Black Paint – © John Neel  – Digitally colored B/W from film

I am a digital photographer who also has a history in film. I happen to love film as much as I love digital. I use them both.

I use them for different reasons. Digital is convenient and modern but film gives me some things that digital has yet to fulfill. I love old cameras and I love old processes. I am also excited by digital and have been creating with computers for several decades. I simply love imaging.

The Holga, the Diana or an old 8×10 are only a few out of many reasons why some people still love to use film. Pinhole photography and old processes such as collodion are also great ways to produce images.Some of us like the square format. Some like the feel of shooting from waste level with a TLR. I for one like to scan B/W film negatives and hand color them in Photoshop. For me, there are many reasons to use either, both or use them together.

I find it interesting that there are huge numbers of young photographers that have grown up on digital who are intent on learning about film. They seem to want to have the full experience that connects them with all of what photography has been and will become. Huge numbers have picked up film cameras and have started to explore the experience of film and the darkroom.

BTW- there is still film available and companies that are making it.

When I was at Kodak, I tried to look at all the things that film could do that digital could not do without some kind of computer manipulation. I found that film could do such things as image on a curved surface. It can also be used to capture 360˚ panoramas without stitching. Medium and large format film can be scanned into the computer with results that far exceed the resolution of digital.

I believe that in the future, we will find that digital sensors will be flexible like film. It is a goal that it will be able to do so. There has been some amazing research in that area for at least ten years. While it may be true that most people are not using film, there are many things to be learned from what film can do. Invention comes from looking at the past.

There are many fake looks that can be accomplished with digital. Many of the effects we see from imaging apps are recreations of film effects. You can create the look of a Holga or a Diana. You can make images look old, you can stitch panoramas, add depth of field with focus stacking, turn a color image into a black and white, produce what looks like film grain and create an endless variety of pretentious imagery. What you can’t get with digital is the authenticity that film gives you straight from the camera. No Photoshop, no fakery, no digital manipulation. There is a difference.

Creativity does not come packaged with any camera, digital or film. It doesn’t come with artistic filters or with endless shooting settings. It doesn’t come from a Leica M or a Nikon D800. It doesn’t come with HDR or optical stabilization or any of the next amazing things out there.

Creativity comes from being able to see the world, not by following everyone else, but by the creative ability to express what we see through our own unique vision. Uniqueness can come from following your own path, making your own decisions and choosing your own tools, being confident in your abilities and having a keen awareness of your subject. This should not be a battle between film and/or digital. The majority of people have already turned to digital because of all the reasons given above.

There are many reasons that some one might want to play with film, old processes and alternative techniques. If pleasure is one or if reaching back into history is another, so be it. Personally, I love all that imaging has to offer. I simply see that digital is one of the tools I can choose for the act of making a photograph and film is another.

Lot – © John Neel

There is a whole history of imaging and image making tools that have come and gone and in some cases have come back. I will say now, that digital at least as we know it will be replaced with something even better at some point in the not too far off future.

Some day, our grandkids are going to ask us what digital was. Judging by the history of imaging, they too will be using a totally new breed of imaging tools to image their world. There will be those who resist and those who follow.

Let those who find artistic pleasure and creative satisfaction enjoy digital or film the way they see fit. Not everyone needs to have the latest and greatest to be creative. There are very talented artists both old and young who are working with ancient tools making incredible images. Who am I to stifle their efforts? Who are you to argue?

If anyone is going to ask the question why, please don’t tell us why not. Listen to why we like what we like.

You can read about my book “Rethinking Digital Photography” here. Please have a look at some of my other posts here.

NOTICE of Copyright: THIS POSTING AS WELL AS ALL PHOTOGRAPHS, GALLERY IMAGES, AND ILLUSTRATIONS ARE COPYRIGHT © JOHN NEEL AND ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE WRITER, THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND/OR lensgarden.com. THE IDEAS EXPRESSED ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE AUTHOR.