I am a film photographer living in Melbourne, Australia. I shoot all manner of films in various sizes, from 35mm to 8x10 large format. My current passion is carbon transfer printing. It is a slow, laborious, somewhat precarious alternative printing process that seems to suit my temperament perfectly. Sometimes I will do some traditional silver gelatin darkroom printing.
I had a digital camera for a few years, a Canon EOS. It was a fine camera that took sharp, perfectly-exposed photos. But they were flat and boring and no amount of “post” seemed to breathe life into them. I’d bought the lie that “film was dead.” On a whim I broke out my old Minolta Maxxum camera from college and bought some B&W film and a developing kit from my local camera store. I was instantly hooked.
Film photography, particularly large format photography, forces you to not only slow down and pay attention to your surroundings, but to THINK. Will my film stock work in this situation? What is the light doing? Do I have to account for reciprocity failure? Will I need to push/pull developing? Using your brain is not a bad thing in today’s push-button world. I highly encourage it!
