Background
My 2016 post on Port Gibson showed some buildings that have since been lost. I had not been back since then for a careful visit, but on December 15 decided look around again. I had another motivation, to test a 1950s Voigtländer Vito BL camera that I had just bought. Some black and white film, a handsome old German camera, and an overcast, drizzly, gloomy day - what could be better? (Well, maybe a real coffee shop?)
I was appalled how bad much of the town looks. Some antebellum homes on Church Street are abandoned and are deteriorating, houses on side streets are ready to collapse, and empty lots have weeds and trash. How could this be happening?
North Port Gibson
At the corner of US 61 and Grand Gulf Road, I saw a muddy driveway leading in to a farm. I asked some hunters if I could photograph their barn, and they responded that it was not their barn, so go right ahead. I assume most employees at Grand Gulf nuclear power plant zoom right by and miss the old barn and house on the right.
The northern outskirts of town, before you cross the Bayou Pierre, are horrifying. Stores are closed and the chain fast food stores purvey offal.
Little Bayou Pierre
Little Bayou Pierre, Feb. 18, 2017. Kodak Panatomic-X film (6×6), Rolleiflex 3.5E 75mm Xenotar lens. |
Little Bayou Pierre, Dec. 15, 2018. Ilford Delta 100 film (24×36mm), Vito BL, 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color-Skopar lens. |
Port Gibson
This is sad: a handsome old mansion at 601 Church Street, unoccupied and on the path to deterioration.
A block to the east, an early-20th century cottage at 709 College Street has a collapsing roof. This was a nice home, once.
On Marginal Street, across from the Jewish Cemetery, was a house with a dog. He did not seem too interested in me, and after a half minute of barking, settled down.
On Jackson Street, an abandoned duplex is being engulfed with vines. A modern cruising motorcycle sat in the bushes. There was no obvious driveway with access, so weeds and brush had grown since it had been left there. What was it doing there? No one had removed it? These are 12 and 16 sec. exposures at ƒ/8. I used about 4 times the light meter reading to accommodate reciprocity failure.
Camera note
Most of the exposures above are at ƒ/8 or so, where the lens would be performing at its best. After some exercise, the leaf shutter settled down and sounds about right. The film pressure plate had some rust pips, so the first roll of film was badly scratched on the back (base) side. But I have cleaned the plate with a jewelry rouge cloth and an eraser. If need be, I will try some super-fine wet-dry sanding cloth. Stand by for more examples in the future from this little Vito camera. What do you readers think of the lens quality?
1 comment:
Hard to imagine any lens of that era delivering better performance than the Color Skopar.
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