Madalina Chilici is a Romanian photographer who has already written about her travels to Sweden on Kosmo Foto’s sister blog, World on Film. She was very enthusiastic about the launch of the film and – after some mishaps with the Romanian postal service – got her hands on some rolls in January.
This was the first of her rolls she shot on a trip to the city of Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania – and she informs me she’s already working through her second roll.
Where are you from?
I have lived in different places in Romania: I was born in Vaslui, grew up in Oradea, lived in Cluj- Napoca for a few years, and now I live in the Romanian capital – Bucharest.
How long have you been shooting film?
I discovered this type of photography in a flea market before starting high school in 2009-2010. I got my first camera from there, it was a Smena 8 for which I paid 1.10 euros.
My first two or three film rolls ended up dark, which made me realise this is something I need and want to learn, it made my curiosity grow, so continued to shoot on film until today.
What camera do you shoot on?
I love travelling and discovering different vintage fairs around the world, where I can find more treasures. I bring back to life old cameras with different film rolls.
My favourite ones are: Pentax Spotmatic II, Canon EOS 500, Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2, Voigtlander Brilliant, Pentax Zoom 70-S.
What other films do you like using?
I like shooting with expired films too. One of my favourite is Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400, Fuji Color 200, Kodak Gold 200, Kodak Tri-x 400, Kodak TMax 400.
What are your thoughts about Kosmo Foto Mono?
I love the contrast, the tonality, and the playful grain. The film is excellent to be used in natural light. The design of box is very cool. <3
The photographs I attached to this post were shot with Canon EOS 500 and Polaroid 240 BV automatic. Happy to be a Kosmo Foto Kosmonaut.
What films would you like to see on the market (old films or new ones)?
Ektachrome! I just randomly found last year a roll for sale on a website from Romania. I ordered instantly the film and I received a roll of Ektachrome 100. I loved shooting with it.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
