Sophia and I are close friends from college and both come from artistic backgrounds so it was a long time coming that I got to shoot her portraits. My hope was to collaborate on our visions to photograph her honestly and organically. We found our footing by first shooting some frames in her own space; where she lives with her loving partner and creates her art. Later on, (also as a reintroduction of Philly for me) we explored the neighborhoods surrounding Fairmount Park and West Philadelphia, as well as the Wissahickon, while we caught up on each other’s lives and shared music we’ve been listening to.

Sophia Kim is a painter, photographer, and musician. Her work and full bio can be found at www.sophiakimstudio.com

This was my first time shooting a roll of Ilford Delta 400 through my Nikon F3. The subtlety and softness in the contrast I found were further pronounced by the use of a Tiffen Black Pro Mist filter (1/4 strength). This was used on maybe half of the photos to achieve the halation effect the filter is famous for. Not sure if it’s something to keep on lenses for all-purpose shooting but it was fun to experiment. I also used a green-yellow filter from Tiffen to lighten up foliage and affect how her skin tones were treated. I really like the results!

The redscale photos were quick snapshots taken on a Minolta Freedom III point-and-shoot and some Lomo Redscale 100.