Rediscovering Beauty: Lessons from Shooting Film
"Conclusions" from a existential crisis
Recently, I released a video on my YouTube channel where I share some thoughts about my first experience shooting film with the little Rollei 35
Every time I get the scans from the laboratory, I can’t help thinking this might be the way forward for me. Everything about film seems so exciting and easy, from the detachment from the results to the look of the photos, and especially how simple to select the best shots from a roll is.
To be honest with you, I'm having a bit of an existential crisis. Should I ditch digital entirely, or should I calm down and be pragmatic? At the end of the day, digital is just so much easier to travel with. Travelling the way I do with film—going through airport checks, dealing with the bulkiness, and managing the developing and scanning process—can be quite a challenge. I'd love to shoot film exclusively, but I'm already carrying two fully loaded backpacks. To make such a move, I’d have to abandon my coffee set (scale, French press, coffee beans, and grinder), and that’s a trade I am NOT willing to make.
So, the answer might be to go for a more “filmic look”, and re-edit my existing work. I dove deep into the internet, looking for presets that emulate Kokakchrome without much hassle. I found a couple that work pretty well on Capture One, although it took me two entire days (about 12 hours of editing, my eyes are sore) to get them adapted to the Fuji RAW files in a way I like.
After those two days, I compared the results to my previous editing and had second thoughts. Isn't it too much? Do these pics now look overedited? Is it the right move?
I don’t have an answer to these questions, but something nice came out of this whole situation. Trying this new workflow, I went through my archive and edited lots of pics that I had never shared—pics that I didn’t like much initially. Revisiting my work, I found a new connection to them. Some of them had been completely erased from my memory, and others didn’t pass the first selection. Why did I overlook the beauty in these shots before?
The photos in this post are all from different countries and various light conditions, each one offering a lesson. Sometimes, one needs to step back to get a better angle or to provide more context. Other times, it's simply about reviewing our journey and rethinking the lessons we've learned along the way.
A little shout-out to the great
, with whom I had a conversation a few days ago about this whole first-world problem. He advised me to take it easy, saying that it doesn’t look like a big aesthetic change and that my photos have already a filmic look. He assured me that I shouldn't worry too much about it.It's so great to be part of The Raw Society community. It's a valuable asset to discuss these things and get advice from someone with such experience and a long journey.
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This is the video I mentioned at the beginning.
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I can relate to your struggle. I’ve also doubted in the past whether to shoot my protest photography on film or digital. I settled on digital (X-pro2 and X-pro3) with a selfmade film recipe, for reasons of costs, convenience and customisability. You can come close to the minimalism of a film camera with customised settings and lens choice, and some self-discipline (the X-pro3’s lcd screen design helps too). I agree with Jorge, in the end it’s not worth the worry. Both choices would be fine. Don’t make it existential!
Great essay and great video. But i don't think your existential crisis is to shoot digital only or film only. It's to caffeinate or not to caffeinate! Come on! You can easily carry 3 film cameras and 50 film rolls instead of your coffee factory!
One suggestion. Give yourself a specific limit to film when you travel. One day, two days... three rolls...five rolls. Shoot digital but give yourself specific, short projects for the film. A small camera and a few rolls of film are no big deal to travel with.