Someone commented on my Instagram a few months ago and thanked me for keeping the art of film alive. From his profile he appears to be a very talented digital photographer, which I guess could have flattered me.
But honestly, how few of us are there? Film has made a Renaissance come back over the last few years. Shooting film is a hipster thing at this point. It’s a double edged sword, on one hand there is a market for film so it’s still being produced, on the other hand there is a market driving up the prices. Perhaps this expense will keep film a niche.
But is it an art? Isn’t all photography an art?
To me, art is a process. One of my favorite things about film is the process. Digital is fun, and I’m sure I can have a “process” in post editing, but with film I get to play with every single step of image creation. I get to pick the film, load it, choose a subject, focus, shoot the shot, and then wait until I develop it to see what happened. Even development has choices. I have to measure chemistry, keep temperature, select times, and hope for the best. All of this process certainly would qualify film photography as an art.
But it’s an odd art. In my opinion art is purposeful. There is so many variables in film, so many things that can go wrong, that the sole “purpose” seems to be getting at least a few good images out of a roll. So far I seem to be accomplishing this purpose. I have gotten usable images out of every roll so far. But there are a lot of “sloppy” shots too.
I’m going to agree with Bob Ross on this, there are no mistakes, just happy accidents. Like the two here. These are the result of some issue in development. I know the film is good, I know the camera is good. Even some of the other images on the roll were perfectly developed. This has something to do with the loading on the reel, I think… And lint. So much lint…
But they did come out gorgeous didn’t they? It’s a sloppy art, but it is an art I’m proud to preserve.
“Ferris Wheel at National Harbor”
Film: Kentmere 400 B&W 35mm
Camera: Nikon N50
Developed in Caffenol as always. Scanned with the Epson V600.
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