Another strange year

I am not sure what exactly happened back in 2008. I have a vague memory of a summer, when i suddenly went into a completely lost feeling. Kind of the feeling you get, having lost your identity. It was just empty all of the sudden - and it surprised me - because it came so sudden.

Anyway. That is not what I wanted to focus on.

I tried to revive my analog photography by taking out the Mamiya RZ67 camera to the Globe Arena. I remember there was so much resistance inside of me - so i really had to pull myself out of the house to "get it done". At the same time, I saw this as a bad sign, kind of like "is analog photography lost on me for ever" ?

Well, the Globe Area was a zone of gray-ness, like something between life and death. A nothingness. A zone of light gray concrete... I didn't get any further from home then that.

And on top, i got so frustrated, because my film backs for the Mamiya RZ67... didn't work properly. They didn't transport the film. It all turned out extremely frustrating. I had a bunch of film backs - first generation - which didn't function well anymore, except one.

 


Mamiya RZ67 professional studio camera • I bought it back in 1987

 


First Generation Mamiya RZ67 Film backs
- didn't work any longer / worked erratically

But the whole outing was just endlessly frustrating, totally uninspiring. It almost appeared to me as if my sluggish, dark mood got reflected into that the equipment stopped working correctly.

I also didn't know what to do with the errors i got in the film backs - not knowing the cause. It was that the transport of the film didn't work. It just rattled but didn't move the film any further. Of course i tested all the settings. Because this can happen for example when you set the camera to "M", which leads into multi-exposure without transporting the film. But the camera wasn't set on "M".

I assume the film backs just quit on me - and later i replaced them with the second generation of film backs i bought from eBay in 2010 for around 1000 SEK / at that time 115 € ) The "II" versions still work flawless today.

(I should test the old film-back versions again, just out of curiosity. I still have them in my closet).

However in year 2025, those "II" generation film backs cost around 3500 SEK / 300 € second hand - which is pretty insane. Even the first generation Mamiya 6x7 120 film backs are being sold, for similar, slightly lower prices if you don't watch out. In my opinion not worth it. At least not for 300 € ! It is insane to spend 300 € on them.

 


Mamiya RZ67 film back 120 Professional II

 

Plain ugly stretch to walk though

The main photo above is made from the stretch between the Globe Arena walking path which leads to the subway at Gullmarsplan Plaza.

A stretch so boring that you almost want to kill yourself - it is that ugly. I am not even sure if it still exists - because I have not been walking there for many years. But the whole area behind Gullmarsplan, towards Globe Arena shopping center on the side below - is still plain ugly, no matter what. It is the type of nowhere land. A stretch which God seem to have forgotten. Or maybe i should rephrase that. It ain't God who has. It is human planners who have.

As it turned out - there is life growing between the concrete slabs...

Dandelion i think what grew out of the concrete crack in the main photo. It is just fascinating how nature penetrates even the most sturdy structures, the most ugly places.

 

German "Wegerich" / Plantaginaceae plant

Speaking of plants in ugly places:

You will find plants along your way, without ever knowing that they have important medical properties. I know for example one plant, which grows like everywhere, even in the most dry, most ugly places imaginable... turned out to be a plant that can be used, if you have cuts, and need to disinfect and give first aid cure to the wound. Since i learned about it, i truly admire this plant.

You have certainly seen it.

 




In German it is called "Wegerich" [Plantaginaceae]. The funny aspect about the German name is - that it almost implies / sounds as if saying "guiding you along the way". Because it literally does. You find it almost everywhere along your way.

If you cut or injured yourself, and you have really nothing else to get as an aid - the plant can help you. Its leafs are to cover and disinfect the wound, its sap acts like antibiotics !

I mean, just wow !

If that ain't love, I don't know what is.

 

Dandelion; A Detox Herb

I think the plant in the main photo is common '"Löwenzahn" later also known under "Pusteblume" (in German), in English called "Dandelion". Now Dandelion, is in fact an excellent detox herb !

Hildegard von Bingen was an expert on many herbs in nature. She lived by the way back in 1098–1179. Learn from the masters ;-)


Hildegard
 of Bingen was a German Benedictine abbess, polymath, and visionary in the High Middle Ages. She wrote and composed extensively on theology, philosophy, medicine, natural history, and music, and was canonized as a saint and a doctor of the church


Page 25 • Year 2025