Rachel Frankenbach

 

First of all thank you for all of your support over the years !! Not only for my self, more so I think the platform you guys have created is exactly what a lot of us need, a place where individuals who might not have their foot in the tiny door of the art and creativity Industry and people who have a passion or talent but are maybe not professionals, a place for us to be seen and heard without judgment, really this is what art should be as it’s too versatile but way to competitive these days and personally way to intimidating to put myself out there.

Well back in the day I used to develop a lot of the film myself. I used to throw my full rolls into various soups of beer and dishwashing liquid or really anything you could think of, dried those for a few days before hitting the dark room, well not all of it turned out well haha, a lot of good footage was destroyed but I absolutely love those creative outbursts!!! Well I wasn’t very good at the normal developing process though and due to travelling and not having a proper home for years developing my own film was rather impossible.. but any where in the world you can find awesome little labs that do an amazing job because of their passion for film, so you just have to do your homework and you’ll find someone who can do the job for you perfectly and also is not gonna rape your wallet! Big shout out to @rewind Sydney and @dexterscamera Ventura btw !!

It’s such a unique style. How did you get into shooting film and processing this way? 

Well back in Germany I was inspired by a very talented artist “hi Tim Dechent“ I was shooting digital he was shooting film and basically got me hooked! We’ve done some awesome projects together and I’ll thank him forever teaching me everything I know !!

I started with a Diana F and a Holga 120mm lomo Camera and developed from 120mm into 35mm ..

 

As I have become more and more involved with the ocean since I moved to the coast 7 years ago I have decided to capture everything that fascinates me which clearly is the water. The process of pressing a button and being able to look at an instant result has never challenged me it is not exciting for me what so ever at least not for stills. The idea of capturing something  on a piece of film and all work involved with it is is what makes me love this medium. 

I’m from Wiesbaden, Germany and moved to Australia 7 years ago lived at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast for 4 years and then moved to Cronulla,  Sydney 3 years ago and have finally settled in and found my home.

  

How was your recent trip through Costa Rica? 

Costa Rica was incredible!! What a beautiful country !! You can’t stay for long, you will go broke 100% but it’s worth the hole in your pocket !

 

We started in the mountains and traveled by horse 5 days from the top back to the coast through the most beautiful untouched jungle living the cowboy life to the fullest!

 Back on the coast we experienced the most amazing culture, people and of course waves!! Empty beaches with waves for days and no one to share them with but your mates. After we began running low on money we quickly headed to Nicaragua which I must say was even better than Costa Rica !! Cheap meals, perfect waves, awesome people and absolutely ridiculous treehouse bush doofs with no rules what so ever. I can only recommend going and seeing it for yourself! Special thanks here to Cody who is our friend from Cronulla but at the time running big surf house Popoyo, who showed us the Nicaraguan dream!

 Well I think clearly Portra 160 & Portra 400 I don’t know why I have stopped buying old expired films from eBay I used to love all random films, lately I have been lazy and more playing on the safe side with Portra as I can buy it around the corner and I know exactly how to use it 👌🏿

What are you shooting with at the moment? 

Mainly Nikonos V or Canon Rebel G also my Minolta x700 is always kept Handy !!

 Well all plans so far are canceled or postponed due to the current reality of the world having to fight this virus but the yearly trip to Bali and Germany for a bit of snow is on the list end of the year! But it’s not too bad staying home all year round as our coastline is so damn beautiful and versatile there is always something to do!!  Yeewww.

Thanks again !!!