When I was very young I asked my Grandma what the world was like when everything was black & white. To a six year old boy, who’d only ever seen references to the past in monochrome on TV or in pictures, it seemed entirely plausible that one day the colour was just turned on. Of course after a little chuckle and explanation Grandma put me straight and told me there was always lots of colour in the world, we just didn’t see that in photos.
This incredible slide from 1953 proves Grandma was right.
Here’s an interesting short from VOX that will bring you up to speed on a certain controversy in photography. Most photographers, especially those who used to shoot with film (perhaps they still do) will be aware that the chemical process was geared towards fairer skin. However if you are of the younger, digital generation this will be an eyeopener…
Over the last few weeks our friends at Ilford Photo have been rolling out a series of retro posters to compliment their popular range of 35mm films. PhoGoTraphy has been given exclusive access to the as yet unreleased posters which you can view for the first time here and whet your appetite for some of that delicious black and white film.
The retro style posters have a familiar feel to feel to them. In 2010 Lomography released a series called Continue reading →
It seems the norm for photographers to shoot digitally these days and yet some still wonder how they’d fare shooting with film. What if you miss ‘that shot’ changing film or even mess up a whole gig if it all goes wrong? Band photography seems particularly difficult with challenging lighting conditions and fast paced movement to contend with, and you never know when someone’s going to throw themselves off stage, so would you shoot film with all that going on?
Ratos de Parão @ Republica Da Musica using Canon EOS 50E + 50mm 1.8 lens
We conducted this interview with ‘Destructive Girl’ Estefânia Silva, a music writer and photographer who has leapt whole heartedly into this delightful film challenge and here’s what Continue reading →
Oh it’s a very, very good day. After over a year of it being out of production for various reasons, Ilford’s Harman Direct Positive fibre based paper is to make a return. Pinhole photographers the world over will be punching the air in delight.
As described, direct positive paper has been popular among many analogue photographers because of the way it produces a positive image using normal black & white developing procedure. This makes it perfect for people experimenting with large format and of course the ever popular pinhole photography craze. Continue reading →
This year will mark forty years since the invention of the first functioning digital camera, and despite it being a measly 0.01 Mp it heralded a new age of digital photography and with it came a death cry for film.
Yup, film is still very much in use by photographers. (Click for an Amazon Link)
Prompted by this incredibly dull article published recently by the BBC I decided to ask some fellow photographers what reasons they had for still shooting the so-called outdated technology. Here’s the list…
1. Film Photography was Already Perfect.
Those of us lucky enough to have photo albums from the ’90s and before tucked away in our parents’ homes will undoubtedly take great joy in flicking through the tattered card pages, looking through the embarrassing portraits, day trips to the zoo, the beach, birthday parties and that time our trousers fell down in the park. The point I’m making is these vernacular photo albums were perfect and they were all shot on film.
Even old Photo Albums Found at Junkyard Sales have that Perfect Photographer’s Touch
Fast forward to today and we’re not only making fewer albums, we’re taking more photographs to get that perfect shot. Even our smartphones are littered with countless portraits of our children, nieces and nephews, because the photo before could have been just a little bit better. Back in the day of film photography we didn’t worry about that and those photo albums that we look back on are still as perfect today as when our parents first stuck them down.
Last week during a cold February evening in the Borders of Scotland, the lights of a small photographic art gallery were turned on for the first time and a new exhibition was unveiled. The walls were devoid of landscapes, portraits and the traditional visual art you’d come to expect with photographers. Instead a large, garish print hung on the far wall, unmistakably red. A small sign to the left gave it the name ‘Tacky Red Cameras.’
Tacky Red Cameras, Photographic Print – Sam Cornwell 2015.
We’ve got used to seeing camera collections in many different shapes and forms, especially ones with high price tags on eBay. What makes this collection different from all those is the overwhelming abundance of the colour red. Upon further inspection, The Becher-esque style grid is filled with 81 (9×9) individually coloured red cameras.
Tacky Red Cameras Photographic Print, 70×70″, Dibond.
Tacky Red Cameras is a five year long study into mass production practises of the 20th century and how we have continued to consume in the present and beyond. A seemingly unobvious collection of red cameras all of which are still in their purchased, second hand state take place in three forms; a sculpture, a photographic print and a 3D printed object. The past, present and future.
The large print fills the white wall it is homed on and is big enough for the viewer to get up close and personal to inspect the different models on display. The actual cameras in sculpture form are presented beautifully encased in clear tubes close to the print.
Tacky Red Cameras, Sculpture – Sam Cornwell 2015.
The trifecta is completed with a much smaller exhibit, also unashamedly red. Artist Sam Cornwell collaborated with French artist Quentin Orhant to print a red camera. Yes, print. Continue reading →
In a twist that may inspire millions to reach for their attic cupboards and pull out boxes of old camera gear, Michael Vivona shows that film photography isn’t dead just yet by bringing analogue cameras back to life.
Michael Vivona Camera Statue or Johnny 5 is still alive?
Michael openly admits that he isn’t a photographer, which is evident from the Instagram filtered display photos he’s taken for his art. However, what he lacks in compositional detail for the camera frame, he more than makes up for in his artistic ability as a sculptor. And it’s not just your typical Hollywood shape that’s appearing in his collection, there’s a penchant for dogs as well.
Woof woof, whirrr, click.
Drawn to items built and designed in the ‘Atomic Age’ Michael poured through local thrift stores looking for items when he stumbled across his first ‘camerabot.’ With a projector as a body, security cameras as feet and an old twin lens reflex 120 film camera lending itself as eyes, his first Wall-E or Johnny-5 type character was born. Continue reading →
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