At a time when digital photography dominates and artificial intelligence is redefining our visual imagination, Mathias Depardon, Ismail Ferdous, Théo Giacometti, Gaia Squarci, and Alessandro Silvestri photographed the summer of 2024 with 5 iconic cameras, manufactured between 1935 and 1964. The cameras come from the 99 Cameras Museum, a collection born of a family passion, created by Federico Benincasa, in tribute to his father Gianpaolo, a relentless collector of mythical cameras for over 50 years (the collection has more than 2,000 pieces). These documentary photographers, renowned for their keen eye for today’s world, took up the challenge of creating a series of photographs using these iconic cameras, thus initiating a dialogue with the history of analog photography.
During 3 months, they revisited the universal theme of summer photos. Each of them took a camera with them on vacation, documenting southern European landscapes, swimming, games, walks, intimacy, special family moments – all those simple moments that make summer such a sweet time to be experiencing. This project also nurtures a tradition among professional photographers: photographing one’s own existence and turning it into an artistic work, alongside commissions, more serious subjects and long-term projects on global issues.
Of sun and sand
In this context, Mathias Depardon produced a series of panoramic images. They reveal all the particularities of this atypical format: rounded horizons, elongated bodies, natural elements trapped in a 180-degree vision. It is also a photography that multiplies the documentation of human scenes, encouraging the viewer to come closer to better appreciate their subtleties. Mathias Depardon used a Panon Widelux F6 produced in Japan in 1964 to take these photographs: “I’m on the border between Portugal and Spain, it’s summertime and holidaymakers are on the beach. In the course of my wanderings, I tried to use this Widelux angle 140 Movel F VI to capture this pilgrimage along the southern European coast between Spain and Portugal.”
“Visions”, Alessandro Silvestri’s series, was born out of a search for harmony. “‘Harmony is the conciliation of opposites, not the crushing of differences,’ said Jean Cocteau,” explains the photographer. “The images presented here offer a reflection on the creative imagination linked to illusion, dreams and existence, leaving the viewer to his or her own interpretation. They are about matter, syncretism and, above all, a visual journey.” To produce them, Alessandro Silvestri used a Kodak Retina 117, manufactured in Germany in 1934: “I took it to a project in eastern Sicily and on Mount Etna. It was great to shoot with a 1934 camera on a volcano. As someone who does a lot of portraits, still-lifes and a bit of architecture, I was trying to do a travel report on landscapes. The day I climbed Mount Etna, it was quite foggy. You have the impression of being in a lunar landscape, you don’t know where you are.”
Théo Giacometti’s series taken with a Canon 7 (1961) and entitled “Summer on the hills”, was taken in Burgundy, France during a family vacation. So he chose to photograph his summer as it was: not particularly exotic or adventurous, made up of intimate moments, children running in the fields or strolls in nature. The photographer loves this kind of sincerity. Not inventing an El Dorado, but letting the summer light make our memories universal, poetic, timeless. In the universal theme of vacation photos, he looks for a story, poetry, shared sensations, the smell of childhood memories in the countryside. “The project laid down a simple, precise framework: a single camera body and lens, a period of time conducive to adventure and discovery, total creative freedom within this space.”
All her life, Gaia Squarci has been a spectator of her parents’ love. She observed their laughter, their illnesses such as cancer, she watched them grow old. Living abroad, she was afraid of losing them, of seeing one of them without the other. This makes her photos of their intimate moments all the more important. When Gaia Squarci looks out at the sea in front of her parents’ house, the waves roll by a little too fast, as if someone had increased the speed of a film.
On his side, Ismail Ferdous has succeeded in capturing a film-like aesthetic in Monopoli, in Italy’s Puglia region. His images reveal bathers near the port, enjoying the azure-blue water, sunbathing on the rocks, and surrounded by the typical houses of the Adriatic coast.
A collection that stands the test of time
Housed in the Studio Harcourt in Paris, the 99 Cameras Museum offers an intimate look at the technical prowess of the 20th century. This pocket-sized museum presents a rich, constantly evolving collection, where each piece is chosen for its role in the history of photography.
This exhibition, curated by Blind, is the first in a project that will be repeated every year, with new photographers using new cameras from the collection. In parallel with the exhibition, all prints of which are for sale, a series of NFT, developed in collaboration withObscura.io, Europe’s largest NFT platform, enriches the experience. Federico Benincasa, founder of the 99 Cameras Museum, explains: “This project invites us to consider analog photography, far from being relegated to nostalgia, as a lasting source of inspiration for new generations in search of authentic photography.”
“The Analog Chronicles” is on show from November 6, 2024 to February 15, 2025 at Studio Harcourt, Paris.
Cover image © Alessandro Silvestri
