Portugal on Ektar Photo Essay by Anna Rösch

Our latest feature is a beautiful photo essay from film photographer Anna Rösch. Scroll below to view the images and read more from Anna about capturing Portugal on Ektar film…

Analog cameras and films used: Nikon F100 (Find at KEH Camera or on eBay) | Kodak Ektar 100 (Find on Amazon)

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Portugal on Ektar

By Anna Rösch

The first time I shot Ektar, I screwed it up. I had very little idea how to shoot film, underexposed the entire roll, and ended up with muddy, grungy images that looked like neither Ektar nor Thailand (where I shot that roll).

After that, I didn’t touch Ektar for years. First, because I was intimidated by it. Later, when I’d gained confidence shooting film, because I couldn’t find the right fit for its blindingly vivid colors. Until we decided to go to Portugal in August.

Going on a beach vacation in the high season is really unlike our family. My husband and I both like our travels slow, not crowded, not excessively hot, and far from the usual tourist paths.

Yet this year, because of a long list of family circumstances that wouldn’t interest anyone, we ended up in the Algarve, the touristy bit of Portugal’s coast. In August, the most crowded month.

And I thought: this strange little trip deserves a strange little film. So I loaded Ektar into my camera. Turns out, it was a perfect match.

Even though we did our best to escape the crowds, everything on that trip was still over the top. The sun was burning. The wind on the surf beaches was fierce. The orange juice was sweet like caramel. We ate more watermelon than I thought humanly possible to consume. And the colors… I could never get enough of the colors of Portugal.

Last time I was there, it was May. I shot Kodak Gold in that spring light that feels suspended in the air. But August is an Ektar month. A little too much, but also weirdly perfect.

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