... Journal Entry
Personally, shooting film is all about the joy of being out there lost in the moment of it, in the process of making real photographs, in the touch and the feel of the medium, in the thoughtful connection with my subject that it brings. It is just a very different and contemplative experience.
I have been shooting loads of digital recently, blasting away using all the advantages of computational photography and AI subject recognition and high speed tracking with, I have to admit, much success. Then I was suddenly overtaken by the urge to get back to real photography, to slow down and be lost once again in the contemplative moment.
I felt the need to return once more to using film and being, at least for a while, a real photographer using my own photographic knowledge and skills with a real camera to make real photographs.
Enjoying using the technique of absent presence once more, encouraged by film photography's more contemplative style, as in the photograph above which has an inviting feel as if someone were about to enter the scene and occupy the park bench to enjoy the tranquility of the garden. Creating photographs the viewer feels they would like to step into.
Above all, revelling in the tangible touch of the process, that physical connection to my photography that I enjoy so much. It's like coming home.