DEDICATED FOLLOWERS OF FILM
thepictureis finishedas soon
as thefilmis processedand
scanned.It reallydoesn’tneedmuch
morework.’
Ianstartedlifeas a filmmakerbut
foundtheprocesstooktoolongand
costtoomuchmoney.Hehad
alwaystakenstillstoowitha Canon
7Danda NikonD810,butwhena
friendgavehimanOlympusOM-1
herana rollofFomapanblack&
whitefilmthroughit andlovedit
straightaway.‘ThenextweekendI
tookit toSeafordwithsomefriends
andtheweekendafterthatI was
goingtoPerufora three-weektrip.I
immediatelydecidedtotakethefilm
cameraand 30 rollsoffilm.I tooka
digitalcameratoo,butI shotallthe
film.Mostoftheshotscameout
lookingterrible,butI lovedit.’
Iansaysheenjoysthethought
processthatheneedstogothrough
whenshootingwithfilmandwhen
theresultscan’tbeviewed
immediately.
‘I’mincrediblyimpatientwith
everythingandI don’thavemuch
willpowertodothingsI don’twant
todo,butshootingfilmhastaught
mepatience.I likethatI don’trely
ona viewfindertogetmyexposure
correct– withfilmI havetoknow
whatI’mdoing.I can’tcorrect
thingsinpost,soI havetotighten
myselfuplikea racingmachine.I
likethatprocess.’Thecameras
Ianshootswitha mixtureof35mm
andmediumformatcameras.After
theOlympusheboughta CanonA1butthenmovedtoa NikonFM3afor
thecombinationofaperturepriority
exposures,theexposurelockbutton
anda topshutterspeedof1/4000sec.
Whenheneedsmediumformathe
hasa choiceoftheMamiya7 ll and
Makina 67 rangefindersandthe
HasselbladH1SLR.‘I shoota lotof
35mmeventhoughI havethree
expensivemediumformatcameras,
butit’saboutwhatyouneedinthe
shot.35mmis forcharmanda
certainaestheticthatrequiresa bitof
grainandnotperfection.
‘Mediumformatcamerasareso
muchmorecumbersomeand
annoying,butas soonas youstart
shootingmediumformateverything
changes.ThereareshotsI’vetaken
thatI havenoideahowtheygotto
looklikethat.Mediumformatgives
youa depthofcolourandlightthat
sofarI haven’tseenfroma digital
camera.It hasa gradationfrom
highlighttoshadowthatis so
smoothinitstransitionthatdigital
photographycan’treplicateit.And
there’sa softnessinitssharpness
thatI can’texplain.A goodmedium
formatlenswillbesharpbutit
doesn’tscreamaboutit – infactit is
oftenthelastthingyounotice.With
somedigitalcamerasystemsthe
sharpnessis thefirstthingyou
notice.MyMamiya7 ll canbea bit
sharpsometimessoI mightsoftenit
witha TiffenProMistfilter.
‘Thedifferencebetween35mm
andmediumformatis likeif you
drewa landscapeona bigpieceof
paperanda smallpieceofpaper.On
a bigpieceofpaperthere’sspaceforEmThe Arrival D.W.T’s