I’m very pleased to be able to bring you the words and pictures of Ante Prskalo, previous contributor to EMULSIVE and dabbler in strange things with Rodinal.
Over to you, Ante!
 
 

Hi Ante, what’s this picture, then?

Apocalypse Mom – Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Efke 100 (developed in Rodinal)
Apocalypse Mom

Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Efke 100 (developed in Rodinal)


AP: Mom was burning a haystack and since I had my Praktica MTL5B with me (loaded with Efke 100), I just captured a couple frames. There wasn’t much time to think since the wind was blowing like crazy, and I had to move quickly. No posing whatsoever because mom was too busy to think about that and I feel like those spontaneous photos usually turn out the best. This is probably my favorite, and I feel like it represents a direction I’d like to go in.
 
 

Ok, so who are you? (the short version, please)

Christmas lights in Tvrdja, Osijek - Olympus Trip 35 + Fujicolor C200 (cross-processed in Rodinal)
Christmas lights in Tvrdja, Osijek

Olympus Trip 35 + Fujicolor C200 (cross-processed in Rodinal)


AP: My name is Ante, I’m 33 years old and I come from a beautiful small town in Croatia called Djakovo. Working as a freelance translator and finally got my MA so I’m looking forward to taking on more work in that field.
 
 

When did you start shooting film and what drives you to keep shooting?

Feels like I went back to the 80s somehow – Zorki 11 + Fujicolor C200 @ 250
Feels like I went back to the 80s somehow

Zorki 11 + Fujicolor C200 @ 250


AP: I started shooting film back in 2011 when I had my brief phase of experimenting with pinhole cameras. That didn’t last long, but when I bought myself a Golden Half toy camera in 2013 (a Hello Kitty model no less!), I knew I wanted to keep shooting film.
It’s something I’d always carry to my friend’s gigs or just regular hangouts, and there’s probably hundreds of photos just from that camera, let alone the more ‘proper’ ones I got later on. It’s the ‘making memories’ aspect of photography that drives me to keep shooting.
 
 

Who or what influenced your photography when you first started out and who continues to influence you today?

Harvo Jay @ UFO Osijek on June 2, 2017 - Nikon F65 + Lomography Lady Grey 400 @ 3200 (rebranded Fomapan 400). Developed in stock Xtol
Harvo Jay @ UFO Osijek on June 2, 2017

Nikon F65 + Lomography Lady Grey 400 @ 3200 (rebranded Fomapan 400). Developed in stock Xtol


AP: It was mom, actually. She’s always been proud of her Instamatic 233 (now a glorified paperweight, sadly, since it’s almost impossible to get ahold of 126 film now) and I remember her taking pictures all the time. I think I have a small crate of her photos, and even though she never thought about her composition or photography in general, she actually had a good eye for photography. Her brother as well. I was surprised to find out it was my uncle who took most of the photos of her wedding, which were really well done. Might be a family thing, huh.
 
 

Are you a mixed medium photographer? What drives your choice to use film or digital from one day to the next?

Dunja - Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fomapan 400 @ 800 (developed in stock Xtol)
Dunja

Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fomapan 400 @ 800 (developed in stock Xtol)


AP: It’s 35mm film only for me. Not saying I’ll never touch a digital camera with a 10 foot pole, but at the moment I’m not even thinking about it.
 
 

What’s your next challenge…your next step? How do you see yourself improving your technique? What aspect of your photography would you like to try and master in the next 12 months?

Snow Dunes - Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fujicolor C200
Snow Dunes

Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fujicolor C200


AP: I feel like my anxiety pulls me back from stepping out of my shell and capturing something in the way I originally intended. That’s something I want to work on, and it’s something that’ll directly affect my technique. Shyness has no place in photography. Other than that, I’d love to dabble in medium format photography at some point, but that’s going to have to wait a bit.
 
 

Do you have a subject matter or style you always find yourself being drawn to? Why?

Hollywoodfun Downstairs, just before the Syndrome + Misled Llama soundcheck - Praktica MTL5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fomapan 400 @ 1600 (semi-stand-developed in Rodinal)
Hollywoodfun Downstairs, just before the Syndrome + Misled Llama soundcheck

Praktica MTL5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fomapan 400 @ 1600 (semi-stand-developed in Rodinal)


AP: I don’t have a specific specific, but I always prefer to shoot under natural light. Always goes well with 35mm film.
 
