There are some aspects of film photography that cannot be reproduced digitally.
To paraphrase Becki and Chris, you might have shot a reel or more and then taken them to a photo studio. And then, when you pick it up a few weeks later, you get back the reels that are often horrible images. Worse yet, you often don’t remember or write down what those settings are, so there’s no instant feedback loop for improvement.
Despite all of this, there has been a notable resurgence in film photography. One aspect could be the materiality of the film. In contrast to digital photography, film photography yields a very tangible subject that can be held and manipulated.
In this video, we follow Becki and Chris as they discover an old camera. What’s interesting is that you don’t know anything about what was on the film and don’t remember much about who the camera might have belonged to.
Finding an old digital camera is also possible; However, the difference here is that digital files are often stored and retrieved in a very different way, immediately. I do not keep any digital file records on the camera; files are emptied after each capture. But apparently, the reels are not the same.
It’s almost like a treasure hunt to discover what hidden memories or secrets might emerge from this rediscovered treasure.
