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Friday, November 22, 2019

Romanticisms of Film

Melbourne ; Nikon FM2

The slow process of loading a roll of film, composing a shot, winding the lever, and then taking the photograph. Film, there is something about the slow process that I can't help but enjoy and fall in love with. The colours that the film produces, how it slows everything down in this fast paced life. When I'm restricted to just a whopping 36 shots, every shot becomes a hundred times more precious. Perhaps it has to do with the costly fees of buying film and then developing it. When one just can't afford to waste even one shot. 

But, there is always something very magical whenever I pick up my film cameras. At the end of it, I always feel that I've become a better photographer than I was before. Simply because (almost) every shot was carefully crafted. And sometimes, I transfer this mindset over to my digital work. Instead of rushing through my shoots and snapping whatever to see what works, I try to compose beforehand and get the shot that I want and would be proud of. 

Johor Bahru ; Nikon FM2

Xuanxuan ; Nikon FM2

Me, by Xuan ; Nikon FM2

Me with messy hair, by Xuan ; Nikon FM2

What you doing? ; Nikon FM2

my fav shot ; Nikon FM2

When it comes to film however, there are two types. The first is the 35mm film camera which I would carefully craft each photograph, because I know the quality would be top notch. The other, is my disposable camera (though now, thanks to the new Kodak M35, it's a reusable disposable) where I mostly use for in-the-moment kind of shots. It's the camera I would bring everywhere with me, to capture friends when I'm out. I've always wanted to bring my camera everywhere with me, but a DSLR is simply too heavy to lug around and it's too expensive to buy a new compact or mirrorless camera these days. So the Kodak M35 is the perfect option. 

Both cameras serve very different purposes for me, but they both give me the same feeling of suspense. Not knowing what kind of photos I have took, and when the photos are develop, they always surprise me. Of course, there will always be disappointing shots where it's underexposed, out of focus, or half-blinks, etc. But the feeling of being surprised by the results outweighs the disappointment. 

Seanny and his unnecessarily cut up t-shirt ; Kodak M35

Max at work ; Kodak M35

Ben slurping some balls ; Kodak M35

Xinde (possibly drunk) ; Kodak M35

Seanny, about to get drunk ; Kodak M35

Shannon, smiling as she's texting ; Kodak M35

Happy Chug 2nd Anniversary uwu ; Kodak M35

A-Team ; Kodak M35

My gift for Seanny, a batman ; Kodak M35
I think I romanticise film too much, I will not deny that. But I am a sucker of nostalgia, and I think film gives me a lot of that sense of nostalgia. Even if these photos are not from the past. Even on digital work, all I strive for, is to replicate the tones of film. Is it the colours of film that I'm chasing, or am I simply chasing nostalgia? Perhaps I was born in the wrong time. Had I been born in the era where film was at its peak, would I have had more satisfaction in my creative work? 

In a world that has simply become too fast paced, where photos are merely another file on our desktop, photographs and memories are taken for granted. Maybe that's why I like film so much, it gives the photographs, the memories, an anchor to the real world. A physical album of memories for me to show my children in future. These are my friends, and these are all proof of my existence, our existence. It is proof that I lived. 

Cheers,
Sean


my birthday dinner this year, bought by Max ; Kodak M35

my uwu ; Kodak M35

They surprised me with a cake, no not really, the staff did ; Kodak M35

Cherry Garden ; Kodak M35

Bus ride to school ; Kodak M35

Lae and Bidhya surprised me with a cake after class uwu ; Kodak M35

My birthday dinner, bought by Xuan ; Kodak M35

We ran for sunrise ; Kodak M35

HINA SAN ; Kodak M35

Very expensive lunch (light leak coz I accidentally opened the back before winding) ; Kodak M35

People and Places and Xuan (JB) ; Kodak M35

Me and a bottle ; Kodak M35

He eats bibimbap, I eat the side dishes ; Kodak M35

A t-shirt bought by Xuan ; Kodak M35

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Life Photography




"I don't want to be known as Joe Greer, the guy who only photographs streets. Or Joe Greer, the guy who only does portraits..."

Joe is one of those photographers that I've looked up to since 2014 and this video is really beneficial. He talks about how photography has so many aspects, and that one shouldn't trap themselves in just one genre. He calls it "Life photography", because he's always documenting. Maybe it's street photos, maybe it's portraits, maybe vacation photos, even photos for clients. It's all in the form of documenting. And we shouldn't shut off other genres of photography just because we are comfortable in one genre.

I guess that's why I stopped doing purely portraits. I originally did portraits because it felt challenging to me, it was something I had never done before. And when I finally got better at it, I stuck with it because it was what I was comfortable with. It was what my "followers wanted to see". But at some point, it was no longer what I wanted to do. Don't get me wrong though, I still have very crazy ideas and concepts that I want to try from time to time and I have a model who's always willing to help me aka Michelle. But portraits alone did not bring me the satisfaction I wanted. Yet for the longest time, I kept my feed strictly portraits only in order to have some form of aesthetically pleasing feed for people to look upon.

But this year has been a change. I ventured into some food and product photography while helping Chug Chug do up their Instagram. I did some travel photography and street photography while I was in Melbourne with my family. I did some portraits again, with Megan and Xue Ning. And most recently, I picked up my film cameras again (Nikon FM2 and the Kodak M35 - a reusable "disposable" camera).

The idea for using the Kodak M35 is because it's a snap and go camera, making it perfect for fleeting moments where I don't want to be fumbling around with the settings. It's also small and light, making it easy to carry around with me everywhere. I've always wanted to carry a camera with me everywhere I go, so this is the perfect camera. Even if it's a tad costly to shoot film. Ideally I would want to be able to carry my DSLR with me everywhere I go so I can take street shots anywhere, but it's just not practical given how heavy it is.

But ultimately, like what Joe said, I have always wanted to do what he calls "life photography". To just document different aspects of life through my eyes. I don't want to be restricted to merely one genre of photography. I want to enjoy photography as it was always meant to be. To capture all sorts of things that is deemed beautiful in my eyes. From people, to places, to the mundane things, anything at all.