 

You have 2 minutes to prepare for an unknown assignment. You can take one camera, one lens, two films and you have no idea what you’ll be shooting. What do you take with you and why?

 Coffee and whipped cream... with a lil' conversation - Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fomapan 400 @ 800 (developed in Rodinal)
Coffee and whipped cream… with a lil’ conversation

Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fomapan 400 @ 800 (developed in Rodinal)


AP: Praktica MTL5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Fomapan 400 all the way. Although not my favorite film, it’s the combo that worked well most of the time. I even managed to get usable results by shooting in @ 3200!
 
 

You have an unlimited supply of film to shoot in one location for the rest of your life. What do you take, where do you go and why?

Smoke break - Nikon F65 + Nikkor AF 28-100mm + Ilford HP5 400 @ ISO 5000 (semistand developed in Rodinal)
Smoke break

Nikon F65 + Nikkor AF 28-100mm + Ilford HP5 400 @ ISO 5000 (semistand developed in Rodinal)


AP: I’d opt for Ilford HP5+ which was such a pleasant surprise for me when I tried it this summer, and I’d just probably go to a bigger city and try to find inspiration anywhere.
 
 

You can never use film again. What’s your last roll of film, where and how will you expose it and why?

Dominik - Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Efke 100 (developed in Rodinal)
Dominik

Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Efke 100 (developed in Rodinal)


AP: It would most certainly be Efke 100, and I’d save it for the most special occasion. Bought three rolls earlier this year from a guy who still keeps a shipment in a fridge, and loved the way most photos turned out.
 
 

What do you think is the biggest misconception about film photography today and how would you set it straight?

Waiting for Godot - Praktica MTL5b + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Agfa APX 400 New @ 1600 (developed in Rodinal)
Waiting for Godot

Praktica MTL5b + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Agfa APX 400 New @ 1600 (developed in Rodinal)


AP: The one answer I hear most often is that film photography is too expensive and not worth the effort. The price argument I can understand, especially if one is not shooting that often, but it’s always very much worth the effort, even if the results don’t always turn out the way one would expect. That’s part of the fun, too, and one has to have a bit of fun with it!
 
 

In your opinion, what’s the future of film photography?

Weeds in the sunset light - Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Kodak ColorPlus 200
Weeds in the sunset light

Praktica MTL 5B + Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 + Kodak ColorPlus 200


AP: It’s looking really good. Before 2016/2017 it looked shaky, but thanks to the efforts of Ferrania, Bergger, Japan Camera Hunter, Fomapan, and now Kosmo Foto Mono…I could go on and on, there’s plenty of available film nowadays and even brand new emulsions coming soon! And thanks to the wonderful #saveanalogcameras initiative we’ll even have a brand new 35mm film camera from JCH in 2018! Really exciting times for those who shoot analog.
~ Ante
 


 
Thanks for reading and thanks to Ante for stepping up. As ever, it’s really appreciated.
Please drop Ante a line over on Instagram or on Flickr where you can also catch up on more of his work. If you’re in the mood for something quirky, you should also head on over and digest his review of the Zorki 11 – it’s a cutie.
That’s all for this week but please tune back in next Wednesday for another fresh interview. In the meantime, why not catch up with news from Reflex about a brand new 35mm camera, a gorgeous look at classic American cars on Kodak Ektar 100 by Sandeep Sumal and Tom Rayfield’s 10th instalment in his Finding Film series.
Until then, keep shooting, folks!
~ EM
 
 

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4 responses to “EMULSIVE interview #161: I am Ante Prskalo and this is why I shoot film”

  1. I always enjoy these ‘this is why I shoot film’ interviews and this one as much as any. Particularly interesting for me is the second shot, a colour film cross processed. I started doing this a while ago partly from curiosity and partly because using Poundland film it was the cheapest way to check whether a camera was working. My results look very similar to Ante’s, grainy but characterful.

  2. just like Ante. I am bit shy (an introvert) but it does make you creative on how to approach people, scenes etc and shoot it.

  3. Ante’s images are varied in content and full of interest. She keeps things simple; one camera with one lens. Photographers who do this need to work harder and think carefully before pressing the shutter. As a result we can see from Ante’s work how dedicated she is.
    Indeed a pleasure to view.

 

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