The TTV effect

     One of the reasons photography ceased being my media of choice was the move into the digital age.  I loved darkrooms - the smell of fixer, the excitement of pulling your first print from a new roll, and the ability to mess around with chemicals to get great effects.  I loved not knowing whether or not a photo was going to come out - I loved happy accidents.  I frequently shot with plastic cameras and handmade pinhole cameras, simply because of their unpredictability.  By the time the digital age superseded film I no longer had access to a darkroom and I could neither afford great digital equipment nor did it hold the same luster for me that film had.  So I became a painter.  And then I went to grad school and became a sculptor.  While that's another story entirely, I will continue with my original thread.
     When digital photography became more affordable, I, like anyone else, was lured in by its ability to save me both money and give me instant gratification.  I also loved the LCD screens on the back of the cameras - backlit photos look sexy and appealing - sometimes in a way that isn't replicated in print.  Yet, I couldn't find myself as in love with digital as I was with the techniques of film.  Photoshop is wonderful, but I spend enough of my life staring at a computer screen - I don't want to endlessly edit photos to get them to look like I shot them with film and crappy plastic cameras.
     When I started looking into the possibility of opening up yet another etsy shop for my art, I kept running across photos on etsy made with TTV.  What the hell is that?  Apparently, it stands for Through The Viewfinder - meaning you've taken your primary camera (most likely digital) and shot it through the viewfinder of another camera (most likely an old reflex camera with a fairly large viewing screen.)  The result is wonderful vignetting, soft focus and a dusty, worn-around-the-edges look, reminiscent of vintage photos.  Instantly, I am in love.  While doing more research on how to create a TTV contraption, however, I discover a very easy Photoshop method to convert straight photos into TTV photos!  Because I have now become completely spoiled by the digital age and am no longer patient enough to tinker endlessly away until I get the right shot with a TTV contraption.  (I actually made one with my old Hasselblad and it wasn't terrible, but this is far easier and then I don't have to worry about dropping my very heavy Hasselblad while trying to make a photo.)


So, long story short - here are the results of my efforts.  The photos with vertical and horizontal lines and a bulls-eye in the center were made with the Hasselblad TTV contraption.  The others were night photographs I shot in New Orleans and are relatively unmanipulated digitally with the exception of a TTV speckle pattern layer I've added.  Enjoy.