I do not do it because I think it is superior, or that I think an image shot on film is automatically any better than a digital image. I shoot it because it has a slower process baked in. With my Fuji 680, the shooting is slow and cumbersomd, and the film is expensive at 10 shots per roll. This deliberate approach to making my images helps me to understand the process of making an image. I've been at it for over 55 years, and I may be getting the hang of it about now.
I love the patina, the grain, the edge sharpness, and the built-in softness of film imagery. I continue to shoot images with film because of the connection to a medium that is not automatic, ehhanced, or easily reproduced. I also shoot tin type, Palladium, and directly on to paper with my Deardorff 8x10. These processes slow the work, and create one-of-a-kind work that feels differentl than the easily cloned digital image.
I never stopped shooting film since I started around 2001 when I was 12 or so - and to show for it I have an archive of my friends and family growing up. Memories locked away in negatives that haven't been lost to a bad hard drive or compressed to death on a facebook photo album. To be able to revisit my negatives, to enlarge them, rescan them, to hold them as this indelicate physical object means a lot. Digital can be beautiful and is super useful - but it’s not for the moments that matter to me.
I shoot film to connect with my ancestors! I was required with my college degree to learn analog and work in a darkroom, but I wasn’t interested in it at the time (didn’t understand the point when digital was so accessible). But this past year I was given 8 cameras and countless negatives and slides created with those cameras from my grandma, and it’s taken over my photo workflow. I've even started a project where I aim to archive all of my family's images, and retake many of the images with the same cameras at the same locations. You can view some of my archival work here: https://www.camillebruya.com/family-photos
I think it's essential to shoot B&W on film- the tonalities naturally fall where they should, unlike digital B&W, where they seemingly exist as a bad hangover (unless ya got the chops to manipulate it successfully). Analog color- if ya like the look, go for it, but a good color analog image will still make a good digital capture and vice versa...
I use digital for commercial work, and film for family and friends and personal work. I still print in a darkroom and this year have been working on a series of American Street Portraits making portraits of people I meet on the street with a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ilford HP5 film. You can see the work at http://AmericanStreetPortraits.com - It's both the process and the look of film. It's not the same as digital just like watercolor is not the same as oil paint, but they both have their place. Plus I get to use these little gems of old mechanical cameras!
I do shoot film, but only for certain projects. I've been a professional photographer and photo educator for about 50 years so I've spent a lot of time in the darkroom. Most of my work is now digital. The film I do shoot is to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record and Historic American Landscape Survey programs (HABS/HAER/HALS), They require perspective corrected, large format (I shoot 4x5) B&W, archival negatives. Most of my work goes into the New York City Landmarks archive, New York State Archive or Connecticut State Archive. Some of it goes to the Library of Congress. It is fascinating and rewarding work. It gets me into places that few have seen (except maybe The Tombs jail in NYC). I no longer process or wet print my own film and even the National Park Service now requires archival injkjet prints and scans along with the negatives. That said, it is always a thrill to still be working with a view camera for paid work in 2024.
To paraphrase Dani Rojas in Ted Lasso: "Black and white film is life".
It is a process of learning to trust your gear, followed by many, many hours of pleasure knowing that if the stars align you will capture something, and hold it on a strip of film in perpetuity. Then you process the film, put it on the light table and through the magic of the darkroom you emerge into the light with something you made, which is quite unique. It reflects the person, the day, the weather, the setting and the decision of how and what to frame in the instant when you pressed the shutter.... It may not be religion, but it is pure philosophy.
I’m just a hobbyist, but I love shooting film for one simple reason: photos should (in my mind) be special. I love having to slow, treating film like a dwindling resource. I also prefer unfussy, uncomposed images, as well as the weird little history that comes from the months it takes me to get through 72 half-frame photos.
I used to shoot film, but I’ve stopped. To me, it’s mostly just nostalgia now. Sure, some people still love the look and feel of it, but I don’t really see the point anymore. It’s more of a memory than something I’d go back to
I still love shooting film and do all my personal/fine art projects on film. I think differently when I use my film camera - generally I slow down more and focus more in the moment. I also thinking differently when printing in the darkroom - different connections are made conceptually when physically making the print ( as opposed to working on the computer).
I wrote a blog post about this when working in the colour darkroom this past spring. Here's the link if you're interested!
I think film is OK for some. I like the look, I can't be arsed with darkrooms any more, I can't really justify the cost for regular use but it's sometimes a Nice To Have.
Lovely written. I do shoot film again. People don’t understand the power of black and white film. I didn’t know the movie Grain so thanks for sharing that. Where can we watch it online? I saw recently the photos which were taken in Greece back
In the 60s from Robert McCabe and made me love the film even more. In the age of AI, the physical negatives will be the proof of the real photo. And in my case I am happy to participate some exhibitions with my film captures and I hope to attend even more. Let us connect @thanospal
I enjoy the cycle of shoot-develop-print. It is what I learned 50 years ago. Now that I am retired I have no interest in spending more time on a computer.
Yes, I still shoot film.
I do not do it because I think it is superior, or that I think an image shot on film is automatically any better than a digital image. I shoot it because it has a slower process baked in. With my Fuji 680, the shooting is slow and cumbersomd, and the film is expensive at 10 shots per roll. This deliberate approach to making my images helps me to understand the process of making an image. I've been at it for over 55 years, and I may be getting the hang of it about now.
