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B+W

In the third part of this series on the joys of returning to film photography,

Eddie Ephraums looks at how risk and uncertainty can be key elements

in the creative process, and what it means to be photographically alive.

INSPIRATION

All images © Eddie Ephraums

B&W FILM SERIES:3

A

wave suddenly

comes crashing

in and I’m up to

my knees in

water. There

are far easier

and safer ways to take a picture

than precariously balancing a

5x4in pinhole camera over a

gully, with a rapidly incoming

tide, and waiting several

minutes for the film to expose.

Even then there is no guarantee

the picture will come out.

Shooting with a viewfinder-

less film camera and trying to

work out the exposure time

(including reciprocity failure for

the f/206 pinhole), under

constantly changing light and

sea conditions, is testing me to

the full. It feels as if I’m

exercising unfamiliar muscles

and I’m not sure which ones

or for what benefit.

This is happening in the

run-up to a creativity workshop

I’m leading next week. The

experience is apt. It is taking me

out of my comfort zone and

making me feel like a

participant. It’s a healthy,

vulnerable place to be.

Shooting film again has

certainly provoked me into

thinking about my photography

and what I want to achieve with

it. For instance, if the effects of

A BALANCING ACT

Risk and uncertainty – not always knowing the outcome – are key

elements in the creative process. They are always present with film

photography and especially with a viewfinder-less pinhole film

camera. A two minute exposure gave me the time to appreciate this

scene and to wonder, with each incoming wave, whether my pinhole

camera would survive. At least there was no concern about getting

water on the ‘lens’.

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