My friend, Philip, passed this camera on to me. Before he passed away from cancer, he asked me to come get his camera collection. In that collection, there was this. A Fujica MA-1 that he had converted to a pinhole camera. It had a somewhat exposed roll of film in it. I had no idea what Philip had taken. There were a few cameras in the collection that had half-exposed rolls of film inside. I decided to take this particular pinhole-converted camera to Peru with me and finish off the roll. I had no idea what was already on the roll, what the roll was, whether the camera even worked…. I just blindly forged onward. Taking this camera and using it at Machu Picchu was the goal. On the way, I got a few shots.

 

Huacachina, Peru. It’s considered an oasis.

 

Huacachina … I got sick at this mud hole they call an “oasis”. Guess I gotta look up the definition of an oasis.

 

Huacachina, Peru.

 

On an island in Lake Titicaca, Peru

 

Restaurant. Lake Titicaca, Peru.

 

Sacred Valley. Getting closer.

 

Machu Picchu. Yup, we did it.

 

Amazon Jungle, Puerto Maldonado, Peru.

 

Lima, Peru.

 

Lima, Peru.

 

Lima, Peru.

 

Lima, Peru.

 

Here’s what Philip had taken on that roll:

C’mon! I know bridges. What bridge is this? I’m wracking my brain.

 

 

The lens cap is removed to create the exposure. The shutter release is simply there to allow for advancement of the film to the next frame. Philip’s mystery film turned out to be Ilford HP5+.

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