This series seeks to curate, create and publish weekly photographs from Ireland’s photographic talent. Each week will be dedicated to a different photographer with a short collection of photographs and accompanying questions and background information. These photographers will be amateur hobbyists and others will be closer to professional. However, all photographs were taken on film. The theme for the first and second entry will be ‘The Social Environment’.
Commencing this series is me, I would consider myself to be an amateur photographer. Personally, it’s one of those hobbies which seemingly comes in and out of my life. This collection of photos were taken on a summer trip to Barcelona and later Lisbon in 2018. I used my Pentax Spotmatic F and I chose to shoot on Ilford HP5 120. The camera was passed down to me from my father, who received it back in the 1970s.
For me, shooting on film is like listening to your favourite music on vinyl. It’s far from perfect, it’s lower quality and there are easier ways to do it. It’s the grain, the imperfection, and the ambiguity of the fine lines and edges that interests me. It’s the simple satisfaction when you’ve successfully put your roll of film into the camera. It’s the sound of an actual shutter being shut as you lightly press the cold metallic button. For me, It’s the vagueness of guessing your parameters and not knowing if you’ve taken a good picture until you’ve waited too long and spent too much money on getting them developed. Its all of these things and so much more.
I prefer shooting on film because shooting on a digital camera does not carry the same feeling. Limitations and constraints can drive creativity. It’s a step back into simplicity; you are forced to work within a more limited range and this process can often produce unexpected and serendipitous results.
All photographs displayed were taken by me – IG: @boiliver_ Future posts will include credit and links to content owner
