Why Film?

Before I get into the main bit I wanted to talk about, a bit of a disclaimer about this whole blog thing… I’m going to try really hard to post stuff here from time to time (things I’ve been up to, the gear I shoot with, other people’s work that I’ve enjoyed… all of that kind of stuff), but it’s definitely going to be an occasional and probably-not-very-scheduled affair. If you’re reading this in 2027 and this is still the only post on here, I’m sorry - I’ll get to it one day! With that out of the way, let’s get on with it…

There’s a lot of social media back and forth (at least in the nerdier corners of the parts of it that are interested in photography) about, on one side the tangible and philosophical benefits of film, and on the other, those who don’t understand why you’d want to work with a medium that limits you in terms of how much you can shoot at a time, how quickly you can shoot, and has a meaningful cost each time you press the shutter button. There’s a lot of shouting, and often a lot of borderline evangelism, involved. I’m not here to try to change anyone’s mind (though if you are interested and not sure where or how to start, do get in touch… I’d love to help you get going!), but still felt like I should probably at least try to explain myself.

The initial answer to that “why?” question is, somewhat unsatisfyingly, that I’m not really too sure… I just seem to get better results (or at least, results that I’m happier with) when I shoot with a film camera. Maybe it’s that it forces me to be more consciously involved in the process; maybe it’s that I know that each click costs me money; maybe it’s some character of the way that the film and older lenses render the subject… or maybe it’s none of that. Whatever it is, I just know that it works for me, and that’s really enough.

There are a couple of things I am conscious of though. The first at least initially appears to be pretty superficial, but I enjoy the experience of actually using the equipment. It has a particular heft to it, and when you press the shutter something physical and not-insignificant happens… it goes clunk. Yup, I said it… I like my cameras to go clunk. Stay with me though - in much the same way as people enjoy classic cars for their more involving, analogue and mechanical driving experience, shooting older manual and mechanical cameras has its own joy. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely times when I do sort of wish I’d had autofocus to catch a fleeting moment in front of me, but like a manual gearbox is more satisfying than the slickest double-clutch automatic, getting it right with nothing but a ground glass to help just feels better.

The second is the particular look of medium format. Digital medium format is absolutely a thing, but a big part of the look is the relationship between the size of the negative and consequentially longer focal lengths required to achieve the same field of view, and even the best digital medium format just isn’t big enough. Add in the way that older lenses render light, and it’s just not a competition for me - film wins. I have, on and off, toyed with the idea of large format… but neither I nor my wallet have been brave enough yet. One day though…

I could also talk about the fact that in a digital world, it’s nice to make something physical. I’ll stop myself before I become too much of an insufferable hipster about it, but having a drawer full of negatives rather than a cupboard full of hard drives definitely makes more sense to me.

Does any of this mean that I think digital is in some way worse, or that everyone should shoot with film? Of course not - in a world that’s increasingly polarised and binary, that’s not a position that helps anyone. Whatever works best for you, go do it - I look forward to seeing what you make!