What did We gain, What Did We Lose?

A ramble about shooting film

Modern technology. Brilliant, liberating, convenient, easy. So why does it sometimes leave me feeling empty?

I have spent a little time lately watching some youtube videos and reading a few articles. Digital photography articles. It made me wonder if we had not left something behind in our headlong rush to digitise everything.

Now, I’m not a Luddite, or a film purist ( I own and regularly use several digital cameras). But I started to think long and hard about my photography and how I approach it. We are led to believe that all this technology makes us better photographers, more megapixels, better autofocus, increased dynamic range, better editing software. But does this really make for a better photographer? Did every gain leave something behind?

(Agfa Ansco 5x7 View Camera, Wollensak Verito 7 1/4” Lens, Fomapan 100 shot at 50. Developed in Rodinal at 1+50 for 8 minutes)

When shooting film, you have 36 chances, or 12 if your shooting medium format 6x6. Once you used to choose film, not because we didn’t want digital, but because digital didn’t exist. There was a ritual, you loaded your film methodically and carefully. Everything was intentional, spray and pray was yet to make an appearance. Every frame cost money, now every frame costs nothing.

Back then, everything was considered, slow, methodical. You check carefully every composition, if it didn’t feel right, you moved on. You carefully metered the scene, then metered it again. If the light wasn’t right, you waited.

Film taught you to stop and think before taking a shot, with digital, you take dozens of shots, thinking I can see what works and choose when editing.

(Leica M2, 7Artisans 35mm F/2 Lens, Ilford HP5+ developed in Ilford ID11 at 1+1)

We also seem to have lost patience. Now we see the picture on a screen on the back of the camera. We get home and download the pictures and start editing. Gone is the not knowing, the anticipation, the waiting, the ritual of developing, another study in patience.

We also lost the imperfection that comes with shooting film. Many pictures nowadays, especially those shared on social media are bitingly sharp, well exposed, and, to be honest, sterile. Same places, same vista, same golden light, massive wow factor….. and instantly forgettable. How many times have I said to myself when viewing them please show me something new. (This is why I add grain to many of my digital pictures, not to imitate film, or to hoodwink the viewer, but to add texture and reduce the sterile and clinical look).

(Leica Q2 Monochrom)

The ritual of shooting film is something which, for me, is priceless. When I am out with my film camera, I am fully present in the moment. All actions are deliberate, all pictures are considered, pondered over. Sometimes this process lasts a few seconds, very often it lasts a few minutes. Sometimes I just walk on. But I am there.

(Okuhara Half Plate Camera, Wollensak Verito 7 1/4” Soft Focus Lens, Fomapan 100. Develped in Rodinal 1+50 for 9 minutes @20’C)

Of the thousands of pictures I have taken with my Q2 Monochrom, very few have left a lasting impression of the time and place of their taking, but I can look at a negative and, more often than not, remember exactly where, when and how it felt when taking the picture.

Will I sell my digital camera then? Of course not. They are indeed magical things. What I will try to do though is to imitate shooting film, be more considered, slow down, take only the pictures I would if they were loaded with film, and be in the moment, not just a passive observer.

Many thanks indeed for reading through my little musing.

Matt.