Capturing the Cafe Atmosphere on 35mm Film

I have had to write this post four times now. Each time I have had issues posting, losing the initial writing. In a way, this has led to me writing each post in a different way, having something new to say each time based on the feelings and surroundings I have here right now. I slap away at my phone's keyboard in a cafe in the centre of Istanbul. It's humid, a slight breeze enters through the windows and the doors which are left open. All customers choose to sit outside, however. By the roadside in which they can freely puff away at their tobacco, enjoying the sun, and also enjoying whatever other chemicals come from the endless motorbikes and cars that traverse through the narrow streets. I chose to sit inside, far in the corner where it's more quiet, where I have a view of the entire place.

I hear accents of different nationalities conversing. People from all over the world sharing thoughts and ideas, forming connection. I hear music of different genres playing, a little too loud and not quite sure what atmosphere the cafe wants to produce. A cat sleeps on the same chair as me, it hasn't moved once during the entity of my time here. I sit drinking my second cappuccino. I have missed coffee, something I couldn't have after I was sick for a month. I now roam the streets aimlessly with my Canon AE-1, shooting film again after a hiatus. I have missed this dearly. I spend my time sitting in cafes, doing little Hive work from my phone, observing the life unfolding around me. Each cafe offering different stories to see and hear.

One cafe, almost a display. Like a zoo. Its main door completely open in the busiest area of Taksim. A flowery, French inspired place. Void of Turkish culture, it offered tea and coffee, pastries and cake. A man sat at the entrance, looking as if he had fallen out of a 1940s film noir, one leg crossed over the other as he smoked away at a cigar. Observing the passers by, careless that he now resided in the modern world. Passers by would stop and take photographs of the cafe, almost in sheer surprise that, even on a rainy day in a globalist shopping area, something with soul still appeared.

In another cafe, it held a more Turkish influence. Dimly lit, quiet, some connection to the outside world, but only connected by windows and a slight breeze of the fresh rainy air that entered through the door. Turkish coffee, thick and rich, was consumed alongside water to wash it down. Books surrounded, likely unread by anyone. I continue to sit idle in such places, almost ready to pull out the camera and capture the atmosphere they provide. To find a way to tell some of the stories that surround them. The people that walk by, the places they may be heading to: loved ones, work, home, or to a cafe themselves. The cafe is a place of narrative, a place in which time continues for all, but in very different ways as we each experience them in our own ways.

I shot these on 35mm Kodak Vision 250D film, an expired cine film. It was my first time using it, but I think it perfectly captures the atmosphere a cafe can bring. The grain, the darker tones. You can almost smell the coffee beans in them. For now, I'll continue sipping at this cappuccino, maybe I'll pull out the sketchbook.

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