I took this photo on the Saturday before Memorial Day, when @shanareadstarot was visiting, and we were on our way to Pike Place. These missionaries were everywhere that day, but this particular trio had situated themselves right next to a group of Falun Gong activists who often protest on this corner, making for a “fun” juxtaposition and the perfect opportunity to test out my deadstock “Split Cam” with “Image Fusion Technology” from the 90s. You can get a sense of how this plastic toy produces the in-camera effect in the next two slides, where I was still trying to figure out how to make it work.
To get this shot, however, I asked these ladies if it was okay to take their photo (and this was before heading out to Pennsylvania Dutch country, you’ll remember). They smiled and looked at each other shyly, hoping a sister would speak up first, so my media vulture brain instinctively zeroed in on the 1/3 who seemed most likely to say it’s okay, addressing her directly until she shrugged and said “okay.” It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
I’m actually surprised to see how these shots came out; I’d expected a starker delineation between the two halves of the frame, which I’m glad didn’t happen, but also meant that some of the juxtapositions I took didn’t go as I’d imagined them. Now that I know that there’s more of a blend to the “image fusion,” I’ll know to compose my shots a little differently.
And yet, even without knowing what to expect, some of these frames turned out great! I took the first on my way to the acupuncturist and the second while ordering a “mangoneada” with @shanareadstarot.
This is an assortment of end-of-the-roll shots I took after coming back from Philly. Some I took hanging out with @_la_cotidiana_, a couple I took at @baby__fish__mouth‘s, and the last, I took on a coffee break on my way to dropping it off at the film lab.
The effect, when it’s seamless, can be incredible, but even when it’s not, when the overlay is a little more obvious, you can still luck out and end up with some pleasing lines and symmetries. More shots from my impromptu “photo-walk” with Sabrina.
Here’s a quick demo of how the “Split Cam” works, recorded today for illustrative purposes only—don’t expect any results from these takes because I didn’t even load it with more film. You’ll have to tap through to my profile to see what kind of images it makes.
Maybe I’ll find time to bring this to a @seattletoycameraclub meet-up at some point?
There’s something dada about mashing together random shapes and forms, and it gets more random when you start to forget the frames you’d just taken. I tried to take the split-shots in succession so I wouldn’t get confused, but sometimes, it’s better not to control the process. More from my day before acupuncture.