Welcome to the first edition of my new series, ‘Cities on Film’
In this series, I’ll be traveling to various cities, spending a single day shooting one roll of black and white film with a different vintage film camera.
For the first city of the series, I traveled 3-1/2 hours southeast of Nashville to visit the cornerstone of the south — the great city of Atlanta. I made a working list of potential locations, and managed to visit them all in a single day. But first, the details:
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Camera: Canon AE-1 circa early 1980s
Lens: Canon FD 50mm
Film: Fujifilm Acros Neopan 100 iso, 36 exposures, 35mm
Yours truly in Atlanta with the Canon AE-1 in hand.
![Canon AE-1 with Fiji Neopan 100](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_8568.jpg)
Location 1: Piedmont Park
![](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000036-2.jpg)
First location of the day was at the stunning Piedmont Park in Atlanta’s Midtown. I shot this landscape reflection at 9:30 am in soft light. Camera settings: 1/125 shutter speed at f8.
Below is a raw scan from the negative, which is the same frame as shown above, with no retouching. The flatness of the negative allows room for contrast adjustment either in Photoshop or in the enlarger. It also reflects the softness of the light at 9:30 am on that morning in Atlanta.
![Unretouched scan directly from the 35mm Neopan 100 negative.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000036-3.jpg)
Location 2: Jackson Street Bridge
The Jackson Street Bridge is a midtown attraction with a spectacular view of downtown, made more recognizable because a photograph from the bridge appeared on the poster for season one of The Walking Dead.
![View of the downtown Atlanta from the Jackson Street Bridge](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC01291.jpg)
![Sticker overload on the Jackson Street Bridge](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_8513.jpg)
![View of Atlanta from the Jackson Street Bridge. You may recognize this view if you're a fan of the Walking Dead, as it was featured on the series poster one season.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000034.jpg)
![Another from the Jackson Street Bridge](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000033.jpg)
Location 3: Lunch at The Varsity
The Varsity is the world’s largest drive-in fast food restaurant and has been in business since 1928. I’d never been, so I decided to fuel my day of photography with a cheeseburger and onion rings. Pro tip: Atlanta is full of fantastic restaurants from southern soul food kitchens to international cuisine — dine elsewhere. I didn’t find The Varsity to be particularly tasty or even a very pleasant experience.
![Burger and onion rings at The Varsity](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC01300.jpg)
![Shooting into the glare of the sun to get an image of The Varsity's vintage burger stand sign.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000017.jpg)
Location 4: Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthplace and surrounding neighborhood
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood, and lived in this house for twelve years. He was a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, just a block away. The neighborhood bustles with tourists and fans of Dr. King, but retains a somewhat gritty urban edge, with broken windows and rundown old buildings throughout the neighborhood.
![Martin Luther King's birth home.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC01296.jpg)
![Detail photograph at the MLK birth home. Shot midday in full sun, 50mm lens.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000026.jpg)
![Shotgun homes in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood where MLK was born and where his Ebenezer Baptist Church is located.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000025.jpg)
![MLK's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King was a pastor and gave sermons.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000030.jpg)
![Architectural detail inside Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000027.jpg)
![Architectural detail inside Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000028.jpg)
![This is a less-than-successful attempt to photograph a bench on the vintage checkered tile floor of the Fellowship Hall in the basement of Ebenezer Baptist Church](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000029.jpg)
![Mural on an old building one block from MLK's Ebenezer Baptist Church.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC01292.jpg)
![Murals on an old building one block from the Ebenezer Baptist Church building.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000032.jpg)
![The Sweet Auburn neighborhood surrounding the MLK birthplace and Ebenezer Baptist Church is somewhat rough around the edges.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/A0019851.jpg)
![I wonder if Dr. King, or perhaps Coretta, may have shopped in this old red-brick building when it was still a department store.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/A0019865.jpg)
![A beautifully rusty and crusty neon sign in the Sweet Auburn area of town.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/A0019869.jpg)
![Rusty neon bar sign in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000024.jpg)
Location 5: Krog Street Tunnel
The Krog Street Tunnel is a long connection between the Inman Park and Cabbagetown neighborhoods of Atlanta. The street overhead was completed in 1912, and now the dark tunnel is literally covered top-to-bottom and end-to-end with street art, and graffiti. I’m not sure if the art is sanctioned by the city or not — does anyone know? I read a story that the city once planned to close the tunnel for a posh event, with the art as background, but the artists objected and actually painted over most of the art with gray paint.
![The Krog Street Tunnel in Cabbagetown](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC01299.jpg)
![The Inman Park neighborhood entrance to the busy Krog Street Tunnel in Atlanta](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000022.jpg)
![The Krog Street Tunnel has become famous as a location for wall-to-wall street art, tagging, and graffiti.](https://icatchshadows.comwp-content/uploads/2017/05/45000019.jpg)
I hope you enjoyed our black and white film tour of Atlanta. Be sure to check back soon for the next Cities on Film update.
Let me know your thoughts about the Cities on Film concept. What cities would you like to see featured?