I’ve recently started following a lot of film photographers. I was first inspired by my close friend Hannah from school, who owns a Nikon F301 (I think). She often brought it out whenever we did day trips in Hong Kong, and while I was confused as to why she wouldn’t use a digital camera, I always admired the quality.
Oslo, Stavanger and Tromsø, Norway. Photo credits: Hannah Chijiwa Morgan.
I think what really got me into film, at least as of now, is a blog by a junior of mine at university. Her name is India and her photos are out of this world! I really love the thought she puts into her posts, how inventive she is with her work, and she always has really meaningful stories to her captions. I would highly recommend checking her blog out!
**I’ll be publishing an interview that India and I did very soon, stay tuned!**
I also have started following accounts like Everybody Film, 305c and Joel Chua, as well as Kodak, Ilford and instant film accounts such as Polaroid, Lomography, Instax and so on.
My primary aim for my photography was to take photos on a DSLR. I’ve had the model in mind for some time and have been saving up for it. However, I have noticed some bloggers using both film and digital, and whilst digital’s quality is amazing, there’s something majestic, timeless and profound about the quality and thought that goes into composing a film shot.
In order to decide whether or not I wanted to pursue film photography, I bought a recycled Kodak disposable camera from Boots, and recently got it developed.
Only 18 shots of the 36 that I had showed up when developing, because of the quality of the camera itself, but here are a few that turned out somewhat averagely.
The darkroom guy at Boots then proceeded to tell me how to take photos using film and what film to use; it was essentially a film photography lesson that went entirely over my head, so I’ll need to go back with my Pentax and get more free photography lessons from him!
The great thing about shooting digital – whether it’s on a DSLR (which I don’t have yet) or on my phone (which is what I’ve been using so far), is that you can see how your shot will look before you take it, and the end result is instant. That’s also the case with instant film, but, and sorry for stating the obvious, you have a clear photo on your device that you can easily edit and share. It’s very instant gratification.
Digital photography is great. I’m still going to pursue buying a DSLR and trying to hone how I take photos with my phone. However, whilst using the disposable, as obvious as this sounds yet again, I realised how much we take photos for granted. While using the disposable I had no idea if there was a light leak on my photos, if it was in focus, if it was blurry, what the colours looked like, if I liked the photo in general.
And for some reason, I really like that feeling. A lot of thought has to go into film photography, and while I’ll continue to pursue digital, I think film will help me appreciate the art of photography a lot better, and make me feel like I’ve gained some proper technical photography skills.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos. Without spoiling what’s to come, I do plan to do more film photography, and more investigation into photography as a craft.
Sonali Gidwani 