Billie Huang
i probably need to start editing to make my grammar and punctuation proper and consistent... if youve read other stuff on here (besides interviews), you know i hate using apostrophes and capitalizing ‘i’ or other proper nouns. i understand the rules of punctuation for the most part, but half the time, i write this stuff in my notes app and i dont have autocorrect on. and this is my website so i can do whatever the fuck i want. I dont be spelling shit wrong tho... 100 emoji
– Nobuyoshi Araki
I say this as praise – excitement and novelty came through, it was a pleasure to look at them. It’s hard to make photos feel like a Sofia Coppola movie. Maybe that’s just because a lot of photographers are men and aren’t capable of capturing things like women are.
After seeing Aurora’s post, I thought of Japanese photographer Hiromix. Hiromix was just 17 when her first photobook (Girls Blue) was published. I’ve only seen scans because im a pleb but her images were a time capsule that preserved 90s Tokyo girlhood and youth culture. They have aged considerably well. I came across someone on Facebook who said “Girls Blue feels like Instagram in book form, long before social media took over.”
My words can’t really do her work justice, so here is Gary Badger in The Photobook: A History V1:
But Hiromix, whose photographic voice is an unusually empathetic one, is unrepentant. Her comment on the book's jacket shows all the arrogance of youth: 'Photography is the place where I can express all ... I feel and think in my everyday life. It would not be understood by grown-ups or kids – only we can see what it is.'"
Two things about Hiromix are important to me:
1. Hiromix shot on a Konica Big Mini, an accessible compact 35mm point and shoot. I also own one but i will talk about that later. Her work reflects that in also being really accessible – you dont need to stare at that shit or tweak on reddit forums looking for the ‘true meaning’ behind Hiromix’s photos. Shit is not complicated... using a point and shoot is looked down upon by some purists because it’s ‘easy’ and anyone can use them. I think thats kind of the point ...
2. Hiromix was a talented young Asian woman taking and sharing photos.
I still feel the negative effects of being a female poc photographer (oh nah this sounds like gofundme) (promise i dont have a victim complex) in a white male dominated hobby. Im paid less than my male counterparts. Im often not tagged or credited for my photos. The people who ‘forget’ to credit me make no mistake in tagging and crediting male photographers. I feel like my work is not taken serious and i work twice as hard to earn half the respect. Concepts ive known since i was a child are mansplained to me frequently. Men objectively have it easier when pursuing creative projects. They are validated every step of the way and no one questions their competence. Women before me have faced adversity far worse than what im bitching about, but i wanted to emphasize the importance of Hiromix’s work and other female photographers who were able to change the game like that…100 emoji…
From Hiromix and the Rewriting of Youth, Yoko Gao mag:
My friend Gage recommended the Konica Big Mini. He owns a Minolta TC-1 and said it was made by the same manufacturer and had a sharp glass lens. I ordered a Big Mini 201 with a data back for around $180 from Japan (pre-tariffs) and it came in good condition. It’s increasingly harder to find 30 year old tech in working condition, especially in point and shoots.
Hiromix famously used Konica Big Mini 35mm point and shoot cameras. Housed in a plastic body but with a sharp 3.5f lens, Big Mini cameras were made as a more accessible and affordable alternative to premium and expensive 35mm point and shoots at the time, like the Yashica T4, Ricoh Gr-1, or Contax T3.
There are a bunch of Big Mini models out there. Fixed lens models are more desirable than zoom ones (for what reasons... i dont really know, i think they are less susceptible to breaking). I have the 201, the earliest one with a square lens. The following models (BM 301, 302, F) have a round circular lens which looks super sick. The F is sharpest with a 2.8f lens.
During my Big Mini pre-purchase research, i came across vehement praise for the lens and image quality, but also an equal amount of warnings and complaints about the fragility of its build and tendency to brick at any moment. Even though its glass and image quality are excellent, the plastic builds of Big Minis are poor and have a lot of capacitors and parts susceptible to breaking. Technically that applies to any 35mm point and shoot – the tech in these things are like 30 years old, wiring and functionality go bad eventually. A $3,000 mint condition Contax T3 could brick at any moment.
People (myself included) are still spending thousands of dollars on second/third/fourth hand tech. It’s interesting how old equipment is sought out seemingly more than new gear. I’ve wondered this myself… i own cameras that are newer, faster, more reliable – but i find myself wanting to spend thousands of dollars on 30 year old ticking timebombs. https://music.apple.com/album/detonate Content being so accessible today has caused oversaturation and burnout of creating and consuming media. It’s led to an ‘offline’ trend and a return to analog methods. It could be argued that today’s youth prefer ancient camcorders and point and shoots because they produce cool images, but i like to think we subconsciously need that sense of intention and mindfulness that only comes with using a device with a finite amount of recording time or exposures.
