I've seen the future ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There've been two 'photography' stories in the 'paper this week, the first about Jessops, the camera store chain that was bought out by Dragons' Den star Peter Jones. It seems it's (once again) on the brink of collapse because of tax debts. And yet the second article was all about the rise and rise of 'film' photography, with more and more people trying out the 'old' way of doing things. (Pentax have even announced the launch of a new 35mm half-frame camera.) Is there hope for Jessops, then? Will I once again be able to walk into a shop full of cameras and lenses, with shelves and shelves of film and chemicals and Ilford Multigrade paper, and photographers loitering around telling each other how amazingly busy they've been lately? Oh, what a dream ..

Or is it? I can still remember when digital photography started to take hold and how I resisted changing to the new-fangled 'future'. But then someone told me that, with digital, I could vary the ISO ( .. or ASA for the old farts like me) between individual shots. What? Really? OMG! And so off I went down the Fuji Finepix highway and I've never looked back. No more changing rolls after 36 shots, no more long cold/hot nights in the darkroom, no more wasting chemicals and paper as I feverishly burned and dodged. (I'll blithely skip on from the hours/days/weeks I spent tearing my hair out over colour-balance and photoshop and geezers telling me I should always shoot RAW.) Oh yes, it was digital all the way and, as with the 'experts' who tell me that music definitely sounds better on vinyl, I've resisted the idea that photographs look better when they've been shot on film. (Don't they know you can add grain in photoshop?) ..

Don't get me wrong, I can understand the attraction of film and vinyl (and cassettes!) for kids. When all you've ever had is the mysterious, invisible world of digital it must be an absolute delight to actually have something to hold on to. And so, kids, the film world is all yours, and I hope you have fun whilst you're in it ..

Oh, but did I mention the cost?

   

Ps: Today I get another chance to show you a montage I made last year, showing my transition to digital with examples of every camera I've ever used. (And yes, I do still own them all.)