The Kaucminde Manor is an impressive palace building from the early 19th century. In 1920-30 this facility was house to Latvia’s most popular Housekeeping School. The property was belonged to count Peter Ludwig von Palen. In 2018 Kaucminde was hit with a big fire which left the building badly damaged.

I have always had a great fascination with 1960 German cinema films, so when I heard that Lomography was bringing this style into analog photography in the form of Berlin Kino 400, I told myself I must get a copy of this film. I started film photography two years ago as an experiment; however, I was hooked from the first roll of film: The excitement of waiting to see the images after the development process was addictive.
I favor black and white film over color film.

Latvia and its long, cold, and dark winter is best suited for black and white film, in my opinion. Making the transition to see and black and white was not easy; however, once you make the transition, it opens a new world of light and shadows to you, the photographer. I first purchased Berlin Kino 400, intending to travel to Berlin and shoot all six rolls of film there. However, you probably heard of the Covid 19 pandemic, which put all my travel plans on hold.

According to Lomography, Berlin Kino 400 is a cine film inspired by the 1960 German Cinema with shallow contrast and noticeable grain. Film photography forces you to pay close attention before taking your shot because each shot has an actual value for the Berlin Kino 400 with 36 exposures at 22 cents per exposure: not overly expensive, but more expensive than digital, which is free.

Therefore, I was forced to use the Berlin Kino 400 in impressive Kaucminde Manor instead of Berlin, Germany. This place is unique; you can walk here and feel its past greatness. The inside of the building still retained the attention to detail in the construction of years gone by.

The photos were taken with the Nikon FE2, my first analog camera, and the famous Nikon 55mm f/1.2. This Nikon lens is not sharp wide open; however, from f/5.6-f/8, you can get excellent results. I plan to start developing my film this fall and winter, but a local film development shop will develop the film and scan my photos until then.

I hope you enjoyed the reading and the images,

~ Felix

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