In a weird way, restrictions encourage creativity. I was thinking about this concept of restriction recently. Billy and i were talking about throwing a show and debating whether themed parties or non-themed parties were more ‘fun’. Sometimes it’s more exciting and easier to dress for an event with a theme. Depends on the theme… if it’s some bullshit like goblins and wizards i am not dressing up for that shit. Honestly one time i did attend a wizard party and looked like a harry potter fan in psychosis but i had fun...
There are a million dirt cheap fixed lens 35mm cameras like the PS35 that perform just as well as the Big Mini (or other mid-level point and shoot) to the untrained eye. But for me, the main consideration is a camera’s form factor. Does it make me confident? How does it feel in my hands? Can i take it around without it being annoying? The Big Mini was small enough to slip in any of my shirt or pants pockets. It was small enough to be able to catch spontaneous stuff and intimate moments.
I hate datestamps but my camera randomly died and reset. its kind of funny on this photo
Big Mini next to iPhone 15 (not plus) for size
Tying back to Hiromix, the portability and invisibility of the Big Mini is written all over her photos. Some of the stuff she captured was only possible through using an inconspicuous point and shoot.
Mentioned earlier, BMs are fragile and one can break if you look at it wrong. I was sooo careful with mine until July Materia. I dropped it in the green room of all places. I thought it was around my neck or wrist and i just dropped it right on the floor. The front panel came off… my engineer roommate Colin put it back on, but the drop also ruined some other shit. It can shoot a few pics normally, but will randomly die in the middle of taking a photo. I have to take the battery out and shit and it has to advance the film roll when it resets. So… it works like 50% of the time. I usually love gambling, but i hate wasting my film and eating half the roll, so it’s been retired to my side table as ‘decor’.
I got a Pentax UC-1 (sold as the Pentax Espio Mini in Japan) in August after i cooked my Big Mini. It had excellent reviews and looked even smaller and more portable.
Mine came in beat up condition, but i was just glad to get one that worked for around $200. Ive seen the UC-1 called a ‘budget Yashica T4’. The lens is sharp and photos come out fine. Daytime shots look great, but low light pics are flat. It’s smaller, but doesnt feel as good in hand. The viewfinder is insanely tiny and impossible to find when shooting shows or anywhere dimly lit. The viewfinder issue pissed me so bad that i impulsively ordered a Kyocera T-Proof (better known as the Yashica T5) from Japan. It mightve been divine intervention or just laziness, but my order was cancelled because i refused to pay the stupid ass tariffs. I still use the Espio Mini, but i havent enjoyed shooting film as much since the BM died.
Going back to the quote at the beginning from Nobuyoshi Araki:
“If you want to change your photographs, you need to change cameras. Changing cameras means that your photographs will change. A really good camera has something I suppose you might describe as its own distinctive aura.”
and this classic one i heard a million times growing up:
“It’s the Indian, not the arrow.”
Which i dont think is necessarily all the way true... i think the better saying might be:
“It is a poor craftsman who blames his tool.”
Take those quotes as you will, but it feels like artists dont stress the importance of their tools often. That’s not to say the bow or the arrow always makes the Indian… I bet Juergen Teller could make more compelling images on an iPhone 4 than a random film student with a Panavision camera. David Lynch shot Inland Empire on Sony DSR PD150, a camcorder popular in the skateboarding community. Hiromix choosing the Big Mini to shoot is almost as important as the photos themselves. Tools say a lot about intentions. There are instances where tools are used because they’re circumstantial and the only available options. But Araki says changing cameras means changing how you photograph... ive learned that changing cameras also changes how i feel about photography and how much i even want to photograph at all.
The Big Mini isnt objectively better than the UC-1. They’re nearly identical on paper. I would even say the UC-1 is more solid in terms of build quality and specs. But the Big Mini had that je ne sais quoi, that ‘distinctive aura’ that Araki mentioned.
There might be someone reading this rolling their eyes like… no way she can even tell the difference between the two cameras. I just went through all my film scans from the past 6 months and was able to clock each photo, whether taken on the Konica or the Pentax. I prefer my photos on the Big Mini over the UC-1 by a lot. I’m not sure if it’s because the image quality is better or because i loved shooting on it, which led to better photos. And even if i wasnt able to see a difference in image quality… one of those cameras made me love taking photos. I would burn through a roll in the Big Mini just in a few days. The roll in my UC-1 has been there since last year (it is only February… but still) and only has 8 exposures taken. The UC-1 has made me indifferent to photography.
Anyways. I miss using the Big Mini and maybe ill get another when im ready to gamble another $200 on a ticking timebomb.
Pick your tools well, they matter more than you think!!! I’ll end with one last quote from Nobuyoshi:
– Nobuyoshi Araki