Why I Started Film Photography…

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Yep, I’m that idiot that bought a film camera in 2024 when prices of film, development and scanning are sky high and only getting more expensive by the minute. So why did I bother getting one and what does this mean for my street photography?

I’ve dabbled in film in the past, owning a couple of point and shoot cameras taking them out on the occasional photo walk but I’ve never been too happy with the lack of control and the resulting pictures have never really lived up to my expectations. But I’ve always loved the way 35mm film photographs look, especially from the greats such as Steve McCurry, Joel Meyerowitz, Alex Webb and countless others.

Try as I might I could never quite get a look from my digital RAW files that I’m completely happy with, and I’ve felt a loss of motivation recently after loads of trips out with my digital camera taking hundreds and hundreds of photos each time, but never quite feeling satisfied even when I get one or two I like. So I decided why not pick up a second hand 35mm film rangefinder (not a Leica, yet…) and try it out.

I thought I’d share my feelings about it all here for those of you that are interested in my journey into film photography. So in this post I’m going to explore the reasons why I started shooting film, what I hope to achieve from the process and the direction I plan to go with my street photography going forward.

Firstly, the Camera

The camera I decided to buy is a Canon P rangefinder from the ‘50s. I wanted a rangefinder as the majority of the work I want to make will be street related, but at this moment in time I can’t justify buying a Leica, especially with the cost of film and development, so I went for what in my opinion is the next best thing.

I first saw the Canon P on Paulie B’s Walkie Talkie series, the episode with Nazir Wayman (Check it out here), and I was so impressed with his work and philosophy on photography and also what he could get out of the Canon P that I decided it was the film camera for me.

I was lucky to find a recently serviced one on Ebay including a 35mm Voigtlander Colour Skopar lens which is lovely to use and super sharp. I love the set up apart from the fact that I have included my finger or knuckle in an embarrassingly large amount of my photos so far, one of the pitfalls of large hands and not being able to see through the lens - something to practice on!

Anyway next lets dive into the reasons why I decided to go all-in on film.

The Film Look

In my opinion you just can’t beat the look of film. The way colours are rendered, texture, grain, light and shadow. That’s one of the biggest reasons I’ve decided to properly give film a go. I can never quite get edits on digital that I’m completely happy with, and always try and replicate a ‘film look’ which of course is impossible to fully achieve on a digital file. So rather than try to imitate film, I’m going to do the only thing that will get you the film look, and that’s to put rolls of 35mm film through my camera.

I’ve also been feeling very nostalgic recently, perhaps it’s getting older, the increasing sense of doom every time I open a news app or maybe a response to feelings of loneliness and disconnectedness I have sometimes. I’m also part of that generation that can remember a time withhout smartphones or digital cameras, and the joy of getting a disposable camera developed after a birthday party and flicking through the photos or looking back through old family albums with mum and dad.

Anyway, enough of my navel gazing, what I mean to say here is that I love nostalgia which is a theme I like to capture in my photos sometimes; timeless scenes, fashion, colours, snippets of life as I remember them as a kid. Capturing life as it is now on 35mm film also helps add to that nostalgic feeling, which is something I also hope to explore more as I take more photos on film.

The Process

The next reason why I’m getting into film is the process. Sure I know you can turn off your LCD screen, shoot with a low storage memory card and only look at the photos when I get home but it’s not the same. Analog cameras are tactile, winding the film advance after each shot is a pleasure, you hear the clunk of the shutter each time you press it and the whole experience just feels great. Something that I’ve been lacking in my digital photography recently which has started to feel a bit flat and stale.

Also film is expensive man, like really expensive, and couple that with developing and scanning and you really want to make each frame count. The first few rolls I’ve shot I’ve been really economical with when I’ve decided to press the shutter and I love this. It’s forced me to really take in the environemnt and be intentional with my process. One of the problems with digital is I’d just shoot and shoot and shoot, end up with tonnes of photos at the end of the day and even when I get a good one or two they just don’t feel all that special.

There’s no immediate feedback with film, you take a photo and you have to wait a long time to see if you got it, if it was composed right, if you got the exposure right, if it was in focus and it’s really enjoyable to slow down and have some delayed gratification in an age where we’re constantly looking for rapid hits of dopamine on our digital devices. It forces me to really observe well, be economical with my shot choices and be challenged. A challenge that is really rewarding when it pays off.

With film I feel like I’ve actually made something, created something rather than taken something, and that makes the process so much more enjoyable and rewarding for me. My film photos might not mean any more to you than my digital ones, perhaps you prefer a digital look anyway, but the images really mean so much more to me when I’ve had to really choose the right shot with intention and that’s important.

Prints, Zines or Books

Another reason why I’m excited by film is that I want to print more of my work. I’ve thought this for a long time but never gotten round to printing my digital images. I’m not sure why but I feel completely different about film, I can’t wait to print more small prints and stick them all over my wall, give them away, organise them into potential projects.

I really want to see them as physical prints and hold them in my hands, and who knows maybe even try and convince my other half to set up a darkroom in the bathroom. But lets not get ahead of ourselves.

I’ve also been interested in printing a physical zine or maybe a full blown book, but they will be long term projects. I feel like with film I’m far more likely to want to print the work and show it to you all, I just love the look so much. So anyway, watch this space.

The Downsides

A lot of the downsides to film are also positives, like having to wait to see the results, the anticipation is fun sometimes, and frustrating other times. It doesn’t help much when I want to make a YT video and get it out at a certain time. Another downside is deciding how I’m going to integrate my film work with my digital work - Im still not sure about that yet and definitely overthinking it as I’m prone to do.

Also I know a lot of people really don’t like film photography so it may put some of you off. But that’s just the way things go, you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

Another downside is it’s really quite hard to do, so if I see a once in a lifetime moment, it’s much more likely I’ll capture it when sooting digital - film is a lot harder especially when the light is poor and you need to use a wider aperture and I’ve already missed some really great opportunities. It’s obviously expensive but aren’t all art materials expensive now? The process when super enjoyable can also be really frustrating, especially when shots don’t come out well, the scans suck or I messed up the exposure, but I honestly think I’ve learned more shooting film in the past few weeks than I have in the past year of shooting digital.

Regardless, I know it’s what I want to pursue and experiment with for now and I’ve already taken some of my favourite images with my canon P and Portra 400. This is not to say I’ve stopped shooting digital, I haven’t, but for now I really want to see where my film photography journey takes me and my work, so I hope you stick around for the ride.

Perhaps I’ve finally found the creative process and tools to express myself in a way that is truly personally fulfilling and make the street photographs I want to make, or maybe I’m just having a midlife crisis.