Fauxtography- Film on the Brain
I’ve got film on the brain.
Anyone that knows me will attest that I tend to obsess over things. For example, I obsess over making my own food, to the point that I refuse to buy prepackaged or processed foods. I’ll sometimes stand in the aisles at the supermarket in indecision when I have to choose between prepackaged and food that I genuinely don’t like.
The point is that I like making things from scratch—DIY— and it all started with film when I was in college. If I could make a print using handmade tools, I would do it. If I could develop film on my own, I would do it. If I could coat my own film, I would do it. If I could make chemistry from household items, I would do it.
And now I’ve got film on the brain and it’s really hard to get it out.
A friend in college made the prophetic observation about digital photography in 2005: “Everyone wants digital quality, and people are getting out of film to go into digital because you get the quality. If we had originally started with digital and then 100 years later, someone invented film, it would be a fun niche thing, but right now, it’s just a bother to everyone.”
It’s not like I’m shooting a ton of film, but I’m being inundated with ideas and endless concepts. Three members of the Hunt’s Education Team are knee deep in planning out our first Film Photography Weekend, and we just keep adding in ideas. Camera scanning. Film Soup. Cyanotypes. Instant Film. DIY. Polaroid Transfers. Box cameras. Large Format. All of these elements are niche in the photography world, but in the film world, this is the air we breathe these days.
So, why does film still matter today? Well, partially it’s about letting go of technology and taking a step back. The instant gratification gone, we’re going on instinct and skill. The skill part can be a challenge, as I messed up a whole bunch of images. But sometimes, you get some really happy accidents that unexpectedly create beautiful results. It’s that “fun, niche thing”.
And it’s becoming hard to concentrate—there are so many cool ideas, so many fun recipes, and there’s so much DIY. I’m in heaven, I’m in hell. It’s like a giant candy shop, or maybe like a giant photography store… oh wait…
The film below is from two rolls that I shot last year, comparing Kodak Gold and Harman Phoenix II film stocks. Most of what I took was unusable, but I got about 3 good images per roll, which most people would agree is a good benchmark on any medium!