I love the patina, the grain, the edge sharpness, and the built-in softness of film imagery. I continue to shoot images with film because of the connection to a medium that is not automatic, ehhanced, or easily reproduced. I also shoot tin type, Palladium, and directly on to paper with my Deardorff 8x10. These processes slow the work, and create one-of-a-kind work that feels differentl than the easily cloned digital image.
I never stopped shooting film since I started around 2001 when I was 12 or so - and to show for it I have an archive of my friends and family growing up. Memories locked away in negatives that haven't been lost to a bad hard drive or compressed to death on a facebook photo album. To be able to revisit my negatives, to enlarge them, rescan them, to hold them as this indelicate physical object means a lot. Digital can be beautiful and is super useful - but it’s not for the moments that matter to me.
I shoot film to connect with my ancestors! I was required with my college degree to learn analog and work in a darkroom, but I wasn’t interested in it at the time (didn’t understand the point when digital was so accessible). But this past year I was given 8 cameras and countless negatives and slides created with those cameras from my grandma, and it’s taken over my photo workflow. I've even started a project where I aim to archive all of my family's images, and retake many of the images with the same cameras at the same locations. You can view some of my archival work here: https://www.camillebruya.com/family-photos
I think it's essential to shoot B&W on film- the tonalities naturally fall where they should, unlike digital B&W, where they seemingly exist as a bad hangover (unless ya got the chops to manipulate it successfully). Analog color- if ya like the look, go for it, but a good color analog image will still make a good digital capture and vice versa...
I shoot only TriX 35mm black and white film. I will do so till I die.
When I taught a course called Available Light Photography at the New School in NYC, I required the students to shoot Tri-X. Best BW film ever made.
I use digital for commercial work, and film for family and friends and personal work. I still print in a darkroom and this year have been working on a series of American Street Portraits making portraits of people I meet on the street with a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ilford HP5 film. You can see the work at http://AmericanStreetPortraits.com - It's both the process and the look of film. It's not the same as digital just like watercolor is not the same as oil paint, but they both have their place. Plus I get to use these little gems of old mechanical cameras!
I do shoot film, but only for certain projects. I've been a professional photographer and photo educator for about 50 years so I've spent a lot of time in the darkroom. Most of my work is now digital. The film I do shoot is to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record and Historic American Landscape Survey programs (HABS/HAER/HALS), They require perspective corrected, large format (I shoot 4x5) B&W, archival negatives. Most of my work goes into the New York City Landmarks archive, New York State Archive or Connecticut State Archive. Some of it goes to the Library of Congress. It is fascinating and rewarding work. It gets me into places that few have seen (except maybe The Tombs jail in NYC). I no longer process or wet print my own film and even the National Park Service now requires archival injkjet prints and scans along with the negatives. That said, it is always a thrill to still be working with a view camera for paid work in 2024.
To paraphrase Dani Rojas in Ted Lasso: "Black and white film is life".
It is a process of learning to trust your gear, followed by many, many hours of pleasure knowing that if the stars align you will capture something, and hold it on a strip of film in perpetuity. Then you process the film, put it on the light table and through the magic of the darkroom you emerge into the light with something you made, which is quite unique. It reflects the person, the day, the weather, the setting and the decision of how and what to frame in the instant when you pressed the shutter.... It may not be religion, but it is pure philosophy.
I’m just a hobbyist, but I love shooting film for one simple reason: photos should (in my mind) be special. I love having to slow, treating film like a dwindling resource. I also prefer unfussy, uncomposed images, as well as the weird little history that comes from the months it takes me to get through 72 half-frame photos.
Film forever. For all the reasons.
I used to shoot film, but I’ve stopped. To me, it’s mostly just nostalgia now. Sure, some people still love the look and feel of it, but I don’t really see the point anymore. It’s more of a memory than something I’d go back to
I still love shooting film and do all my personal/fine art projects on film. I think differently when I use my film camera - generally I slow down more and focus more in the moment. I also thinking differently when printing in the darkroom - different connections are made conceptually when physically making the print ( as opposed to working on the computer).
I wrote a blog post about this when working in the colour darkroom this past spring. Here's the link if you're interested!
https://www.sarahefuller.com/in-the-studio/2024/4/5/reconnecting-with-the-darkroom
I think film is OK for some. I like the look, I can't be arsed with darkrooms any more, I can't really justify the cost for regular use but it's sometimes a Nice To Have.
Lovely written. I do shoot film again. People don’t understand the power of black and white film. I didn’t know the movie Grain so thanks for sharing that. Where can we watch it online? I saw recently the photos which were taken in Greece back
In the 60s from Robert McCabe and made me love the film even more. In the age of AI, the physical negatives will be the proof of the real photo. And in my case I am happy to participate some exhibitions with my film captures and I hope to attend even more. Let us connect @thanospal
https://open.substack.com/pub/perfectlight/p/why-i-shoot-black-and-white?r=2b8uel&utm_medium=ios
I enjoy the cycle of shoot-develop-print. It is what I learned 50 years ago. Now that I am retired I have no interest in spending more time on a computer.