Revitalizing Unseen Moments

The Outtakes Reimagined

The recent influx of rain in the Bay Area this week prompted me to revisit a project titled, "And the Rain Fell." When I first shared it a year ago, Sundays with Stella had around 100 subscribers. Since then, our readership has almost tripled, motivating me to reintroduce it to those of you who haven't had the chance to see it. I encourage you to click on the link below to explore the video where I combined my photographs with ambient city sounds. It remains one of my favorite personal projects.

Influenced by the work of Saul Leiter, I captured moments of inclement weather during my commute in downtown San Francisco from 2016 to 2018.

In every project, there’s bound to be a ton of outtakes. For one reason or another, some images, although I consider my favorites, fail to make it to the final cut. I don’t know about you, dear ones, but I go through a period of lamenting before I let them go.

After much time had passed, I took them out of hibernation and with fresh eyes, began to experiment using the Hipstamatic Tintype app. The decision was two-fold: I wanted to see these images in monochrome and to further enhance the sensation of being in the rain.

Wow, the results were better than what I had expected!

The lack of control over the shadow details significantly heightened the mood of these photographs. The shallow depth of field further amplified their painterly feel. The imperfections, characteristic of tintypes, complemented the rawness in these images.

Market Street. San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

Market Street. San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

Financial District. San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

South of Market. San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

South of Market. San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

Financial District. San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

South of Market. San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

South of Market. San Francisco, CA. Photograph by Stella Kalaw

I'd love to share more images, but unfortunately, the limitations of this newsletter prevent me from doing so. On the flip side, this constraint allows me to be intentional in narrowing it down to my absolute top favorites.

Let me ask you, dear readers, what file size is suitable for sharing more pictures? I’d love to hear your tips!

That’s it for now, dear ones. Short and sweet.

As always let’s meet each other at the comment section below. Let me know what you think of these outtakes having a new life of its own.

See you all next Sunday!

ps. if you are experiencing inclement weather in your neck of the woods, please be safe, stay warm, and stay dry.