If you catch it in the right light, at the right time, with the right film, you can get a shot of downtown Denton, TX that actually looks like the downtown Denton of my memory, rather than the bright, clean weekend shopping destination for pretty young families that it is today.
I’m not bitter, well, maybe a bit. I’ve been visiting Recycled Records on the square since the early 1990s, through all the years of empty streets, boarded up storefronts and antique shops, and now I barely recognize the place. The antique/junk shop where I bought a Royal Quiet Deluxe for $25 in 1994 or 1995 is gone, replaced by a clothing store, an accessories boutique, and a candy shop, and there are now at least a dozen possibilities for lunch, several ice cream or cupcake shops, and 3-5 places to grab a cup of coffee, plus places to buy fancy clothes and shoes, home furnishings, all the things you’d expect at an outdoor shopping mall, and precious few of the things I expect from a smallish town square in North Texas. All things must pass and all, and it’s a great thing for the town, but still. If I want a quiet downtown stroll, I’ve got to go all the way to Gainesville, now.
Oh well. At least I can get a fried pie while I’m there.
I shot this with the Ricoh 35 ZF on Imation Scotch Color HP100 film from Labeauratoire. The film expired in 2001, but it’s still fine, even at EI 100. I had a winding issue with this roll and most of the frames overlapped one another. This was one of the very few that came out clean. I had winding issues with the roll I shot in the Diana Mini too, but I think it’s camera issues in both cases, and not something inherent to the film. I have two short rolls left and I’ll probably keep holding them till I have some specific use for the interesting Imation Scotch/Ferrania palette.
This marks the beginning of a new, occasional series here, where I look back in the Archives for something I haven’t shared before, or haven’t shared in awhile, and I tell a little story about it. I don’t have a schedule planned for these, so stay tuned.
