Weeks before California burst into flames, I set the city on fire myself.
Not literally, please don’t take that literally. This is not an admittance to arson of any sort. Rather, I shot two rolls of Lomography Red Scale film on my Mamiya 645pro. The images turned out to be foretelling of what some California cities near the many wildfires ravaging the state looked like as flames encroached and heavy smoke blanketed the skies.
After I shot and developed the roll, I posted a few favorite shots on my Instagram page which garnered some interest. However, about a week or so later my page was flooded with images of similar tones, though certainly not through any red scale film and much more grave in origin.
The film itself is a bit of a wild card. It’s understood that the flexibility in the ISO range could mean a wide range of interpretation when it comes to the balance of light , shadows, and the color in which the image would take upon development.
This roll had me out on the streets from morning until sun down, which provided for diverse lighting conditions. The outcome was as expected - unexpected. Also unexpected is the fact that these rolls of fiery images are perhaps my favorite rolls I’ve shot with my medium format camera.
I’ve had a rather difficult time trying to harness this camera and the power it holds to take stunning, impactful images. This was the first roll in which I felt my intentions were translated through the images. Enjoy them. Enjoy the process. Enjoy the whole roll.
