24 Frames in May: Analog Photography Beauty
Images from the 24 Frames in May project.
Every year I do this fun exercise to introduce photographers to film and allow some who haven’t shot it in a while to experiment with the process.
Before I start I want to make clear that I do not think that making a photograph on film makes it a better photograph. It doesn’t.
Plenty of crap shot on film.
Analog photography is another way of approaching the art of capturing an image.
Not better not worse.
Its differences are twofold to me.
ONE: In the capture itself, that fraction of a second of exposure.
Film reacts differently than digital and understanding those differences is part of the process of film photography. Highlight and shadow are defined, and not fluid. The physical material is unique to itself. ISO built-in, grain built-in, contrast built-in. This gives the photographer parameters with the medium to be worked with, manipulated, and ultimately produced. Film is unforgiving, and the photographer’s precision is tested.
TWO: The intrinsic value of exclusivity.
I have always asked this question of students:
Say you’re in a gallery with $1000 in your pocket ready to buy a piece of art for your home.
Before you are two stunning still lives of apples in nearly the same composition.
You love both equally… seriously, both make you smile but you can only purchase one because they are $1000 each.
One of them is a digital image.
The other is a print from a negative.
Which do you buy?
For me, it is the analog print as it is more unique than the other print made digitally.
To be sure, there is no wrong or right answer here, and those who choose the digital have their reasons as well. Choice… it’s a cool thing to use.
But for me, the slightest nuance of uniqueness gives the art a more important stature on my wall. Yes, it’s one of three hundred, but it is never going to be exactly the same.
We had fifteen photographers take part. You can visit the link here to see all the submissions.
I want to share one image from each photographer here.
Each photographer (most) turned in a contact sheet and their four picks for the galleries.
You can see all the images with links to each photographer’s website here.
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