A Project for 2022

For a while now I've been thinking about a larger project that would give my photography some focus, help me hone my skills a little, and give me a nice, tangible end product. I think it might be quite nice to have a go at making a zine and I have a camera in mind for the job, my Ensign Cupid. Now, I know the Ful-Vue would seem like a more natural choice, given it's the primary camera I feature on this blog, but it's 2022, which is significant as it marks 100 years since the Cupid was launched. A project centred on this quirky, 100 year old camera seems appropriate therefore. 

The Cupid wasn't in production for long, roughly six years, and they aren't all too common on the second hand market, so I'm guessing there aren't that many knocking about. Although those that are still around have had long lives, I wouldn't have thought they'd see much use beyond the 1920s. The Cupid was a quirky concept from the outset, and there were more standard snapshot cameras on the market. Even with the benefit of being able to shoot twice the number of frames, I get the sense this camera, while a pioneer, was a bit of a flop. 

It is nice to imagine a Cupid that was loved enough to avoid being shelved for the last 90 odd years though. Imagine what it could have seen if it had been out and about. What it could have documented. All the changes in society and the landscape. Sadly though I suspect few witnessed much of the last century, and this thought has partly inspired the theme of the zine I want to produce. 

Through the course of 2022 I want to take the Cupid out and about, to as many different locations as I can. I am going to treat it as though this time traveller from the 1920s has woken up in 2022 and wants to see how the world has changed. Admittedly, that's hard to do in the rural Highlands where I'm based, but I have a few trips to the central belt and possibly further afield planned where I can capture some more modern sights. 

The project is still very much in its idea stage, so I may explore other avenues. Once I have a good number of shots developed I'll have a better idea which subjects the camera really excels at taking. For the sake of consistency, and to keep things simple I am going to use one film stock for this project and that will be Catlabs X80. This won't be a surprise if you've been following this blog as I've written previously about why I think it's a great film for box camera photography. Its versatility makes it a great "shoot in any light conditions" option, which means I can have the Cupid loaded and ready to go on any day in any location. It will also be nice to really "learn" this film, and gain more experience shooting and developing it.

So that's the plan. Obviously the Ful-Vues won't be forgotten while all this is going on. I'll keep shooting those and posting their adventures here.  Watch this space for progress. I've never made a zine before so it will be a learning curve. The goal is to enjoy shooting the Cupid, to celebrate this little known camera and to grow as a photorapher.