In this so-called 'digital era', many photographers are choosing to stick with, or return to, analogue photography. For Chloe, shooting film is more satisfying than digital photography.
I have always had an interest in photography, and after I completed my undergraduate degree in something I soon realised wasn’t for me, I naturally fell back into photography and started taking it more seriously. A year later I’m now in the middle of an MA in photography, and shooting a lot of my work on 35mm film, with an ever growing collection of film cameras.
After falling back in love with photography and realising I could do it as more than just a hobby, I decided the best way to really learn my craft would be to start shooting film, which I immediately fell in love with. I realised that so many of my childhood memories involving photography had been around one specific SLR camera my dad had been shooting on: the Canon 1000f, which I now own.
My journey with film photography has been slow at times, and tricky to master. I’m still yet to master everything, and I make frequent mistakes, but it’s all part of the journey I love being on, which is making me a better photographer. This is why I believer shooting film is better. Not only is the aesthetic of film photography much more satisfying than digital photography, it is a much trickier craft to master which involves precision and patience. It has taught me so much that I just never could have learnt through my DSLR.
My most recently acquired film camera was a Christmas present, ordered from the wonderful people at West Yorkshire Cameras: a Praktica Super TL. I’m yet to get any of the film developed from my shoots with that camera, but I’m positive I’ll be happy with the results.
One of the most recent projects that I was experimenting with through my MA was shot all on film; some images are below:
I called the project Negatives and it focused a lot on the littering of our local parks and surroundings. It started as an accidental project as I was just itching to get out and be shooting with film again and what came from it was a new side project.
I enjoy shooting film over digital because it forces me to savour the experience of photography, and not rush the images I’m taking. I have to think about how I’m taking photos and what I’m taking photos of, because I’ll be limited to 24 or 36 exposures. I encourage anyone considering making the switch from digital to analogue to do so, because despite the cost it incurs, you’ll quickly find yourself more inspired and more appreciative of the art that is photography, and specifically, film photography.
If anyone wants to check out some more of my work, I have a website which you can find here: www.chloeevelyn.co.uk
I share most of my work there and also write a weekly blog about my journey in photography.
Thanks for reading!
Words and images: Chloe Evelyn
You can see more of Chloe's work by visiting her Instagram and website.