A Walk that almost didn’t happen. Half-Frame Photography with Lomography Metropolis 35mm

A Walk that almost didn’t happen. Half-Frame Photography with Lomography Metropolis 35mm

The hottest day of the year so far—33°C—and I’m heading to Liverpool Street Station to join an Instant Photography Photowalk. Unfortunately, our organiser couldn’t get there (something about train tracks melting…), so the walk was postponed. Undeterred, I set off on a photowalk for one.

I brought my Instax Square and took a few shots, but honestly, I wasn’t really feeling it. So I switched things up and loaded my Olympus Pen EES half-frame camera instead. To make things interesting, I set myself a challenge: create diptychs.

Given the searing heat I decided to wander around The Barbican which would provide some welcome shade and offer interesting opportunities for my aim of seeing things in pairs.

I don’t usually see the world this way. I’m often focused on capturing single moments and standalone compositions. But this exercise turned out to be a lot of fun—and once I got into the rhythm, I surprised myself with how quickly I rattled through the roll of Lomography Metropolis 35mm film. That slightly muted, cinematic palette worked beautifully for the mood of the day.

Camera ISO was set at 200, that’s the highest for this camera. Development was done at home using Bellini’s C41 kit. The negatives were scanned using a Plustek Opticfilm scanner. This is frustrating because the negative holder doesn’t quite show the two half frames completely, especially if the spacing is a little bit wider than it should be.

Here are my results, bar one or two that were either ‘one-offs’, or where the OM Pen EES exposure was completely off! Hey cut the old girl some slack (the camera not me!!) She’s from the early 60s so I’m grateful that she still runs as well and I get such sharp images.

Some thoughts

So, there you have it—the good, the bad, and the ugly. My favourite shot? The Barbican stairwell. I loved how the light filtered through, catching the patterns and textures in what was otherwise a dark, dingy spot. There was something beautifully stark about it.

I’m also pretty taken with the first frame: a man smoking a spliff right next to a group of women sipping their Costa coffees. The contrast made me smile—it felt like such a perfectly unfiltered ‘summer in the city‘ London moment.

This diptych approach is definitely something I’ll continue exploring with the half-frame camera. I’m not sure how much story I managed to tell in these pairings, but I could clearly see myself being drawn to patterns and shapes.

Maybe next time, I’ll try telling a full story in just two frames. Or take the next step and give ‘triptychs’ a go!

‘Thanks for reading. And if you are interested in Half-Frame photography World Wide Half-Frame Photograpahy Day is coming up this September. Check it out and connect via the socials.

Learn more about Lomography Metropolis 35mm film here at Analogue Wonderland or direct from Lomography

And if you do choose to order anything from Analogue Wonderland use this link to get a FREE 35mm 36 exposure roll of Kentmere 400.

For more information about upcoming Photowalks check out the excellent Photowalk.me site… I’ll be hosting one myself at some point!

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