Newcomer of the Week: gazeofslate

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Aside from photography, newcomer Dmitri Berenger enjoys a multitude of hobbies including gardening, watching movies, and discovering music. In this interview, he talks about his photographic style, his inspirations, choosing film cameras over digital gear, and many more.

Dmitri Berenger aka @gazeofslate
Name: Dimitri Berenger
LomoHome: @gazeofslate
Location: France

Please tell us something about yourself and what you do.

I'm a business student although I don't think it defines me as a person. I like to go out in the street with my camera but I also happen to like going to the cinema (quite regularly and on my own most of the time), gardening in containers (as I don't have space for a real garden), visiting museums and interesting places, listening to music and discovering new bands and genres. I also enjoy architecture, brutalism in particular.

Now, concerning my approach to photography more specifically, I'd say I'm probably a bit more of a "traditionalist" or "classic" kind of guy compared to most "lomographers". I don't really think of myself as a "lomographer" although I do like to experiment with unusual or expired film stock. I think my "work" tends to emphasize two things: mood and texture. And loneliness, in a way. If you look closely at my pictures, when they depict humans, the subjects are rarely surrounded by other persons. Even when they do and are surrounded by a crowd, they're usually kind of in their own space. Some of my favorite photographers include Garry Winogrand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Lynch, Rob Sheridan, Masahisa Fukase, Amanda Elledge, Weronika Dudka and Maidje Marilyn.

Credits: gazeofslate

How did you find the Community and who/what convinced you to join?

I was looking for a place to upload my photographs. Tumblr didn't seem like the best place to upload rather large batches of photographs, although I do have a blog on that platform, and I disliked Flickr. Lomography feels like the best place for it and the community seems great.

As you have read the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography, what rule do you apply in your everyday life?

I don't appreciate having rules imposed on me but I did read them. If anything, always having a camera with me as I'll never know when I'll be in a situation where I'll want to use it.

In this digital age, why still film?

Now that's an interesting question! I'm pretty new to photography, I bought my Prakticas last September and developed my first roll the same month.

Prior to that I've been toying with photography with my phone. They weren't great pictures but I must say that smartphones are a fantastic point-of-entry or first step into many things. I eventually got bored by the all-digital, all-automatic aspects of it and thought about buying a full blown camera during months. With that in mind, I decided against DSLRs as they look like glorified point-and-shoots to me. I started searching eBay for manual film bodies and found out that film SLRs are going for peanuts these days! A single reflex camera for 20€, how crazy is that?

I absolutely love operating a full manual film camera. The first thing is that it forces you to slow down and get the composition, exposition, and focus right before actually pressing the shutter. The fact that you'll only ever get 24 or 36 exposures out of a roll also forces you to get it right the first or second time as you don't want to waste any exposure. The limited amount of pictures you can take will force you to think instead of just taking 50 pictures of the same scene in a row and then handpick one or two out of these.

The second thing I like about using manual film cameras is that I can't blame my camera if the picture is bad. There's no auto-focus, no aperture or shutter speed priority feature. If the picture is crappy, it's only because I messed up. On the other hand, if the picture is great I can actually feel proud of it and feel like it was I who took this picture and not the camera.

I like being in control of what I do rather than fighting a CPU chip that decides what to focus on and which settings to use. I also like the fact that I can decide to do presumably stupid things like using a 50 ASA film in low light situations and still get the exposure right by tweaking the settings to a wide aperture and slow shutter speed in the 1/15 to the 1/4 range. By the way, don't be afraid of trying this. Some of my favorite pictures where taken just like that: a hand-held exposure with a super slow shutter speed and a huge mirror-slap/recoil.

I also like the fact that I can't immediately know how the shots will come out. I like the fact that I have to wait until my photographs are developed to discover them. It's always a great pleasure when you find out that some of you shots came out great when you thought you didn't get them right. It shows that in today's world, patience can be refreshing and rewarding. I think that the "workflow," the process, the philosophy of film is different.

Finally, I like being able to use all kind of different films. Whereas on a DSLR, you're stuck with a single sensor. Sure you can edit your pictures and adjust colors in post process but I'd argue that it's not exactly the same thing. I like that each film has its particular grain structure, sharpness (or lack of it) and color rendition. I tend to prefer low contrast films as I feel high contrast, super saturated films can look a bit harsh.
I also like the flaws, imperfections and unpredictability of film. I'd say that it feels more "organic" in a sense as opposed to the "perfection" of digital stills.

