TAKE ME TO THE RIVER
Post-pandemic, but before we stopped masking, I moved into a new apartment within walking distance to Tempe Town Lake. This is a large reservoir in Tempe, Arizona, made by damming the Rio Salado between Ash Avenue and Priest. The body of water extends several blocks upstream, before thinning out into a swampland area near the mall. Because the 202 freeway crosses over the marshland, it creates a micro climate that migrating birds take advantage of, and so Mesa and Tempe have been keeping the reservoir topped up very far upstream, both for the sake of conservation, but also for recreation activities and aesthetic. The lake is frequently used for boat races, pleasure yachting, and rowing exercises. It's not safe to swim in, but they keep it stocked with fish. And, of course, it's a park that people walk around.
Before the world opened again, and I didn't have much to do, I would walk around the lake and take pictures of it. For about a year, the camera of choice for that was the Kodak Ektar H35, a very lightweight half-frame camera currently in production. I have a very positive opinion of the machine and it's operation, mine is now broken. I walk for exercise less often, but the river continues to be a good muse, especially if I just have to shoot out a roll.
Collected here is a thick slice of four years of photography. Unsorted. Your guide: the H35, Kodak M38, and disposable photography is notably low resolution and probably underexposed. Everything else has been captured on either my Minolta X-700 or my Minolta 130c Date, although there are now a few on a Minolta X-370s which is a very recent acquisition at time of writing.
Thank you.
