his advice in the past, so why not now. I was a bit of a sissy, and didn’t use a film camera, but instead used the Fujifilm X100F so I could see what I as getting, but to be honest, I didn’t really need to. I must have more self-confidence in photography, I must have more self-confidence in photography, etc. I didn’t go F16 but stayed a little more conservative at F11.

Right, the geeky, photographer part of this article is over. The rest of you can join in again.

So first the barber shop with a couple of photos along the way as my photographic warm-up. This visual warm-up is as important as the muscular warm-up is for a runner or any other sportsman. You get your settings right. F11 because there were a couple of clouds in the sky but not enough for F8. Remember the sunny 16 as a guide to this outing.

My goal was to go and get my flowing locks of hair shaved off, my beard to be transformed from a homeless guy into a dashing older Dude, and then get to Church, pop in to say hello to Jesus since I was too early for confession, and head off to the pub.

With less hair than before and having to battle away throngs of female admirers along the way, I eventually made it to the pub. It was a quiet day at the pub. Rob, or should I say the legend that is Rob, was standing outside ready to jump on any unsuspecting client that might come by and sit down on the terrasse. He’s a good man, and we share a love of being daft and talking utter bollocks. Our jokes are amazing, at least to us. Others might disagree, but under torture will admit they were slightly funny despite being awful!

After a couple of pints of water to quench my thirst and some awful jokes I needed to pee. On my way back up I fancied a little something to nibble on.

Rob, do you fancy some Pringles and some dip?

Not really.

Do you know what I really fancy Ian?

No Rob?

Some shortbread…

I wasn’t going to make it from scratch but I knew a place where I could acquire some for a reasonable price. So off I went to the Comptoir Irlandais. An establishment where you can find some of the world’s more comforting produce, tea, and shortbread included. Back to the pub.

Rob who is half Scottish let me know what a great fan of Iron Bru he is. Guess what I found at the Comptoir Irlandais? Yes, you’re right Dear Reader! Scotland’s number one hangover cure, not that I’m suggesting in any way at all, that the Scots would ever need a hangover cure, but if they did, this might be it. It’s a Marmite thing. You love it or you hate it. Judging by Rob’s little eyes when I came back with the shortbread fingers, and that special drink, I think we can safely say he likes it! We of course made a tonne of finger jokes, asking our Irish friend if she would like a finger. Yes, we were at that level. Fart jokes would have been a great leap forward. And I think the phrase, that’s what she said, was uttered a few times too! So all in all, yes, it was a very good day!

Happy Birthday Blog!

Posted on Feb 17, 2023Feb 18, 2023 Posted in Café Culture, Nantes Photography, ReportageTagged brunch, cake, France, French, friends, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, La passagère, Nantes, passage pommeraye, photographer, photography, teaLeave a comment

When I look back at this blog, it would appear that I have been “at it” since the 19th of February 2019 (or was it that I took the first photos for the blog on that day?) and it would also appear that I am still “at it!” There have been various themes to the blog, including a bit of photography, a bit of Nantes in France, a few obligatory bike shots, a couple of portraits, a couple of articles about my mental health, and my love of tea and cake.

Today, I will talk about tea and cake, and will also share a favourite address where one can partake in this passion of mine. Not that I’m turning into a lifestyle blog of course. Salivating? Get a napkin and wipe your mouth already!

At the beginning of the month, I had a rehearsal with the Symphonique des Bords de Loire, and with a couple of my friends from Cholet days, who play the fiddle, we went to have tea, and cake, in Nantes after the rehearsal. What a good idea! It would have to be La Passagère, in the Passage Pommeraye, and whilst waiting to be placed, we could ooh and ahh, looking at the cakes and thinking about what we might like to have.

It was just lovely looking through the menu and deciding how we would go about getting diabetes. You’ll be able to get an idea by exploring the photos… The girls had various forms of hot chocolate, and I had Darjeeling. Somebody has to keep standards up! They’re absolutely charming but French… We must show understanding.

So with blood sugar rising, we reminded ourselves of the “brunch sign” that we had seen whilst waiting at the entrance. We have two concerts in May with meeting times at 14h30, which is when they stop serving brunch. Well, it would be a shame to miss that. So we’re not going to miss that! At €28 a head, it seemed to be a good price for such a treat! That somebody has a birthday the same day, has nothing to do with anything. Oh no…

As the good friend that I am, I thought that somebody should do a recce. I would climb up to the parapet and ready myself to go over the top and sacrifice myself to control the quality of this brunch from La Passagère. Somebody has to do it, and as a gentleman, it has to be me.

