#SummerFilmParty August 2017 Winner Announcement

Welcome to the winner announcement for the second of 2017’s three #SummerFilmParty events.
Voting ran from September 7th to 13th and covered photographs posted via Twitter tagging @SummerFilmParty and using the #SummerFilmParty hashtag in these categories:
 

• #Landscape
  Nature or urban scenes, it’s up to you
• #Streetlife
  It’s up to you to include people and or architecture
• #Abstract / #FunkyAF
  No poultry unless absolutely necessary
• #Home
  Shooting indoors or gearing up for a Kitchen Battle, this is for you
• #Macro / #CloseUp
  Anything as close as your lens will allow

Here’s the countdown from 3rd to 1st place:
 
 
 

3rd place – Lorraine Healy

Lorraine Healy‏ – @LoreHealy
#SummerFilmParty #believeinfilm #street #FPPcolorIR #FPPmodcam Auburn Days, Auburn Wa

 
 
 

2nd place: Jesse Tyne

Gum_Shoe_‏ – @jessetynephoto
Not sure if this is #funkyaf #landscape or #streetlife Double exposure for #SummerFilmParty 2017 Nikon N65 // Ektar 100.

 
 
 

1st place: She Escobar

She Escobar‏ – @sheescobar
#SummerFilmParty Submission 2. Nikon FM3A, Ilford Pan F +
#filmphotography #believeinfilm

 
Here’s a little about She’s winning shot:

I have been photographing these ladies for two years now. I do not consider it as a project per se, but I am drawn to them all the time. I spend hours with them whenever I visit them, not taking pictures mainly, but just to spend time with them. This is eighty seven year old Marsela. I brought lunch that day to share with them.
Before partaking the food, we were ordered to pray by Marsela. She closed her eyes in prayer and started with words of blessings. A song ended the prayer. Her companions are more than what I perceived them to be. For them, they are a family. Everything is done together. Silence is not uncomfortable and when it is time to laugh, they do so with gusto. Sharing whatever little they have is a given and each of them delight in doing little things for each other. Their stories are almost the same: the hardships when they were young, the regret of not having an education, the disappointments of being disrespected by my fellow countrymen, and their perseverance to make a living. Some may see them as invaluable or unimportant, but I see them otherwise. In their experiences and outlook in life, I see the value of companionship and building genuine relationships. In their words, I find the comfort of their friendship. This is a wonderful gift to have and one I cherish very much. All of these matter more than what my camera can see.
When I am out photographing these women and people I meet, I prefer them to reveal themselves to me. I do not ask them to pose. I start getting to know people because I am drawn to them. Conversations start with questions about them, but quickly enough, questions are directed at me. “Why do you want to photograph me?” “What is a woman like you doing here?” “Why are you alone?” Permission is almost always afforded later on, for me to photograph. I don’t know how this is communicated sometimes because I don’t often hear a “Yes. You can photograph me.” Or maybe I know because of how I feel around them. Then again, it must be their smiles. For me, photographing people is not about sticking cameras into their faces. I believe taking portraits is only possible because of an unspoken conversation that is coupled with mutual respect and trust between subject and photographer. As conversations move along, a lot of them forget my presence. Sometimes their curiosity about me wanes. Then they start to let go of themselves, in a sense. I become part of their landscape… Just another fly on the wall.
I like to observe them as they traverse the nuances of melancholy and pensiveness… When everything their hearts wants to say is freely discussed with me or when their eyes say it all. It is in these moments that I see the universality of us humans – how rejection or hostility blurs, and acceptance follows, when people are allowed to be themselves and are respected and valued for who they are. Through these people and my experiences, I am constantly discovering that we humans are similar in so many ways… But more importantly, these experiences are allowing me to find myself as a person and as a photographer.
Summer Film Party has been instrumental in making me use this film. I was choosing between this film and Rollei 25. Most of the wonderful people of the film community recommended the Ilford Pan F 50, so I went with it. Plus they recommended the use of a cable release and a tripod, which, in all honesty, is collecting dust under the bed. The film was loaded into a Nikon FM3A, with a Nikkor 85mm f/2 attached.
I was struggling with the light since it was a gloomy day, but for just a brief moment the clouds moved and conspired to give me just enough time to exploit the light. To be honest, I didn’t get my hopes up. When it was time to develop, I stepped into the bathroom, “Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang” in the background (perhaps to keep my spirits up as I believed I won’t get any shot I won’t like), loaded the film and before I poured the Kodak X-TOL I prepared, gave the biggest sigh and said to myself, “Here goes nothing…”

Congratulations to Lorraine, Jesse, She and everyone who entered over the course of the three months Summer Film Party ran in 2017. It will be back!
Thanks again and see you all soon,
~ EMULSIVE
 
 

 
 

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