吉姆 JIM HOFMAN | Photography Faces & places in China
Author Archive
Analog | Hot Hong Kong – with Covid
I was in Hong Kong three times on my summer 2023 trip. The last time on vacation with Covid. That kinda sucked. The photos below were all taken with either a Zeiss Ikon ZM, Bessa R2 or a Hasselblad Xpan (panoramic images) on Portra 400 or Cinestill 800T film.
Analog | Village in the Summer
I took the Hasselblad Xpan to the village for some pano images. It’s usually a challenge to compose a panoramic photo in a small area like a village, but I’ve started using a wide 28mm Nikon lens on the Xpan which has made it easier.
Analog | Ningbo in the Heat
Wow – it was stupid hot in China during the summer of 2023. I had a choice of weather conditions – extreme heat + humidity or heavy rain. Neither was very conducive for street photography.
Analog | Yangjiang in the Summer
Hot, Hot, and more hot. Maybe some rain too. All photos were taken with a Zeiss Ikon ZM on Portra 400 film. Thanks to Anne for being my guide on a couple of photo outings.
Analog | Hong Kong after Covid
Well, that was a long 3 years… All Photos were shot on 35mm film using three different cameras (Leica M6, Bessa R2, Zeiss Ikon ZM).
Analog | The Village after Covid
I was relieved to see all of my village friends survived the December of 2022 Covid wave that swept through China.
Analog | Ningbo after Covid
I spent a month back in Ningbo after the big Covid wave of December 2022. It was great to see China back to normal.
Analog | Back to Shanghai
After getting shut out of China for almost a year and a half, I was finally able to travel to Shanghai for some street photography and vintage camera shopping with my Ningbo friend Barry.
Analog | Returning to the Village
It took me over 15 months before I was able to return to China to continue my documentation of the final years of this 400-year-old village.
Analog | Yangjiang
It’s been over two years since I was last in Yangjiang and it was nice to spend some time there.
Analog | Ningbo | Returning During Zero Covid
After enjoying the relative safety of China’s Zero Covid policy during 2020 and 2021 I returned after a 15-month absence. Unfortunately, I returned to a very different China.
Analog | Leaving China after 14 Months
Well… that was a long business trip. Really long and really amazing. I essentially sat out the pandemic in China – which was one of the safest Covid bubbles on the planet. It was really tough packing up my apartment at the end of my odyssey. I had accumulated a lot of stuff over 14 […]
Analog | One Year in China
This week is the one-year anniversary of coming to China in March of 2020. I came to Ningbo with the plan to stay for 6 weeks for a business trip. A few days after I arrived China closed the borders (still not reopened a year later) and the Covid cases in the US spiked.
Analog | January 2021 – 10 YEARS!
This post marks the 10 year anniversary of this photoblog. It also coincides with the publication of Volume 2 of my village series.
Analog | Winter Travel & Ningbo
Some assorted photos using assorted cameras and assorted film stocks. These are the final photos taken in 2020.
Analog | Village Fall Harvest
It’s harvest time in the village and there were lots of photo opportunities. Harvesting rice, potatos, soy beans, peas, sweet potatos and more rice.
Analog | Vintage Panflex Camera
The Shanghai Camera Mall got more of my money. I was in the mood for something COMPLETELY different than my other analog cameras, so I started investigating panoramic cameras.
Analog | Shaoxing Opera at the Village
I was walking through the village in the middle of October and saw a large tent erected in one of the parking lots. After asking around I found out there was a touring company performing Shaoxing Operas for 3 nights.
Analog | Village Formal Portrait Session
I decided to try a formal portrait session of some of the older people in the village a few weeks ago. Many of them had never had a formal portrait taken, so I decided to do it pro-bono as a learning exercise.
Analog | I’m YouTube-Famous Now
I met a YouTuber on the bus from the Shanghai airport to our government-mandated 14-day quarantine hotel in Ningbo. He was returning from the US with his family trying to out-run the COVID-19 virus that had just hit the US. I was doing the same thing – for slightly different reasons.
Analog | Black & White Film
Because the local photo lab is getting slow and expensive I decided to start developing and scanning my own black and white film. I already do that in the US, but it requires some gear and chemicals to get it done here in China. After I was here for about 6 months I decided to set up a film processing lab in my AirBnB kitchen – which I never use.
Analog | New 4″x5″ Camera
After jumping into analog photography about a year and a half ago I’ve slowly acquired cameras with larger and larger resolution (negative size). Over the summer I took the ultimate step into large format photography when I purchased a ShenHao 4×5 camera in Shanghai.
Analog – Summer 2020
My six-week trip turned into an “indefinite” length trip because of COVID-19 related issues (closed borders, lack of flights, lockdowns, etc.). I had plenty of opportunities to work on my photo project in the village and travel around China to capture analog photos on my Mamiya 6 and Hasselblad 500 C/M. Most of these photos were taken using Portra 400 film.
Analog | Ningbo Village 5.20
More street portraits from the village in Ningbo. I’ve entered a new stage in this project because in early May I printed a photo book with all of the images I had shot and distributed the book to everyone in the village who had allowed me to take their portrait. This created an incentive for […]
