Ferrania Solaris FG Plus 200 expired film from around 2007
There’s nothing like wandering around an empty shopping centre – in this case, Oxford’s Westgate Shopping Centre – and taking pictures of neon lights and shop signs and then winding the film back and shooting over the top of them.
There were plenty of shop signs to choose from – Primark, Nandos, Phase Eight, SuperDry, Pizza Pilgrims – and I soon finished the 16 exposures and then rewound the film. I used a Minolta CLE to take the pics and metered for the bright colours, but I wasn’t able to line the shots up when I shot the roll again.
I found a video wall – Flannels store – that was playing all sorts of Fashion videos.
The best doubles worked when there were words or images that complemented each other or playfully hinted at something else. I love the Fussy suckers neon sign that overlays the Gucci children’s advert in particular. (Ted Baker’s logo I think was a reflection bouncing back off another screen as it appears in several of the shots):
And the signage with the two people looking into the same shot:
And the colours that tie in with the Pho restaurant sign and the car “inside” it…
… the colours of the Pilgrims Pizza sign with the model caught in between …
When you see them together the colours pop along with the film’s black borders and the Ferrania “logo”:
and the STREET F Eight one as it crosses the frames:
Backseat Becky’s Diner superimposed with what looks like a car advert and the Our Full Day Out sign also looks of a piece:
And when you see the full contact sheet, it becomes a strange work of art.
