Canon Sure Shot Sleek • Kodak BW400CN, shot at 1600
{Pretty in Pink}
Who would have ever thought that I’d like pink film?
When The Impossible Project announced their special edition magentatype film, I didn’t think I’d have any interest in it. This was actually their second special edition film that was a colored monochrome; Impossible Project did a cyanotype film prior to releasing magentatype. Even though I wasn’t that interested in this pink film, magentatype happened to be on sale when I was making an order of some other IP films. I decided I might as well throw a pack of it into my shopping cart!
I’d bought this order of film as a birthday present to myself, so I actually planned ahead of time how I’d use the magentatype film. My sister and I have birthdays that are exactly seven days apart. That means we usually have some joint birthday outing (or two) during our birthday week. This year, it just so happened that The Princess Bride would be showing at The Orpheum in Memphis in the middle of birthday week. Perfect! Once we’d planned to see that movie, I knew going downtown to that beautiful theatre would be a great way to spend my special pack of film. (It was!)
I even watched the film Pretty in Pink that day at home in preparation for using the magentatype film for this series of photos, because I knew I’d name the series “Pretty in Pink.”
Team Ducky. Forever.
Testing 1-2-3…my test shot in my sister’s office at work
Dinner time in Midtown Memphis
The ghost of Elvis
(My favorite place in Memphis)
The prettiest in pink (though she’d never wear pink)
Kenny G’s star on The Orpheum’s “Sidewalk of Stars”
The grand lobby in the theatre
I will say that the scans of these photos don’t do them justice. Given the hit-or-miss nature of the revived instant film format, I was really happy with how these turned out. They made me “birthday happy” the night I took them. Well, the photos made me”birthday happy” in addition to the fact that we had so much fun seeing The Princess Bride on the big screen in my favorite place in Memphis!
Polaroid SLR 680 SE • Impossible Project Magentatype 600 film
August 1, 2014 • Memphis, TN
If you ever get your hands on some magentatype film, it’s a bit worrying initially because the film looks cyan as it’s developing. But never fear! It turned pink once it was finally developed properly!
{Official} Favorite Place in Memphis
A few weeks ago, I came to a stunning realization: I OFFICIALLY have a favorite place in Memphis!
“Why is this a stunning realization?”, you may ask. Because I hadn’t really thought about having a favorite place in Memphis, or not having one for that matter, up until this point. But on the night in question, I found myself at this particular locale in my hometown, and it dawned on me that there was no other place the city where I’d rather be.
And that place is: Orpheum Theatre, located in downtown Memphis. So I’ll round up some of the shots I have on hand from various visits I’ve made to the theatre over the years, along with some I snapped on my most recent visit, and I’ll tell you a little about my experiences there.
Circa 2006
Allow me set the scene for you (that is to say, the circumstances surrounding the aforementioned realization):
My birthday came around a couple of weekends ago. I like to do small, meaningful things for my birthday rather than asking for a huge birthday bash (though those ain’t so bad from time to time!) The ONLY request I had for celebrating the anniversary of my birth this year was that someone accompany me to a movie showing in the Summer Movie Series at the Orpheum. In my opinion, the Summer Movie Series is the coolest thing to do in Memphis during the summer, hands down.
Much to my delight, I discovered that the movie playing on my birthday weekend was going to be Walk the Line. It was part of a series of Memphis-made films they were showing during the Summer Movie Series this year. I immediately knew who had to go see it with me: Mallory! And – yay! – she was available to help fulfill my one birthday wish!
Circa 2010
There is just something so special about walking down Beale Street while wearing a pretty dress, on a breezy summer evening, making your way to the resplendent [oh yeah, I just busted out that vocab word!] Orpheum Theatre. When I arrived at the theatre and stood out front waiting for Mallory’s arrival, I took in the atmosphere around me. The iconic theatre marquee, studded underneath with a zillion lights. The people standing around, chattering before the show begins. The view down Beale Street, with its flashing neon signs. Classic Memphis sights and sounds.
Circa 2006
Stepping into the lobby of The Orpheum is like a gateway to another era. Everything is plush! Extravagant furnishings, art deco touches, rich fabrics, chandeliers, gilded surfaces everywhere you look. I can just imagine women in mink stoles and men in their best tuxedos, sipping champagne before seeing a performance in the 1930s.
They often have special activities for the audience before the movies plays. Like this trivia contest about Johnny Cash before Walk the Line. Mallory contributed the final tie-breaker question for the contest!
But back to the night a few weeks ago – my “realization” night. Mallory and I made our way into the theatre itself. No matter how many times I walk into the Orpheum, I still get this sense of “oooh!” and “ahhh!” at the grand scale of it all. It’s just…they don’t make ’em like this anymore.
After the trivia contest, Walk the Line started rolling and goodness did Mallory and I have a wonderful time seeing this film! The atmosphere surrounding us added so much to our experience. Not to mention, we were sitting next to this really great German family who seemed to be tourists – they were LOVING the movie and LOVING being at the Orpheum. It was both entertaining and endearing to witness their experience (though I did really wonder how people for whom English is a second language could possibly understand all those “country” accents in Walk the Line! I think I’d have needed subtitles had I been them!) Both we and the German woman I was sitting next to were freaking out when we realized that a crucial scene was actually filmed at The Orpheum. How did we not notice that when we’d seen the movie before?! It was so surreal to watch the scene on the big screen and be able to look around the room we were sitting in, recognizing that it was filmed right here.
Mallory and I left the film feeling like we were on top of the world – that feeling you get when you have the perfect night. We lingered outside, looking at the 1955 Cadillac they had sitting in front of the Orepheum in conjunction with the showing Walk the Line. Such a great feeling of “atmosphere”! I think we both would rank it as one of the best nights we’ve ever had in Memphis. It was a good night to be Memphians.
