So, this is a first time for me.
A first time for writing up something for the purpose of another human to read.
I recently purchased the new Mac Air for editing photos as my Lenovo in which I have had for about 10 years has decided to pack it in. So in order for me to get the most out of this expensive machine, I have decided, literally just two mins before I began to type, to start writing about whatever came into my mind. That being FILM!.
When I first started college in Colaiste Dhulaigh, Coolock, We were never thought much about the art of Film. Which in my mind is crazy. If your going to be doing a course about Photography, the first thing you need to do is pick up any film camera and study the hell out of it. I can’t remember how my mind worked back then but I will give you a quick insight into the mind of one of my work colleagues when I first showed them one of my cameras.
Keep in mind, this could have been how my mind worked also when I first seen a film camera..
So I had showed him my Diana F Mini. He had picked it up and looked it over a few times. After he had handed it back to me, I then began to wind the film as I was about to take a quick photo of him as he was standing over me above my work computer. His first thought in which he had said out loud was,
“Oh , is that to crank up the battery so you can take the photo ?” Not knowing I was winding the film across in order to take the next shot. I explained to him what I was doing and he had no clue that this was how a film camera worked.
As I said before, this is probably how I also thought when I first got my hands on a film camera. Not knowing the mechanics and assuming its operated by battery and or some sort of digitally operated system.
My work colleague shoots on a Sony A7 and takes some decent photos with it, but even down to the long exposure shots he does, these are completely controlled by an application on his phone which connects to the Sony A7.
I suppose what I am getting to here is, without trying to sound self-rightous or smug, the idea of film is lost on this generation. The idea of film is complex in this generations mind. The idea of film is DEAD in the mind of MY generation. It would be amazing if everyone had a little exposure (no pun Intended) to how film actually works instead of relying on their phones and not actually knowing what their phone is really doing in order to portray the light in which they viewed with their eyes.
Whilst I am saying all of this I am sitting here knowing that I know very little myself, but in the year 2020 I will make it a goal to develop my first role of film by myself in my little bathroom within my little cheap dark changing bag.
There was a quote that I read last month. I read this before I visited the National Museum of Ireland in Colins Barracks. They where showcasing some of the best photos taken by some of the best photographers in the world. The amazing works from Magnum photographer Cartier-Bresson and also Dorothea Lange and Robert Cresswell. I would highly recommend any one with a love of photography to visit.
The quote, which I cannot remember where I had read, reads as follows:
“Photos aren’t meant to just “look nice” anymore. I needed more. Analogue just works so well with that ideology. Life is so precious and it deserves to be captured in a manner that is equally as precious - at least to me.”
