My first experience in photography was in 1964. I exploited my father’s 35-mm FED camera, and then I got my own Zenith. At that time photography was a not wide spread activity. Since photo labs were rare, I had to prepare chemical mixtures, to develop films, and to print pictures at home.

To print a picture, first you had to get chemicals and mix them in needed proportions. (The verb to buy became utilized only when chemicals became available in stores). In full darkness you would take out the film from the camera and put it into a light-tight tank. Fill it with developer with strong respect to the temperature and developing time. Then rinse the film with running water without opening the tank. And only then fix it with hypo and final rinse and dry.

Usually on the next day when the film got dry, using an enlarger, you would print your pictures on light-sensitive photo paper. (Oh, unforgettable Soviet brands Unibrome and Bromeportrait!) On these days light in the bathroom was turned off, and a weak red light was turned on instead. …exposure, developing, rinsing, and fixation…, again exposure, developing, rinsing, and fixation… Then pictures had to be dried and glossed. It is not hard to guess how those who needed to use the bathroom felt at that time. But when that discomfort was over, everybody was happy with the results. They had pictures of the moments of their lives, their beloved, and their friends.

Since then the moments of life themselves and the methods of their capturing have changed radically. The first thing that has changed was cameras — the speed of shutter has increased in a thousand times, the speed of films tens of times. Different focus lenses became available (Oh, the best of all times and all the peoples of the USSR was the lens Jupiter-8!). Now they are almost superseded by zooms. The Black-n-white pictures’ epoch was finishing with color slide films. (What a lollapalooza were reversal slide films ORWO-Colour and ORWO-Chrome! They were manufactured in Deutsche Demokratische Republic, the closest friend of the Soviet Union. Alas! Both disappeared).

Since then the moments of life themselves and the methods of their capturing have changed radically. The first thing that has changed was cameras — the speed of shutter has increased in a thousand times, the speed of films tens of times. Different focus lenses became available (Oh, the best of all times and all the peoples of the USSR was the lens Jupiter-8!). Now they are almost superseded by zooms. The Black-n-white pictures’ epoch was finishing with color slide films. (What a lollapalooza were reversal slide films ORWO-Colour and ORWO-Chrome! They were manufactured in Deutsche Demokratische Republic, the closest friend of the Soviet Union. Alas! Both disappeared).

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