Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-02-22)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 22 February 2020 29

Above:

Woolacombebeach

by Matt Walkley

inacid-freesleevesarestoredin
uglyfilingcabinetsthatblocklight
frommyapartment.A contrastto
thesmall,neatlystackedhard
drivesformydigitalarchive.
WhatI didlikeaboutfilmis that
aftera longassignment,yourjob
wasdone.Allthatwaslefttodowas
slingthebagofexposedfilmover
thecounterattheprocessinglab,
popnextdoorfora bottleofwine,
pickupthefilm,chinagraphanedit
onthecontactsheetsandcourier
themtoa client– nosittinginfront
ofthecomputercheckingpixels.
Filmusersoftenargueit pushes
youtorethinkhowyoushoot.It
forcesyoutoplanandcreatethe
imagementallybeforeyoudothe
shoot.Theybelievethatthisprocess
canresultinmoreartisticand
authenticimagessoI talkedtoa few
to find out if this was still the case.

Tereza Červeňová

A 28-year-old,full-

timefreelancefilm

photographerand

visualartist,Tereza

Červeňováhasshot

one-and-a-half

commissionsondigital.‘I tried

digitalanddecidedI wouldrather

bepoorfora whileanddothework

thatI knewI wouldlikeintheend.

ThatwaswhenI firststarted,I

stucktoit anda fewyearslater,it

startedtopayoff.I couldn’ttake

alltheworkthatclientsapproached

mewithandstillhavetosaynoto

someassignments.’

Tereza’sphotographyis often

portraitureled,shewasshortlisted

fortheprestigiousTaylorWessing

Portrait Prize in 2013 and in 2015,

shewontheTheJohnKobalNew

WorkAward.‘Digitalmademefeel

veryanxious,I didn’ttrustit.It

freakedmeoutthattherewasno

physicalitytoit.I needtohavesome

timebetweenmakingtheworkand

seeingit.I reallyliketobeinthe

moment,especiallywhendoing

portraiture.If I shootondigitalit’s

theresoyouseeit,youstarttobe

criticalbeforecompletingthejob,

I findit distracting.I understand

thelightmuchbetter,it’ssomething

visceral.I getintothezonewhere

I feelgoodandimmersedinthe

process.I neverhadthosefeelings

withdigital.’

Tereza’spictures,preferablyshot

ona Mamiya7 orRZ,appear

regularlyinmagazines.Shedoesn’t

demanda clientpayforfilmand

oftenshootsit atherown

expense. However, the

Left:A portraitof

artistand 2012

TurnerPrizewinner

ElizabethPriceby

TerezaCervenová

Farleft:Oneof

Tereza’simages

fromtheproject

June,an

autobiographical

responsetothe

June 2016

referendum

© MATT WALKLEY

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