When photos were hard to produce
Although I no longer watch movies in public spaces, it used to be a thing. After all, we didn’t have much else to do on a week night, with friends. Bring along enough provisions (very discretely) and you could turn a cinema night into a party with close friends.
This evening, I came across a ten-part photo set showing off the best theatres where I used to live. I recognized many of the buildings, even a half century after they were at “peak importance”. And I got a tip that some great cinema had been produced in “La Vieille Capitale”. Right now, from the archive.org site, I’m downloading a copy (for personal use, in full copyright compliance) of 13 rue Madeleine. If it comes in at a reasonable hour, I might even cue up the show, dig out my personal snacks and pretend that my home is actually an old-school cinema.
A visiting friend brought along a 35 mm camera… oh, the memories. I had to explain that a film camera was now obsolete, given the importance of digital platforms. Yes, you can still buy rolls of film, if you don’t mind importing things, and somewhere, somehow, people still practice the arcane art of darkroom development. I’ll probably never spend another night in the cocoon, but the memories are good for as long as I can visualize working in the dark by choice.
We tried to explain how things worked in a pre-Photoshop world. Tiny brushes, and tiny jars of paint, trying to remove tiny specks from a print. I don’t miss that part. Now, if you need a thousand copies of your photographic masterpiece, press the print button in your software of choice, assure the required quantity of paper and ink, and go for it. Another world!
