Film photography has had quite a journey over the past decade. Only a few years ago people were hailing the death of film. "Digital is the future", people said. It certainly looked that way. But recently people are falling over themselves to replicate film photography. iPhone apps are mimicking lo-fi photography - Lomography is in vogue. I'm seeing more and more people with vintage and Lomography cameras slung over their shoulders in London's tourist hotspots.
Something caught my attention recently. It was a window display in a shoe shop in the UK. They featured a series of medium format photos with a black border and frame number visible on the print. It didn’t look quite right to me, so I took a closer look.
The image was so sharp, but the frame seemed to be out of focus and poorly scanned. What’s more, the photo was in colour and the film clearly stated TMAX – indicating the film was black and white. The creative team had clearly added a TMAX film border to a digital photo and passed it off as a film photo.
Photo by bsmart
Someone recently asked me what app I used to add the sprocket holes on a photo I uploaded to the internet. I used 35mm film and exposed the sprockets, I said.
Who knows how long film will continue to be so popular. I for one, hope it continues to gain a following and the revolution will last.
11 comments
hervinsyah
GREAT FOUND & INTERESTING STORY
fash_on
I've noticed this a lot over the past few years, the most shocking was an exhibit at a photographers gallery :(
bloomchen
nice!
dmgphotography
bsmart
@dmgphotography See my recent article regarding that very point -
http://www.lomograph(…)same_author
adash
That's an odd find, all shots are on frame 6, and colourful on TMX, which is T-MAX B&W film.
Also Kodak film type 6052 is known to be of the T-MAX B&W variety:
http://www.taphilo.c(…)mxref.shtml
Sorry, but someone was sloppy...
adash
In other words, you've found an analogue fake.
adash
...or was it a "fake analogue"?
schemerel
I think thats his point @adash
I somewhat like that analog is being appreciated again but I hate how cameras are getting more expensive. Everyone on ebay is selling their 'vintage' (read: old crap) as lomo this and lomo that. Even expired filmrolls are getting more expensive :s
adash
@schemerel I got the point, thanks. Indeed, film is really fashionable now, as are retro design digital cameras, as is the film look of crappy cellphone pictures, etc. The bright side is that the absolute death of film as an industrial product is postponed for the moment. The lomo this and lomo that is irritating and ridiculous indeed, I even find long expired rolls sold more expensively than fresh stock of the same type of film only because they are LOMO!
jvujnovi
As someone who never got into digital (because I love working with black & white film - I rarely use colour), I'm glad to see a revival in film popularity. A few months ago, my city's local paper had an article speculating about the "death of film". I wrote a letter to the editor, which was published, informing them that while film is no longer the only medium and no longer predominant it still has place in photography. Digital users need to be reminded of that.