falling in love with photography (again)
As a child, there was nothing I longed for more than my very own SLR camera. Not a point and shoot for holiday snaps, but a purpose built, professional looking camera. If I saw a photographer in the street, I would be left in awe of them. There was something fascinating in the way they were scouting looking for their subjects, often finding a subject that was hidden in plain sight, easy to miss for the unassuming eye. The ability to draw focus to something through the lens made photography somewhat of a superpower.
Sadly, I never did get a camera during this time. However, when I met my partner during university, this love for photography was something we had in common. So much so that for Christmas in 2018 we decided on our first big purchase together, to finally achieve my childhood dream and buy a camera. We had settled on the Fujifilm X100T. We were mainly drawn to its compact size and retro looks, naively unaware of its huge community and online following. I had no idea what it meant when I would get stopped in the street by someone asking me about film simulations - I just thought it was the same as any filter on a camera!
For the first few years it was fun to experiment and go round taking photos with no real plan or intent. It was a novel experience to get back after a trip and go through Lightroom, seeing what was good or what could be fixed in Lightroom. of course, my sporadic photo style led to hundreds of photos, of which only a handful would be any good. heavily relying on importing into Lightroom and post-processing in order to have good photos really drew out the process. Not only was there a lot of time taken to take photos from their raw state to something more polished, but it would take a lot of mental load too. I had this mindset that a photo was only ‘finished’ or ready if it was important and if it was edited. Unsurprisingly, I was pretty easily bored by this ordeal and ended up with thousands of photos sitting on the memory card or hard drive, never to see the light of day again. I enjoyed photography, but it was everything else that took the enjoyment out for me.
These early photos evoke a sense of familiarity. I can kind of recognise who took them, and maybe what I was thinking in my head, although I can see countless faults with them. I guess that shows that I’ve definitely learned a lot since then. Furthermore, I feel like my past self was trying, but had no real idea of what he was trying to do.
A few years after this, we noticed a resurgence in analogue film being used - in photography we saw online, even noticing when new movies were shot on film. We dipped our toes into this with a Canon Autoboy II - fully automated point and shoot.
It was super refreshing to have this experience, a whole new take on photography. I loved that analogue shooting removed distractions about ISO and shutter speed, no checking through my camera roll to see my progress. It was just me and the viewfinder, searching through my surroundings for my next subject. It was exhilarating and so much fun to learn the limitations and advantages of film.
One thing for sure was I absolutely loved the effect that shooting analogue gives. The muted colours, the lifted shadows and the grain. There are numerous imperfections yet there is just something in the feel that a film photo gives so much more emotion and a true feeling of nostalgia.
One thing I noticed was that a lot of photos didn’t quite come out like I had planned in my head. I was struggling in getting the idea conveyed through the lens. It did make me take a step back from this, and swayed me back to digital.
At the start of 2025, I started the focal point photoclass, hosted by clondon. In truth, it is not the first time I’ve started the class, but it is the first time I’ve been able to stick with it and consistently follow the course. I do believe that this course is what has led me to be so much more consistent with my photography this year. I definitely feel like my passion has been sparked again, and I am very much enjoying what I have been taking.
Even though I am mainly shooting digital on the Fuji again, I am trying to evoke what I have learned through my experience with film. This means utilising the film sims and letting go of perfectionism. I don’t mind so much if the focus is slightly off or if the highlights are a bit blown out - in fact, I think I prefer the photos when they are. I still take RAW+JPEG, so if my current recipe isn’t quite working, I know I can work with the RAW file later (not everything has to be SOOC). Even when I am in LR, I use Linus Bergman’s presets, which makes editing photos a 30-second job rather than getting sucked into an abundance of different sliders and adjustments. All of this lets me focus more on my surroundings, where I am trying to capture small moments, and a more everyday street photography style.
One of the first assignments in the photoclass was to actively look for inspiration and use that to guide the type of photos we take. I feel like I have a lot more inspiration and intention behind my shots now. Of course there are a plethora of photog accounts on Instagram/Threads, Foto, and even now on Substack, however I had never thought of looking outside social media to look for inspiration. I am so grateful to be living in a city with such a large collection of books in our library. I was also given a book about Issei Suda, a Japanese photographer known for his work highlighting everyday life. He perfectly sums up what it is that inspires me now and the feeling I want to convey through my photos - ‘small surprises usually dismissed in our world’.
Even though I am constantly learning, I feel like I am finally confident in my ability behind the camera, and dare I say it, my work has some sort of style now. I’m actively reminding myself to let go of perfect photos, live in the moment, and trying to share my work where I can, especially through the community that is building through Substack. Of course, my newsletter is the main place I share my work, even in articles when the photos aren’t the main subject.
I guess I’ll go shoot a couple rolls of film now.