The Charm of Film
July 13th, 2024
Photography is a life-long obsession. I believe most of the people who express juvenile interest in cameras and visual documentation return to it as an adult. This was the case for me at least, first “taking photos” on cameras discarded and forgotten about around my childhood home. The small percentage of those “photos” that I got back are of my toys, my books, my room. The cameras only even worked for a few shots before dying, hence the quotations, 99% of the time I was merely pretending to capture scenes, but that was enough for me.
After pretending for many years, my mom generously got me a teal blue Kodak EasyShare point-and-shoot camera. This was to document moments on my very first trip without her, to Washington D.C.. These are not the artistic shots I would come to enjoy taking. The photos taken on that camera were purely capturing raw memories. In high school is when I expressed a desire for an upgrade. This time getting a Canon Rebel T-Yada Yada. At this time I was more interested in making movies than taking photos, but that did not stop me from practicing my still life shots when inspiration struck!
Many of the photos I took on my new set up were good! They were basic, they were photos you would expect from a teenager with a DSLR, but they weren’t horrible. What I ultimately decided I lacked was a postcard quality, a type of charm from stylized color hues and a presence of grain. The subject matter I chose worked: complimentary colors in architecture, cute scenes, greens. I hardly ever branched out to people, feeling uncomfortable asking those I knew to pose for me. Often I opt for self portraits. Even though I love street photography, vintage and modern, but asking strangers for their photo in modern day seems like more trouble than it’s worth. That’s a whole other conversation.
When did I start to like the pictures I was making? After a generous surprise from my late-Uncle Tom. Without any knowledge that he’d ever taken a photograph in his life, my funny uncle passed down four mint condition film cameras from the 70s or 80s, probably. Two were panoramic cameras and one was an Action-Sampler type camera that takes four photos in four tiny frames on each 35mm film cell. Lastly a Pentax point-and-shoot that uses 35mm film, which would become my go-to camera in coming years. I haven’t got a strong memory of receiving these cameras, I just know where they came from and that they have changed my life.
After I began taking photos with my film camera, it was not immediate, but it wasn’t long either before I began to find what was missing in my digital photos. I draw a lot of inspiration from vintage postcards, a vast majority of which were captured on film. The quality of the photos, the grain, the color grading, there is a charm to film built into the product. The images I took on my digital cameras were largely unedited, this would have probably been a help in liking the pictures I was taking early on. C’est la Vie.
If I edited my photos, it was only ever pictures of me for the ‘Gram, I was building images that I thought had a film-like quality. For a majority of my film journey I have also left those photos raw and unedited. It wasn’t until a planned shoot I did this year that I decided it wouldn’t hurt to add a little more shadows, or adjust the exposures here and there. Re-discovering editing has created yet another standard that I now try to maintain in my work.
This leads me to developing. A long-time mystery to me, I have always simply brought my “used” film to the local lab. I have paid between $10 and $25 a roll to have a professional develop and scan my reels. It wasn’t until this year that it was brought to my attention how relatively easy it is. Aside from the initial investment in building a kit, the procedure is pretty straight forward. As I have been writing this blog entry to you, I have also been developing my first rolls myself at home!
I spent a little bit over two months finding and individually ordering various tools to build my development tool box. Opting for second-hand at any opportunity, my light-shut tank was from Depop, and the scanner unit from Ebay. Chemicals had to be purchased fresh, and other tools were found on hobbyist supply websites. As I am still awaiting the scanner in the mail, I have only performed the chemical processes today and I’m beaming to report that they produced images! The quality of those images I am unsure of, but for today a win is a win. I could not be happier with my result.
As with anything there has been a small learning curve. The absolutely beautiful thing about film is that the mistakes add an element of imperfect appeal on their own. Often film is far from ruined, even if it’s been exposed to light, even if it’s been developed in less-than-ideal conditions. You keep the photos, you learn, and maybe you even do it again and on purpose because you like the way it turned out. That is one of my favorite things about film and that is why I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop.
Sure, I can spend a couple hundred dollars on a nice digital camera. Sure, I can edit those photos to replicate something taken on film. Sure, I would save hundreds to thousands in the long-run doing that. But surely, I will not like those photos nearly as much as I love my film. I love that I can’t see my images until far later, I love that I have a finite number of photos I can take. I now love that I can complete the entire process of bringing my photos to life, all on my own.
Another thing I’ve found in film is people and wonderful connections. Everywhere I go I have found my people in someone with a 35mm point and shoot. The memories that I have with my friends from our favorite cameras, they’re my favorite photos on the planet. My Uncle Tom had no idea what he was doing for me, giving me that camera. He most likely wanted to get rid of some old junk. I love that old junk, I love the life it has shaped for me. I live in my photos, I romanticize my life! Film is everything, it transcends time and charm, it is magic. Thank you.
