120 Pearls…why so many? Well, this blog was started for a college class I am taking this Fall. We are to pick a passion, define a niche within, and then talk about it using the various ways of publishing in the digital age. I carry a camera with me at all times, I have learned my lesson more than once in not doing so. Photography can be calculated or it can be done on a whim, whichever one the results are often beautiful slices of time in our hectic, rushed world. I choose to photograph our current times using film cameras that are at least twice my age, just for a simple twist on delivering our reality. I find them at antique shops, flea markets, old friends, and attics. It’s amazing the results you can get with such a simple device. Many results outshine the digital photographs we are so used to seeing. So why so many pearls? 120 is the size of the film many old cameras take, otherwise known as medium format. Pearls are there because they signify a time period when things were simple and when things were beautiful.
My passion for photography began when I first felt the nostalgia of my Nan’s Polaroids and the photos that she had hanging on the walls and taped in sticky photo albums, all yellowed and curled. They weren’t my own memories but I was taken away by the dreamy realization that these photos were an instant time machine, a one second window into a past life. This realization also led to another more obscure thought; time is constant. We photograph to capture a memory, to have something to hold onto when this second has passed. Photographs are really once in a lifetime no matter what the subject.
Camera technology even follows us as we grow as humans, almost every single one of us carries some type of camera in our pockets every day. Our need to hold onto memories is one of the greatest human characteristics I can think of. By using film, I am bridging the gap between art and science and mixing in a pinch of history. This is why film photographs have such weight to them when compared to a photograph taken with a point and shoot or cell phone camera. Hopefully in reading my entries, fellow photographer or not, you too will understand why it’s necessary to keep this way of documentation going strong.
I’ll sign off on this “entry” blog post with whats to come, expect me to post photos of my classic camera finds, the photos that result from them, commentary on current film photography, film reviews, and how-to videos on how to keep your piece of history in top-notch shape.