my journey in film

I started doing film photography in October of 2015. My boyfriend at the time bought me an Olympus 35 SP from a thrift store for 20 bucks and I had never been so excited about something new coming into my life. My very first roll was Ilford HP5, and it wasn’t very good. I hadn’t learned how to focus properly yet so lots of it was blurry and just not the best. Since my first film camera I’ve gained 4 more, I bought a Nikon EM but I gave it away as a gift. The rest I received as gifts from family who were no longer using them. I gained a Pentax ME, a Canon AE-1, a Minolta XG-SE, and a Ricoh 500 G.

This is going to be a master post of my best photos on film since I started and an explanation of the story behind them.

This photo is from my first roll, it’s in tiny feast a store for card stock and other such things. I went there with my mom to browse; everything there is far too expensive for someone to buy from very often.

This photo was from Halloween just before all the kids started showing up, even though I was 18, I went trick or treating at my friends places dressed up as Allen Ginsberg, the famous poet.

I took this after my very first photo-shoot, I didn’t get paid but it was a good learning experience. We decided that it would be a good idea to go for dinner at Stella’s post-shoot and at the time there was some sort of space, star wars exhibit on in the Buhler building of University of Winnipeg. My friend Jasmine is the subject of said photo.

This photo was taken between university classes; I decided to go get a latte from my favorite coffee shop quickly, I was sat in the middle of the back of the bus and it felt very interesting, being able to have a perfect view of everyone getting on and off the bus.

I took this walking from my boarding house to a haircut done by my friend. A store was being renovated so you couldn’t see inside but I loved the simplicity of this photo.

This was taken on Remembrance Day in 2015, that day we broke into an abandoned water park and climbed up and down the slides. Landon (the boy that got me my first film camera) is pictured here, exploring.

This photo was taken in the aforementioned coffee shop, Thom Bargen. Every time I look at this I think about how I could have taken this photo better, maybe even straight on. But if I had, his face wouldn’t have been as genuine.

This photo was taken in an abandoned hospital outside of Gimli, we went there with some of the locals and explored, it was one of the most visually intriguing places I’ve ever been, it was so full.

Yet another photo taken in Thom Bargen, I’m rather proud of this photo because it displays such a mood. I was rather enthralled by this barista in particular because she was just so beautiful and she made me the best London Fog.

I took this photo at my dad’s curling game; he’s the one in the hockey jersey. I really enjoyed this one because it looks very miniature. I also loved the look that taking the photo through the glass gave it.

I was taking the bus to work when a man came and sat directly in front of me. He looked like he was reading something fairly serious and he seemed very profound. It took me five minutes to gain the courage to ask if he would let me take his photo. When I got off the bus I saw that he was reading nothing other than Bobby Orr’s biography.

This photo was taken on Christmas day, I stopped at my friends house to exchange presents and ended up staying there for hours, we were there until 3 am playing video games, taking photos, joking around. This is my friend Justine and her boyfriend at the time. That was the best Christmas of my life thus far.

This photo was taken after me and a bunch of friends snuck onto a roof in the exchange, it was freezing cold and the 6 flights of stairs we climbed were covered in ice. I loved that day.

This was taken in a bookshop in victoria, this girl was clearly babysitting her little brother and she was calm while reading a children’s book, even though her kid brother was zipping and running around the store. I loved this photo a lot because it gave a sense of calm, sense of interest.

This was taken on Valentines Day in a greenhouse in Maple Ridge, B.C.. Workers were putting together rose bouquets and I adored how the behind the scenes of that looked. I’ve always found the most peaceful places on earth were greenhouses and florist shops, people that work in them always seemed to have a very sweet disposition. This photo just reminds me of that thought.

This photo was taken a few months later in a place called bison books. They have so many comic books there it’s insane. I loved the little bit of organized chaos in this photo and the depth of field the low aperture I had on gave me.

This is my brother (the one with the phone) and his very comedic best friend. I didn’t do the light leak on purpose but it adds a certain something to this situation, it’s casual and funny and a photo I’ve always wanted to take while goofing off.

In April I decided to host my best friends birthday at my house, his friends and him did a bit of a jam sesh in my double garage, this was around 2am after most people who weren’t sleeping over had left. I set up my film camera on a tripod and held down the shutter for three seconds. I did it three times all at different speeds. Every one came out a different color.

Landon was, at this point, sewing a pair of shorts with the help of my mom, I decided to take a photo of him working through the machine on slide film, I had no idea that the orange and red would show up but I love the way they frame his hands.

My best friend Julia loves Ikea. So I drove her there, Jules is one of the most interesting people I’ve photographed and I adore spending time with her and taking her photos. She was looking through bed sheets at this point.

On this day, my friend Shayla had come home from university in Main. So I took her downtown and did a photo shoot of her around the exchange exclusively on film. This was in an art gallery I loved how the grain makes this photo look like a painting, she blends in with the pieces of art behind her.

Every second year the church next door to my house hosts something called ‘The Medieval Festival.’ Here is pictured the crowds watching some jousting. I loved the way this photo turned out, it looks very genuine, like it was taken years and years ago.

I took this photo on the last day of Folk Fest, I had to leave to go home for a dinner with the women who babysat me as a child and their children. We set up a slip and slide and the kids went down it tons of times. This photo came out better than I ever could have imagined, it looks like a memory and reminds me of photos in old newspapers.

This particular photo is inspired very much by Patrick Joust, he’s one of my favorite photographers and I admire him very much. I took this photo when I got to my friends house after we’d spent the entire day there and I just adore the colors here.

Here is Landon pictured drinking coffee after we went on a photo walk to take some architecture photos, it was -30 out and we were quite frozen. I love the way I was able to capture the fog on his glasses here, it makes me quite proud.

Cheers,

MEV

#filmphotography #analog #journey #blackandwhite #filmcamera