Can't Stop shooting film - 3 minute video

[jnantz]

Yes, I shot it using DSLRs - I don't even shoot pictures on film! In fact this video was my way of learning and understanding why those who shoot on film, still do! At the end of it, does that make me shoot on film? Not necessarily. But now I understand that both digital and film are two different visual mediums - no one better than the other. They are just different. And it is upto an artist to use the medium, that he / she thinks best suits his / her purpose!

hi amrit

great video
thanks for presenting it and welcome to the site.

good luck trying to understand people who use film
there are as many reasons people use film as there are people who use it

have fun!
john

[cyrus]

Thanks for watching and discussing everyone!

I enjoyed this video very much especially since I am planning a trip to Goa. But in concluding that the digital print is "not a photograph," you bring up a point that I've been wondering about a lot lately (Since I'm setting up a website, finally) which is how to label non-digital photography. As a photographer dedicated to non-digital techniques, how do I label or brand myself and my site to communicate that?
We non-digital photographers need to come up with a good self-description and label to distinguish between digital and non-digital photography

I understand what you meant about the back of the photograph being part of the photograph: that photography is not limited to image-making, but is a craft that has to be appreciated holistically.

And bravo in pointing out that digital and non-digital are simply two entirely different mediums of expression and therefore the question of "Why not just use digital" is a non-sequitur since it is comparing apples and oranges.

And indeed there was a time when photography was first invented, that it was assumed that the art of painting would become obsolete. (I actually have a quote to that effect from a book that I've saved somewhere) even though today we understand that painting and photography are two different mediums. Similarly, it is claimed that digital photography will supplant non-digital photography.

The reason why these sorts of assumptions are made is because they're based on a very limited view of the visual arts as simply intended to provide a nice image regardless of the process involved, and more importantly, a limited view of photography specifically, that defines it as only a process of reproduction rather than a creative art form as flexible and creative as drawing or paintng. There's no sense of connoisseurship in such a view.

BUT it is too late in the day to try to label digital photography as "not photography" -- that battle has long been lost (though things will change very rapidly in digital photography due to the technological progress: in a few years, digital "photography" will not be recognizable nor comparable to what we know it to be today. The still, 2-D image will be obsolete in digital photography. Already the digital camera is mergering into telephones and video)

And more significantly you point out that you use non-digital simply because you like it and therefore need not have to justify prefering non-digital photography. Digital photography is certainly quicker and more convenient, but artists aren't in the busness of creating images as quickly and conveniently as possible -- we are photographers because we enjoy what we do and how we do it. Similarly, no one asks an oil painter why he doesn't just switch to digital technology

BUt all this brings up a bigger point: if we're going to make this distinction between digital and non-digital photography and processes, what's a better terminology to use to educate the consumer/viewer/audience and brand the processes so as to distinguish it from digital? You called it "film photography" but many forms of alternative photography don't use film and use glass plates instead. I don't like calling it it "non-digital" because then you're defining it by reference to digital, as if digital was the standard. "Alternative process photogography" is a bit clunky and obscure -- anyway is film photography now "alternative process"? "Analog" is again a definition by reference to digital. The French have a good expression: tirage argentique. BUt that doesn't cover non-silver-based processes...

[avatsa]

Thank you so much for picking up this important point Cyrus, about the need for a universal common label to refer to all thins "non-digital"! Personally, I lack the detailed understanding of this field. The guys who I interviewed in my short documentary, refer to what they do as "alternate process". I referred to as 'film photography' because personally that's how laymen like me see this work. I mean till I met these guys, I didn't even know that there actually were people who tried all the existing alternate processes!

My guess would be, leading art institutions across the globe, who still teach the analogue / film / alternate photography art, should work towards creating a common label - anything is better than "non-digital"

Thanks again, for the detailed points you made!

PS: do give me a buzz when in Goa, so that when you are here, we can catch up. I wil probably connect you with Edson - he loves working and teaching about alternate processes!

[James515]

Interesting but recently I could not sell nor even give to any working darkrooms in the Philly area excellent darkroom equipment. Given that most scan and then use digital printers this seems like a dying art. I lost my darkroom when moved into a fifty-five and older community, but now that I have used digital and especially the ability to spot and post process, I doubt I'd go back? I have converted thousands of negatives in all formats to digital and once I find a truly archival process I'll be happy. I'd still develop my Leica M negatives in HC110 but that's it for today. I've never though seen a photograph that says to me, 'I am of this medium.'

[gevalia]

Bravo! Check out their Web site: http://goa-cap.com. These guys are inspired. I am enlisting!

+1

[Jeffrey Arthur]

Enjoyed it very much. It will be interesting to see how the next generation makes use of film and alternative processes.