Student days in Germany, late December 1970. A friend and fellow student in Berlin invited me to spend the Christmas holidays with his family in the town of Gifhorn, in the southeastern part of Lower Saxony, about 10 miles northwest of Wolfsburg. I clearly remember going for a walk on this very cold and blustery day and coming upon this flower shop. The high humidity inside had resulted in heavy condensation on the inside of the show window and the cold outside had frozen portions of it. I could see the reflections of the buildings on the other side of the street behind me and was fascinated by the abstract result. I made only one shot, but wish I had made more. I don’t remember what film I used (probably an Agfa slide film), but the camera was my new Asahi Pentax Spotmatic. 
I scanned and digitized the photo a few years ago, and the film’s colors had faded quite a bit through the years. I’ve tried to restore them to how I remember them in Lightroom.
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krikitarts 
The fading colors are part of the appeal: at least, for me. The combination of condensation and freezing is an interesting effect, and one I haven’t seen for some time. We’ll get the condensation when a true cold front rolls through, but we generally miss out on the freezing.
Our freezing started today. We’re supposed to have a low of 25 F tonight and 24 tomorrow. The flurries started to appear this afternoon, but most of the snow should pass us to the north, as is frequently the case. We’re considering lighting our first hearth fire for the season tonight. I also appreciate the fading colors. It took me an hour, though, to clear up the spidery mould fingers that had formed on the old film before presenting it. It’s a labor of love, though, like restoring an old, creased and often-handled archived portrait.
Wonderful image, Gary, and good memories too. A :)
Aaah, the good old days–I know you appreciate the memories as well. Thanks, Adrian.
Very nice indeed. Love the abstract effect.
Thanks, Vicki, I remember how steamy warm it was inside and how cold my feet were!
What an interesting photo! Love the abstract mix of pinks and greys.
I thought they complemented each other so well. I couldn’t stay out there for very long, though–the wind was quite fierce!
Coincidence: my first real camera was also an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic. A guy from my Peace Corps group brought it back to Honduras for me in 1969 from the Panama Canal Zone. I still remember sitting on my bed in Tegucigalpa and reading the manual to learn about f/stops and shutter speeds. Experimenting is fun, isn’t it?
I got mine from a new friend I’d made in Berlin, while I was singing in the folk clubs. I was so captivated that, with a month or so, I was buying Tri-X in bulk rolls, loading my own film cassettes, and developing them in the evenings. Ah, yes, experimenting is everything!