I turned up and was seated. The waiter showed me the Brunch menu, placed some other people, and brought me the menu back. I was so excited that I missed half of it. Could I have Darjeeling please, even though I could have chosen any hot drink on the menu, even an Irish coffee, and with a choice of brioche, croissant, and pain au chocolat, I went for some pain and chose a citron pressé for my daily dose of vitamin C.

The gentleman brought me my tea, my viennoiserie, which looked perfect, and my citron, and then said, I’ll be back with the rest. The rest. Two short words hold such promise and make Ian, a very happy chappy. He came back with a tray with fromage blanc, granola, fruit salad, and my favourite jam in the whole wide world. Myrtille Jam. And a shrimp salad. There was me being even happier by the moment and remembering to take photos to show my friends in the group chat.

The only thing that I could complain about was the lack of more tasty fruit salad! The prawns were wonderful and felt almost meaty! Everything was magical. Is it the done thing to put jam on my pain au chocolat? Even if it isn’t, it won’t be the last time I do this. I might have to do it in private next time.

A very nice waitress came to see me and asked me whether I was ready for the next plate. What a sweetie, knowing exactly what to say to make me happy. Out came a very timid, yet heartfelt, “yes please!” Back she came with “la suite.” A parboiled egg that had had its shell removed, on a bed of some finely cut leek and carrots in a cream sauce. Cutting into the egg, the yolk was perfectly runny. A true taste sensation! The generous serving of smoked salmon was top-notch. Luckily, there was just enough bread to mop up the sauce and remaining yolk.

And that was just the start of a day of photography on a warm and sunny day in February. But that deserves its own article…

Sea Mist

Posted on Sep 2, 2022Sep 9, 2022 Posted in Alnmouth, Café Culture, Reportage, Travel photography, United KingdomTagged 16-35mm, 16-35mm lens, Alnmouth, atmosphere, beach, Café Culture, Cafe, cafes, cake, Canon 6, canon 6d, Canon 6d Mark II, coast, coffee, colour photography, day out, English, fog, foggy, French, fuji x100f, fujifilmx100f, holiday, holidays, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Instagram, Northumberland, northumbria, photography, Scotts of Alnmouth, tea, tiffin3 Comments

Right, I’m going to be completely honest with you Dear Reader, and tell you that the next few articles will be about my Summer (sorry 12 days in Summer) whilst in the UK. No novels, just photos. I might tell you a little about the context of the photos, how they happened, and under which circumstances they happened. So basically it’s my holiday snaps and not creative writing. Just thought it fair to warn you in case. You never know.

I mean, I say holiday snaps, but I have tried to keep a certain standard and make the photos look good! I wouldn’t dare do otherwise!

So, let’s get some context. The last time I was in Alnmouth I didn’t have my Canon 6D Mark II with me and I didn’t have my 16-35mm lens. As you might know by now, this is my other favourite set-up and rivals the Fujifilm X100F. Yes, I like to go a little wider when I can!

Now the following conditions were something that I had never seen before here but really knocked me for six. It was suddenly that the beach disappeared. This fog just came from the sea and ate up the entire village, like me, with a piece of cake. Gobbled it up as if it were the last cake on the plate. The whole place became quite eerie and when on the beach, I couldn’t even see the sea. I could only just make out some people sitting on the beach being very English and bloody-minded. Well, we got here. It’s foggy, but we’re still going to have a good time on the beach. It was almost French… Almost…

It was my first morning in the village and I had slipped out saying that I was off to take some photos. I was, of course, but said nothing about going to Scott’s of Alnmouth, which is a rather gorgeous deli, and coffee shop. It used to be the village Grocers, and I love what they’ve done to the place. It looks magnificent, and I also follow the owner on Instagram and was so happy to get there after so much time. I was welcomed as an old friend which always makes me feel special. The coffee was the best coffee that I had ever had in the UK, which is saying something. British people are good at tea. The French are excellent at coffee. The French have traumatised me with what they think of as a cup of tea. Warm tepid water with not enough tea, no milk, and a crappy little biscuit to say sorry. British coffee inspires the same disgust in me. Killian and I, famously, once tried Costa coffee, and said never again! And when I say never, I really mean never. However Scotts of Alnmouth destroyed the myth that the Brits know nothing about coffee, and I was very agreeably surprised. The generous slice of Tiffin that I had with it had nothing to do with my state of happiness. Well, it did, of course, but the coffee was superb!