An analogue summer in French Brittany - on the way on the Île Grande with the Lomo Belair and various colour films. The Lomo Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter was on offer and I couldn't say no in the Lomo Shop. So all electrical equipment stayed at home.
Pines on a summer day
The delicate blue, the sun damming up in the shade, the warm granite stones - they form the perfect summer day.
Photo: Thomas Schürmann, Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter , 2013
All analogue?
Yes, the phone call, too.
It's been in my mind for a long time: Going on holiday in the same way. Developing the black-and-white films myself on site and not to be distracted by electrical devices for the whole holiday. I suggested it to the family once. In 2013, the children were still small enough to do without electrical devices such as iPads or smartphones for two weeks. It wasn't difficult for me, since I now had an analog and labor-intensive camera.
The journey was a pure adventure. We didn't even have a semi-digital smartphone with us. Not a phone at all! Sic! Maps for the approach also only analog. The hotel in the approximate middle of the route should be located in a place called Ailly sur Noye, after one hour search and return to the highway it literally fell in front of us in the form of a sign, it was a rest area hotel.
The next day went on funny, because we didn't have the opportunity to call our host from our smartphone in the traffic jam. Phone booths in France on the national roads work with cards and not coins, if there are any left. The only thing that remained was to head for a small pub and ask the head-shaking landlord once for the phone, which was then placed on a long black string on the counter. We did this in a nice pub called Les trois planeur in Bénouville.
Dinghis in bright colours
Just like the traveller, the Dinghis doze in the sun in hot July.
Photo: Thomas Schürmann, Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter , 2013
During our trip to French Brittany in 2013, we stayed on the Île Grande, in a really wonderful holiday house with table tennis and canoe for a few paddle trips with the children. For parents with children aged 12 and 10, the island with its many beaches and coves is really perfect. Everything, including a baker and a shop, is within walking distance.
Boat jacked up at low tide
My absolute favourite. I would never have thought that the faded and washed out look of the photos would inspire me so much.
Photo: Thomas Schürmann, Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter , 2013
Kaffee hoch 2
Caffenol Entwickler
The Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter is a camera completely made of plastic - even the lenses - with a few but valuable metal parts. It has batteries and automatic exposure. Three different inserts can be inserted into the rear wall. There are inserts for 6 x 6 cm, 6 x 9 cm and 6 x 12 cm. Since I developed the colour films here in Wuppertal and had them digitized for a small fee, all 6 x 12 color images are unfortunately trimmed to 6 x 9. The black-and-white films I developed as far as I could already on vacation. I had a lightproof insert bag with me as well as all other utensils including a precision scale for weighing the ingredients.
Evening at the sea
For these moments, an analog film seems to have been made.
Photo: Thomas Schürmann, Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter , 2013
On the Road
Lomo Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter
It is a lot of fun to travel with the Lomo Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter. Not only that you have a lot to do. Because with the 6 x 12 cm format the film is already full after 4 shots and a new one has to be inserted. No, it's rather that you can hardly take photos at the tourist hotspots without being addressed. What is that?
And what do you do with it?
How does this work?
Oh, they develop with coffee, monsieur?
With coffee?
- Mais oui!
- You can certainly save yourself attention-seeking clothes. Just put on your camera and you get to know two nice Russians who only photograph Polaroids.
For the respective film formats there are attachment viewfinders for the Belair - but it doesn't matter so much. The direction in which you hold the camera has to be right. You can expect what you get from the image quality. Photographs that are rather painted, that don't even try to be sharp in many marginal areas. This may also be due to the rather bad scan. The very well scanned images of the Abbaye de Beauport show the full grain, but still a lot of blur.
Conclusion
Photographing on holiday with analogue cameras and developing them yourself is a lot of fun. The smell of film fixer should not be underestimated, because everyone in the holiday home will soon find it very annoying and unpleasant. The camera takes really excellent pictures - if you don't expect 48 Megapixels sharpness. With a good scan and visible grain, the Lomo Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter even becomes a recommendable photomagician with whom you can take pictures that cannot be surpassed in their mood by digital image material. In my opinion, to follow Patrice Lessner.
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