Since I was a kid, I had been curious about photography. At first standing in front of my daddy’s lens posing to let him keep alive the memories of growth. With grandpa, we use to make cameras obscuras in order to have fun at the empty rooms of my apartment.

During my elementary school years, I got my first film camera as a birthday present and later at high school a second one to grab pictures from school trips and plays.

My first film camera was Зенит-19. Produced by KMZ during the period 1979-1987 (I was born in 1987, last year the camera was manufactured.) It was one of the most popular 35mm cameras for amateur photographers due to being simple and sturdy and sold at a low price. It was sold at the price of 295 roubles and around 122k units have been manufactured and purchased by photographers all around the globe. Stopped using this one after lending it to a neighbor who accidentally burned the board for flash. Spare parts at the moment where nowhere to find and the repair would cost me multiple times the value of the camera itself. However, nowadays I am thinking of bringing it back to life.

If photography is the door to a different magical realm, then film photography is a trip to one’s memories and past. Something like a vintage way of meditation.

It’s true. The film is not dead!

My first compact digital camera came during the first years of University, for being able to travel everywhere at ease.

I really haven’t ever mastered the art of photography, as I didn’t completely understand it. My dad always tried to teach me or show me things but it looked like mathematics and I never really liked them.

Then I gifted myself a DSLR and everything seemed like puzzle pieces finding their way to fit each other. Learning about aperture, exposure, focus, depth of field, shutter speed… I was wrong.

I realized that all the cameras I’ve ever used could decide by themselves and make my life easy and therefore I bored to pay more attention to what I was doing and why.

This year’s birthday present came earlier than I thought but was a decision I knew will change the way I look at the light. I chose a vintage camera manufactured in Germany back in the 1960s, without rangefinder nor light meter. Voigtlander Vito C came to teach me how to really shoot while it wakes up memories of my youth. I purchased this online on eBay, during an auction. Before bidding, I made sure it was tested with film and in working condition. Mint condition is also a term I always check when it comes to cameras.

Photography in greek means drawing with light. So… Let’s start drawing!

I’ll try this time to experiment more and not screw up. That’s gonna be a hell of a journey and diving in the photography world. Setting everything manually plus being anxious for the result until holding the printed copies in your hands. I’m excited!