After eight years of shooting exclusively [on] digital [cameras], working with film was a revelation. It made me fall in love with the process of making photos. Shooting film heightened the sensation of being focused in the moment, which is at the heart of what photography is about. I also noticed a difference in reactions from the people I was photographing. Subjects had become so used to seeing their photos on the back of my camera. When they were unable to see themselves right away, they seemed more interested and involved. They seemed to have more confidence in themselves as well as me, and I feel my portrait work became stronger.
How I shot portraits of syrian refugee children on The Impossible Project film
In the spring of 2014, I started a long-term photography project focused on Syrian refugee children. I traveled through Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon and photographed children who fled Syria since the war started.
I interviewed them in the presence of their parents or guardians and then photographed them both digitally and with Impossible Project instant film. The project brought me through makeshift dwellings, apartments, and refugee camps across the region and has allowed me to photograph over 200 children.
Fujifilm End-Of-Lining More Velvia and Provia Films, Others Get a Price Bump
If you are one of those who stalk refrigerators in the back of photography stores, consider this an official heads up that Fujifilm are going to end-of-line some of their 120, 220 and 135 films as well as bump the price of some of their other products.
This painful process will start this year and will carry out until mid 2017 with 220 films being almost completely gone (you can usually use 120 film instead, but if you are a hard core 220 shooter – or just uses an old Yashika or a brownie stock up!)
Here are the products and dates tables translated. The first table is heading for a 20% price increase (give or take) no October this year.
TEFAU Is a Free Television Inspired Paperfold Pinhole Camera
It’s been a very long while since we shared a good pinhole camera tutorial and Ondrej Revicky just made it better by sharing the pattern and instructions for building a character-full pinhole camera called TEFAU.
Tefau is 100% made of paper that you can make by downloading this PDF and printing it on somewhat heavy paper. Ondrej explains the basics behind any pinhole camera, which also drove his a design:
Quickly digitize the Dark Age with this DIY Automatic Film Slide Scanner
For those alive (or with family alive) during the days of film cameras, you have probably encountered the phenomenon of film slides (considered by some to be the precursor to PowerPoint, but Bill Gates refused to comment on where he originally came up with the idea). The problem with them, however, is moving them over into the digital era.
That is where photographer and DIY-er Stefan Lindgren took it upon himself to build a more-affordable alternative to the SlideSnap Pro, which weighs in at a hefty $3,395. (Heck, I don’t even spend that much on a car!)
Blast From The Past: Retaking an Image With Film
Ever Photographed any kids? You know that the first thing that happens after you click the shutter is them running over and asking if they can see the photo.
Of course this “show me the photo” pavlovian effect is a completely new behavior. Only a few years ago we shot on rolls of film, and had to wait hours (if not days) between the time the shutter was clicked till the time we could actually see the photo. (and forget blink detection…..).
What happens when we cross our need for immediate gratification with the fact that some of us still shoot film? College Humor tried to find out with a short film that “crosses the beams” between that girl who always wants to see the photo and the fact that the camera is use is a film camera.
+ you know…. Zombies.
Forgotten treasures: 31 undeveloped, 70-year-old rolls of film shot by WWII Soldier
History, while being something we often repeat, is a precious treasure that, with time, often passes from recollection. With a passion to ensure that doesn’t happen, the Rescued Film Project makes it their mission preserve forgotten treasures and share them with the world. They take old, rescued film from the 1930s to the 1990s, develop it, and digitally preserve it before it degrades beyond any usability. As RFP explains,
Every image in The Rescued Film Project at some point, was special for someone. Each frame captured, reflects a moment that was intended to be remembered. The picture was taken, the roll was finished, wound up, and for reasons we can only speculate, was never developed. These moments never made it into photo albums, or framed neatly on walls. We believe that these images deserve to be seen, so that the photographer’s personal experiences can be shared. Forever marking their existence in history.
In what was essentially a gold mine find, they came into possession of 31 rolls of undeveloped film from an unnamed soldier in World War II, a man whose only known legacy is the images he left behind. Though time and the elements had taken their toll on the film, many of the photos, most having laid dormant for nearly 70 years, were still recoverable.
Seung-Hwan Oh Develops Film With Fungi, Results Are Delicious
Developing film is an art form that is slowly fading away. As time goes by, less labs are available for developing film, and as DIGITAL is slowly taking over the last bit image capturing, film rolls are becoming more rare. And while producing art from film and paper was not always as accurate as working with calibrated monitors and printers, I miss those days of mild imperfections.
I guess artist and photographer Seung Hwan Oh felt similarly. But his concept of imperfection involved introducing fungi into the film before exposing it in camera. Of course the fungi liked the film and so it ate it a bit. The result shared in a project called Impermanence is something a bit weird, something between portraiture and abstract.
Haily Grenet who describers the work on Seung Hwan Oh’s portfolio explains the concept:
Unique Photography Project Takes ‘Self Portrait’ To All New Levels
In a world that is so obsessed with selfies, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd, but the unusual technique adopted by American photographer, Brigette Bloom, may just steal the show. Bloom, an advocate for film photography, soaks rolls of film in her own urine before exposing it. Yes, you read that correctly, she pees on unprocessed film.
Is Shooting A Video On Film Still Worth It?
You know Steven. He is the crazy hacker who made the Battlefield Pinhole Camera (and others….). This time around he sent me his latest music video. Here is the thing, it was shot 100% on film, and well worth the effort.
The clip was shot with a rented Aaton LTR 54, using a full Zeiss Prime f/1.2 series lens kit (80mm, 50mm, 35mm, 25mm, 16mm, 12mm, 9,5mm, 5,6mm aspheron)
First, this clip is just oozing with creativity, but that alone does not justify film. I asked Steven why he shot this on film and basically he has two reasons:
The first one was the physical qualities of the film, huge latitude and grain: [Read More…]
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