Where is the motivation today? I am not too sure, but it may be at the bottom of this cup of peppermint tea ?
Currently wrapped in a Star Wars blanket having finished watching “Finding Vivian Maier”. An incredible story which I had first really heard about from the words of Ted Forbes. He was explaining his differences about the find and how he believes it may have been best to either leave her images alone, or hand them over to an actual curator.
I am indifferent about the whole thing to be honest. I mean, if it was not for John Maloof, no one would ever have seen these images. No one would have seen these split second moments in time that have been captured and preserved for life. An era in time captured, a moment in time forever. I suppose though, when it comes to Maloof making a profit from these images, this, is another story to discuss.
Poor Vivian, never to have seen her own images, never to have developed her own eye. A nanny, lost in the shadow of her own portrait.
The film however, I believe has pushed me down another road. The road of 120 film. A predominant camera we see grasped by the hands of Vivian is the Rolleiflex . Over the course of her career she used Rolleiflex 3.5T, Rolleiflex 3.5F, Rolleiflex 2.8C, Rolleiflex Automat and others. This beautiful Twin Lens Reflex Camera (TLR) is a camera most photographers would drool over i’m sure. Now, I have not got my hands on a Rolleiflex but instead, its cheaper cousin so to speak. The Yashica 635.
My excitement can’t be contained but Allas it must, as I cannot touch nor look at this camera until my birthday arrives. Which at the time of writing this, is 6 days away. I do however have a few rolls of film which I have received and this has me thinking about development of the 120. Can I follow the same steps in which I have been developing my 135 film ? Something I will need to do a small dive into and find out.
I think the thought of developing for some people can be daunting and this too, was the same for me. I had been running all over the internet reading articles, watching tutorials and my god did that help! Turns out, its actually pretty easy. Im not extremely skilled at it, I don’t know the exact science behind it, I couldn’t tell you in detail how you push and pull the film depending on the temperature of the chemicals. What I can tell you though, is that I had extreme amounts of satisfaction and fun from the entire process, and this is the main reason why you should grab yourself some chemicals and dunk your film in there.
Most things I put my mind to I need to see a visual step by step guide. Wether I am traveling to another country and I need to watch a tour guide of that city, or someone showing me which train to hop on when I come out of the airport. Or if I am planning on developing film for the first time, or even if I am buying a new lens or camera body.
I need to watch someone doing that thing that I wish to do before I plan on doing that thing that I plan on doing …. or something like that any way?
Any way …… If you are like me and prefer to watch and learn, then keep reading.
This video by Ilford is very very useful for getting your mind around the whole process. It will show you some stuff you may or may not need. For example, you probably don’t need to go out and buy a timer as you more than likely have this on your phone. Also, in my case, I have not bought film clips/pegs as I hook my door keys onto each end of the film which hangs from one end and keeps a weight on the other end. Probably not the best thing to do but sure it works.
Check the video out below.
This next bit is by Ted Forbes . I have been following Ted for some time now and he really opened up the door of photography to me. Ted has a Youtube channel called “The Art Of Photography” where he talks all things photo! A great section of this channel is called “ The Artists Series” and also “Photographers”. In here, Ted talks about many great artists such as Fan Ho, Vivian Maier, Josef Koudelka, Robert Doisneau and much more including a talk about the Magnum Contact Sheets. I would defiantly recommend diving into his channel.
In the video below, Ted talks us through how he develops his film at home and his recommendations when it comes to agitation.
Next up here we have a lad who I have come across via a different lad who I found on the oul Insta.
Mat Day seems to be some sort of a legend when it comes to film. Some sort of a legend in the US of A. He is a sound bloke and really knows what he is doing, and his photos provide a great little insight into a life on film
He explains himself very well and always has some great content on YouTube. A recent tutorial I watched was on “How to do Polaroid emulsion” something I never even heard of but so glad I came across it.
In the video below, Matt shows us how he develops his 120 roll and prepares us for the worst part, getting the roll on the reel in the dark bag, ugh.
So as you can see, there is plenty of content to provide a starting point to your “jump into the tank” and one amazing thing I have come across whilst stalking the world of “Insta on Film” is the community.
I have come across so many amazing photographers who continually fuel my passion and need to capture light and I feel like I am constantly asking them questions and I am also being asked questions and there is a real love there for sharing tips and tricks and seeing what each of us get up to and always looking out for that next post.
Even more of an excitement when its images on film of my own city :)
Casting the light on those who fuel the passion in others, here are my top three this month!
- Caitríona Muireann
I have had the privilege of studying photography with Caitríona and it’s so good, to now watch her photography grow and explode into something amazing!
Caitríona not only has captured day to day Dublin life on film, but she has turned it into an absolute magical world full of colour and grain. She has done so through the art of film soup, light leaks and just her own special touch and incredible eye.
Hailing from the (what I have been told) hottest place in Brazil. The airplane shaped capital, Brasilia. Nilton and I have been speaking for a few months now and I can tell that this guy lives for the film! Always on the look out for new subjects and is continuously trying to show his passion and get it out to the world.
Nilton’s subjects are always beautiful. Not just because of the models themselves but how Nilton actually captures them. Being able to pose a model and speak through the movements whilst trying to capture a perfect moment, a perfect glance is a very hard thing to do and it seems as though Nilton does this without even trying.
Not only capturing stunning subjects with the back drop of Dublin, but capturing Dublin itself on the grain of film.
Check out Nilton’s Insta HERE!
- Jocasta Oliveira
Also from Brazil, Jocasta shows us Dublin through her eyes. More so, Dublin through her TLR eyes. Making me even more excited to get my hands on the Yashica 365, Jocasta’s TLR posts are amazing! Full of colour and full of Dublin.
Shooting also on the Pentax K1000 we see a very Cinematic Dublin that I want to watch on the big screen. Even just the below images represent a Dublin that we all want to walk around in until our feet are about to fall off.
You can check out Jocasta’s Insta feed HERE!
I urge whoever is reading this, to reach out to these photographers! Follow their work and strike up a conversation with them. Ask them their passions and ask them their trick and tips. I’m sure they will be excited to talk FILM!
