“Just because our efforts are futile, it doesn’t mean they are meaningless.” -A.S.
A sinkhole and a distant ridgeline. 2020, Hasselblad 500C/M, Carl Zeiss Planar 70mm. Ektar 100.
A double exposure happens when the film inside a camera gets exposed to light on two separate occasions, creating two overlapping images on the same piece of film.
In my experience, most of my double exposures have occurred on my Hasselblad 500C/M, and none of them were intended. Since it’s a modular camera, it is possible to wind the shutter up while the film canister is detached. Therefore, it is possible to take a photograph without forwarding the film. Since both photographs are moulded together, it means we didn’t capture the single subject we intended each time. It’s easy to be disappointed, and to feel that both photographs were taken in futility.
King Billy forest and glacial lake. Hasselblad 500C/M, Carl Zeiss Planar 70mm.
But double exposures have their own value and not only because they can help us learn how to use our camera properly.
The result of a double exposure can be a much more interesting image than what we originally intended.
Van on Bruny, tree trunk. Hasselblad 500C/M, Carl Zeiss Planar 70mm.