So, I’ve been diving into a bit of a project lately, something that’s been tickling my brain for a while. It’s all about 1960s photographs. Not just glancing at them, you know, but really trying to get a feel for what they were all about.
Getting Started with the Old Stuff
It really kicked off when I was doing a clear-out a few weeks back. You know how it is, you decide to tackle that one cupboard or box that’s been sitting there for ages. And bam! I found this old shoebox, stuffed full of photos. Turns out, they mostly belonged to my folks, and a good chunk of them were from the sixties. Real snapshots of life back then.
First thing I did, I just laid them all out on the living room floor. Took me a good hour or two, just sifting through them. Some were those classic square ones with the white borders, others were a bit dog-eared. The colors, well, they had that specific look, you know? Kind of warm, a bit faded, but full of character. It wasn’t like the super sharp, bright stuff you see today.
The Nitty-Gritty of the Process
I started really looking at them. Not just the people, but everything. The clothes, the cars parked in the background, the way rooms were decorated. It’s like a time capsule, honestly. Some were a bit blurry, some were perfectly caught moments. It got me thinking. What was it like to take photos back then? It wasn’t just click-click-click like with our phones today, was it?
So, I decided I wanted to try and understand that process a bit more. Not necessarily to perfectly replicate it – I mean, I don’t have a 1960s darkroom in my spare room – but to get a sense of the effort and the aesthetic.
I remembered I had an old film camera, one of those hefty manual ones, tucked away in a closet. Probably hadn’t seen the light of day in twenty years. So, I dug it out.
- First challenge: finding film. Not as easy as it used to be, let me tell you.
- Then, actually using the thing. Everything’s manual. Focus, aperture, shutter speed. You really gotta think.
- And then, the waiting game to get the film developed. Remember that?
I went out and just started taking pictures. Tried to think about composition a bit more, tried to imagine I only had a limited number of shots on a roll. It’s a different mindset. I wasn’t trying to make perfect art or anything, just trying to feel it out.
What I Figured Out
And you know what? It was frustrating at times. Oh boy, some of those first shots were terrible! Under-exposed, over-exposed, just plain blurry. Made me appreciate how easy modern cameras make everything. But it was also pretty rewarding when a shot came out looking, well, interesting.
It wasn’t about making photos look old with a filter. It was more about the process. The deliberation. Thinking about the light, about the moment. Those photos from the 60s, they feel precious because they were precious. Each click of the shutter cost money, took effort.
I spent some time looking at the details in those original photos again after my little experiments. The way light fell, the grain of the film. Even the imperfections. They all tell a story.
So, yeah. That’s been my little journey into the world of 1960s photographs. It’s not like I’ve suddenly become an expert or anything. But it’s given me a new appreciation for those old family albums and the stories they hold. And honestly, it’s been a good way to slow down and look at the world a bit differently. Sometimes, you just gotta get your hands dirty with the old ways to appreciate things a bit more, you know?
