This post had been sitting in the Drafts for over 3 years. When I took this shot and started writing it, it had been over 20 years since I had held a roll of fresh film in my hands. What made that moment sweet was also the fact that the film was that awful and cheap Fomapan from my old homeland of the Czech Republic. That exact film was what I learned on as a kid and was really giddy to hold it in my hands again, 20 years older and this time living in America. So random!

I developed it myself at home, scanned it, and boy did the memories start flooding back in. High contrast, heavy grain, terrible halation, weak mid-tones, the film carrier is brittle and prone to curling when drying up. Growing up,   I always thought it was just a communist piece of garbage as I was longing to shoot that beautiful color Fuji Superia I couldn’t afford.

Fast forward two decades and here I am, Superia is long gone, Fomapan lives on, and I have grown so fond of the gritty street look of this old film that for me personally it ranks right at the top with my favorite Ilford HP5 and Fuji’s Acros. It may not be the best film for landscapes, but for travel, street, and cities? This brings so much nostalgic character to each photo, and I’m so glad they are still making them while keeping the prices reasonably affordable with 6-7 Dollars per roll in mid 2020’s.

This film’s look is not too dissimilar from the high contrast B&W preset I use on my digital Ricoh GR III to simulate vintage monochrome Japanese street photographers. And paired with a mint copy of Canonet QL17 rangefinder, which is nearly as old as I am? A great combination!