Tag: analogue

Grain meet blur

Pheladi SethusaLeave a comment

Finally developed another roll of film – averaging about a year a roll – lol. Have just bought some more film so hoping to change this habit quite quickly and take my camera along on every adventure, big or small, I embark on in the next few months.

This roll covered quite a bit of ground, it travelled with me to a speed dating event, a road trip and girls’ weekend away in the Vaal, an especially magical few days in Cape Town, a side quest to a botanical garden at a conference in Stellenbosch and a final trip with my class of postgraduate students at Constitutional Hill. Very different but very special memories.

I love how much more selective I am when shooting on film, and which moments feel special enough to etch onto film, I’ve missed the intimacy with memory this brings. Additionally, the imperfection in some of my frames feels almost signature and unshackles me for a moment from the obsessive need to have the right f stop, focus and ISO with each shot – something I am trying to unlearn as I shift between shooting on an SLR and my film camera.

Back to basics

Pheladi SethusaLeave a comment

Taking photos for fun and for work used to be a huge part of my identity, and in the busyness of life I have let that part of me slide into the shadows as other pursuits took centre stage. That has meant giving up the joy that used to come with shooting and editing photos as well. Until I spotted this little beauty on sale last year.

My Olympus Trip35

An account I follow on Instagram, 35mmbyloosechange, routinely sells previously loved cameras, accessories and film. I started following the account after a print and swap event I attended with the idea of going back to shooting on film someday. I say go back because the last time I had a film camera was well over 16 years ago when I was in high school. I had done zero research when I bid on the camera when it came up for sale in a post and figured this would be a perfect way to start shooting again in a slower, less perfection driven manner.

The past few months with with camera have forced me to take my camera out with me more and think in moments more than frames when taking analogue photos. What I mean by that is fighting the urge to take photos that would be aesthetically pleasing for the consumption of others on my timeline, and instead just freezing moments I knew I wanted to freeze because they made my heart happy. My first colour roll was a trip I took with friends to Greece and Amsterdam.

My second roll of film was shot on black and white film, or so I thought. Turns out I loaded the roll incorrectly which returned a blank roll when I went to get it developed months later through Cape Film Supply. Bummer, but lesson learned. I am new to this, so giving myself for the mistakes and missteps I will be making as a relearn this analogue medium.