Admittedly, I’m a perfectionist, yet I’ve fallen in love with film despite it being the antithesis of perfection. The story unraveled with a 35mm point-and-shoot Vivitar camera that my father had used before I even existed. At first, I saw it as a quirky accent to my vintage aesthetic, but it transformed into an extension of my artistic side. Now I find myself at Southeastern Camera in Carrboro every few weeks to get my film developed.
I’m not shy when it comes to taking photos. I have 21,835 pictures in my phone’s camera roll. For most of my life I was bound to this digital roll (of film, if you will). So why the change of heart, from being able to take 100 plus pictures in any given day to far fewer?
When I first started experimenting with film, it was in fact stressful to have so few attempts at any given photo. Firstly, I didn’t want to waste more than one shot on any moment; each shot had to be special, not to mention in focus. Secondly, I had no idea what the image would look like for weeks.
I’ve been through many more rolls of film since then. Recently, I splurged and bought a pack of lomography film, characterized by saturated and soft colors, for my Olympus point-and-shoot camera that I found on eBay. The Olympus was the best of the late 90s, and it didn’t disappoint. I felt as if I’d rediscovered purples, greens, pinks and browns. When using digital photography, colors just don’t look the same, unless you put in the work to edit them.
I live for the grain in my film photographs, for the ability to display creativity even in the editing and processing of the rolls. On a technical level, film blends together light and color in a way that digital can’t, for film isn’t made up of millions of pixels that split the photograph: it’s organic.
While I don’t yet have the experience in a darkroom to develop my photographs, I entrust my artwork to the creative visions of others. I relish the collaboration.
I can decidedly claim that film is a better medium than digital: artistically, aesthetically and for living in the present. When it comes to enjoying the current moment, I don’t feel bound to any sort of photo shoot. With film, I can snap a few pictures and that’s that. Plus, I’m not distracted by any phone notifications if I don’t have to pull it out to take a picture.
So, that’s why I choose film.
Photos by Eloise Rich/The ECHO
