Good 'ol Film

In the summer of 1992, I spent four weeks backpacking across Europe with a medium format Hasselblad 500 slung over my shoulder. At the time, I shot exclusively on TMAX film—either 100 or 400 speed. While I haven’t gone looking for the original negatives (though I’m sure they’re tucked away somewhere), these images from Rome were scanned many years ago.

People still comment that there’s no vantage point of the Colosseum that would allow for this shot. But they’re mistaken. If you stand in the Piazza di Santa Maria Nova—next to the Arch of Titus and just outside the Basilica di Santa Francesca Romana—you’ll see exactly what I saw that day, including the columns of the Temple of Venus perfectly framed to the right.