All Time is Happening at Once

July 30, 2019

What if it were winter and spring at the same time? What would it look like if barren tree branches and bleak January skies were paired with the rejuvenating colors of April flowers and sunshine? That’s what I tried to create with a double exposure photo project earlier this year in Portland. In January, I shot a roll of environmental and urban scenery with my Olympus XA film camera. Then, in April I reloaded the same roll of film and shot it again. I didn’t keep track of what I shot during this project. I wanted it to be random on purpose.

While doing this project, I kept thinking about the debate of fate vs. free will. Why am I taking each picture? What is compelling me to take this, but not that? Will I place my own order on the outcome, or is there actual order? Was everything planned by a greater force before I even started, or is life just randomly beautiful at times?

Are you sick of my questions? (I’m going to stop now) Long story short, I decided to put some faith into the act of creation.

Gear / Process

Here’s my Olympus XA film camera that was used for this project. It’s a very quirky camera that’s perfect for travel and street photography:

There’s no double exposure mode, but as I mentioned above, you can just reload the film a second time and shoot away. However, unless you load the film in the exact same position both times, the frame lines won’t line up. I received a roll of overlapping mangled up craziness from the lab. Here’s a small section:

As you can see, the frame lines (above) are now baked into the pictures. I don’t really mind this, but I would definitely like to try this again in the future, being sure to mark the film so everything lines up. Next time.

Leaves Need Not Apply

I really like the look of winter trees. They have such a sinister quality to them. I thought they would work nicely in double exposures during this project because they would provide high contrast to a photo. While walking around Portland in January, I photographed plenty of hibernating trees:

But that’s only half the story here. My partner (above) is somehow mimicking the tree in just the right spot. Her arms are literally reaching out like branches. I have to remind you, this was not planned out at all. I didn’t take notes or anything.

It’s random. Or is it?

Here’s another double exposure with a winter tree that looks like it’s under water:

I love how everything is bathed in dark blue while the yellow flowers do their part to provide a nice balance. Also, the traffic light (bottom right part of the frame) is adding a lot to make things feel more dreamlike. I feel like this could be an album cover for the right band.

Corporate Headquarters

Buildings were another common theme on this double exposure roll of film:

I remember photographing the building (above) on a very cold day in January. You can definitely tell it’s winter by the tree on the left side, but all the spring flowers are making things much more cheerful. I think I’d like to work in this building.

The next photo is exactly the same combination of a winter building paired with spring flowers, but with a very different outcome:

The photo above is a lot more abstract than the one before it. But I feel like the building and the cherry blossoms are still getting along nicely.

Which Direction Do the Trees Grow?

I wanted to end this blog post with another tree photo I am confused and delighted to look at:

I’m sure some people won’t get the photo above. Honestly, it’s kind of a hot mess. I like it though, and it’s not a photo I would ever dream up in a million years.

Conclusion

Photographing things like trees and buildings usually don’t yield the most interesting photos for me. However, when paired together as double exposures, they take on a whole new life. With this in mind, I’m pretty excited to try another film project like this in the future. Maybe it could be a combination of scenery for the first round, and people for the second round. Or just all overlapping portraits. Who knows? For now, I’m going to enjoy looking at these crazy creations. Do you think it was fate or free will?

-Chris