Credits: gazeofslate

Your favorite analog camera as of the moment? Why?

My Praktica DTL3. I love this camera for several reasons. It's a fully manual SLR with a m42 mount (also known as screw-mount or Pentax mount although it was pioneered by Praktica) and has a built-in lightmeter which uses LEDs as indicators rather than a needle which I like as they're easy to view in low-light conditions. The viewfinder isn't particularly bright but the split rangefinder and ground glass screen make it rather easy to focus. I like its hefty weight and its textured grip. It feels great to hold and is quite rugged. The shutter is made of titanium and makes one hell of a racket when you take a picture. Combine that with the massive mirror slap and it makes for a really satisfying experience. Oh and there's a nifty switch coupled with an LED to test the battery, which solely serves to power the light meter.

There's something about the old East German and Soviet camera gear. I just love them. They have a unique personality or dare I say it, a "soul" with the metal construction, the weight, the funky bakelite boxes, certificates written in Cyrillic, CCCP logos and the smell! The smell is unique as well. The grease used on these reminds of motor oil. I heard that it was the same grease they used to lubricate vehicles although that might not be true, I'd like to believe it.

Actually, all my lenses are all Soviet-made except for my Super-Takumar.

What is the Lomographic camera you’d want to have someday?

Honestly, I'm perfectly happy with my DTL3 and don't really feel the need for a toy camera. The interchangeable lenses offer me enough versatility and after all it's already kind of a toy camera by today's standards, right? A Petzval Lens would be cool though the only issue is that there's no M42 version of it.

Credits: gazeofslate

Any song or movie you live by?

This is another tough question to answer... I have too many favorite artists to have a definitive answer but some of my favorite bands are Nine Inch Nails, Marriages, Chemlab, Cyanotic... the list goes on. Here's Marriages' fantastic audio tree session
and Nine Inch Nails' fantastic rehearsals and a mythic album played live in its entirety.

As for movies, it's also incredibly difficult to choose. My favorite directors are David Fincher, David Lynch, Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, the Cohen brothers, Neil Blomkemp. There's so many fantastic films and directors. Do I really have to choose? Blade Runner for the classics I guess. Although some awesome movies came out in recent years such as Gone Girl, Ex-Machina, Mad Max, Birdman, Legend...

Share your current favorite Lomograph, could be yours or a friend’s. Why?

This one is my favorite:

Credits: gazeofslate

Some close friends told me it almost look like an artwork from "The Fragile" which is one of my favorite albums ever. It also sort of looks like an oil painting and the pastel tones are great I think.

This one is also another favorite just because of its mood:

Credits: gazeofslate

And finally another one of my favorites

Credits: gazeofslate

Any Community member you look up to? If so, why him or her?

I've only been here for a short time but I must say that I'm really impressed with @hodachrome and his mastery of double exposures. @meister_pez photograph are fantastic. @sidor0v's albums on Sri Lanka are equally gorgeous. @gocchin's album like a movie... is stunning. @_baunovart_ and @yulia_adamova also published some incredible pictures.

What are you looking forward to in our Community?

To improve, experiment and publish my work here and hopefully bring some interesting contributions or "art" even if I struggle a bit calling my craft as such. But that's very subjective and a discussion for another day.


Thank you Dmitri for sharing your thoughts with us! Welcome to the community and we're looking forward to seeing your future work!

2016-02-07 #newcomer #newcomer-of-the-week

3 Comments

  1. gazeofslate
    gazeofslate ·

    Thank you for interviewing me Eunice ! If anyone is further interested in my photography, I suggested you take a look at this album: www.lomography.jp/homes/gazeofslate/albums/2103057-humming-…
    It has been published shorty after this interview took place and I think it contains some of my best street shots yet.

  2. gazeofslate
    gazeofslate ·

    *shortly. By the way, sorry for the typos in the interview, I just realized there are a few left but everyone should be able to understand what I mean just fine !

  3. _baunovart_
    _baunovart_ ·

    Congratulations for Newcomer of the Week and welcome on board!

    Have a good time and lomo on! I'm looking forward to see more of your photography.

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