It’s hard to remember now but there used to be a time that one could travel and it was rather lovely. Last year around this time I had the chance to travel with some friends to their family’s vacation home in Sperlonga, Italy and I couldn’t pass that up! It was a brief but relaxing trip just hanging out in this small beach town halfway between Rome and Naples. A bit different than American beach towns and I am for it!
I did, of course, have to bring some cameras and, if ya know me at all, it wasn’t just one. I did manage to fit them into a small shoulder sling though so it wasn’t too bad. A small Super 8 camera with Ektachrome, a friend’s TLR medium format camera, a little 35mm compact and my favorite Polaroid camera with some expired film.
(Click any images for full size)
Had some fun with the Super 8 throughout the week and mainly just chose to shoot little Italian scenes and then the occasional wild boat ride. I hand processed the film at Mono No Aware in Brooklyn, a great little non-profit I help with sometimes. Also shooting medium format while traveling was different. Given the slow pace and fewer exposures, the photos weren’t quick snapshots but I think the results were worth it.
We didn’t do much, which was a change of pace for Stephanie and I but we quickly adapted and enjoyed it. Italian life is totally foreign (for lack of a more fitting term) to us Americans. The streets were empty before 10am (which now makes the photos give off erie COVID era vibes) and an early afternoon coffee break was the norm. Not much of a coffee drinker myself but didn’t mind the pace of life. Nightlife even for kids continued pretty late in the streets which explained the deserted mornings.
Our friend’s family home was quite vertical and narrow but so quaint and had an incredible rooftop view of the town, especially at sunset. Many evenings were spent drinking wine and have some fresh mozzarella there. I miss it!
We rented a small motor boat a couple of the days for some brief excursions to small coves and even a little island for lunch and wine. Just getting off of the land and looking back at the cute little town was amazing. Things may have gotten a bit rowdy on the boat as we sped around. Not going to lie. And we did run out of gas at one point on the water which was a bit awkward but we survived. We also made a brief stop in Naples to see the city of Pompeii which was pretty amazing and of course for some fantastic pizza and a speeding ticket as well. What can ya do!
These days, such a trip seems like such a fairy tale, and even then it was. Looking forward to more goofy and relaxing travels with friends in the future when we all can travel again! Until then, still lifes with my plants will have to do. I’ll leave ya with a portrait of Stephanie and I on the TLR courtesy of my friend, Alex.
And for the film nerds reading… the specifics of my little film travel kit are
Medium format - Mamiya C330 (Lomography CN100. Lomography F2 400, Kodak Ektachrome 100 expired, Fuji Pro400H)
35mm - Olympus Infinity Stylus (Kodak ProImage 100, Kodak Ektar 100, Kodak Tri-X)
Super 8 - Canon 514XL (Kodak Ektachrome 7285 expired)
Polaroid - Polaroid 110B modified (Polaroid 669 expired, Polaroid 689 expired)