Photo by Frédérique Truchon
When I first got started in photography, I was obsessed with cameras. I knew the entire lineup of Nikon DSLR cameras and lenses as well as their Canon counterparts. After a few years, I suddenly and completely stopped caring. I no longer kept up with the new releases. I was relatively useless when someone asked me which camera they should buy. I found a camera that I loved, a 10-year old camera on Kijiji (with fewer megapixels than your phone), and I used it for the first few years of my professional photography career.
I had simply realized (and was late to realize it too) that I was at a point where I’d get the most significant improvements in my work not by focusing on gear, not by having the best lenses, but instead by focusing on lighting, how to make inexperienced people comfortable in front of the camera, putting more thought into what I photograph, etc. That’s where I spent all my energy.
This year, I’ve finally come to a point where I felt that exploring new equipment was what I needed to bring my work to the next level. I‘ve been spending a lot of time thinking about myself as a photographer, and even more time thinking about how (and whether) I fit in the art world. I decided I wanted to have a better grasp on the medium of photography as a whole, and one area in which I had a complete lack of experience in was film photography. I had also been wanting to explore other formats (medium format, large format, etc.). So I decided to get those two birds with the stone that is the Mamiya RZ67, a gigantic medium format film camera.
Photo by Frédérique Truchon
The remaining photos in this blog post will be photos I’ve taken with the RZ67.
I’m having a blast, and I’m learning a lot.
I’m learning to slow down, of course. I’ve learned to let go of the instant feedback of digital cameras. I take much more time thinking about composition now. I’ve learned to pick my moments more carefully. Every press of the shutter is a few dollars after all.
I’ve learned that scanning was not simple at all. I had assumed scanning was a neutral process, and that scanners simply show you what’s in front of them. When it comes to scanning film however, scanning is a part of the creative process. The results vary wildly according to the settings we use, and it is much less the objective step as I thought it to be.
I’ve got a lot more to learn, but have been thoroughly enjoying this journey. Shout out to Greg Mattigetz and Julien Catella for helping me out with this exploration.
Thanks for tuning in!