Figure 1 – Girl of the “wired generation” in checked pants. (c) DE Wolf 2018.

I was having lunch this afternoon when a scene appealed to my inner Brassaï.   His are many deeply intimate portraits taken in street cafes and cabarets. The IPhone is perfect for innocuously capturing these moments. Here it is a young woman of the “wired generation” intently staring at her own cellphone into a wonderfully burning Vermeer light. I have, of course, true to my inspiration, given it a subtle sepia tone and it is a rare photographic moment for me where I have actually dropped the brightness and increased the contrast. In the work-up, I found myself nostalgically imagining taking this with my own Leica M3, setting the contrast with a well chosen grade of Kodabromide, and then most wonderful of all was always toning in the selenium bath.