How does analog photography fit into the modern lifestyle

[removed account4]

whatever works with your lifestlye works ...
it isn't a matter of giving something up so it works ...

don't let the turkeys get you down !

 

[gzinsel]

Jefferythree hit a note that resonates with most, " hobby that forces me to slow down and relax a bit" BUT THAT is very challenging to do in the fast pace of the NEW MODERN ERA>

 

[Nodda Duma]

I'm with fotch in the use of the iPhone. It is a visual note-taker. A handy tool because I have it on me.

Otherwise, I only shoot film. I send color film off for developing and order prints to avoid the backlog of scanning film or working in the darkroom (must admit I have four hanging B&W rolls of film to look through).

I actually never really got into digital. So film photography fits right into my modern life.

 

[Bill Burk]

I went to a party over the weekend with a group that went with me and my wife to Greece and Turkey last June. We did some catching up since the trip. When the email was circulating on who is going to bring what to our potluck, my fellow analog photographer friend said he had no photos to show since he shot mostly film. I shot both, but I shot 20 rolls of film and processed them already. He told me that with his job that where he works and travels so much, he doesn't have time to process the film and he seriously thinking about going digital.

As I mentioned, I processed all my film, but they're still in sleeves until I can get some darkroom printing time. All I did was scan the negs.

My question is how does analog photography fit with your modern life? As for me, It's very hard to process film and print with my life. I currently have a full time job, a wife and I'm also caring for an elderly mother. But my I plan to retire in 7 years or less so I can do more analog photography. I hate to admit this, I get my photography fix with my Iphone.

Nice that you have a friend who also shot film. I would have moved the party to give you both more time to process and print.

 

[Lee Rust]

"Digital is for now ... analog is for later"

I remember reading that statement in a recent discussion. Perhaps it was here.

For all their advantages, electronic pictures are device dependent, ephemeral and fleeting, easy to acquire, easy to share and easy to forget. Analog photos, even those from digital sources, can hang around for years ... stuck to walls, stacked in boxes or sorted in albums, ready for when we want to remember. As a daily antidote to the nervous flicker of digital images, the production and appreciation of physical photos can slow down both the photographer and the viewer enough to really see the pictures, not just look at them.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I thought about this and think you are right, most things we have now are disposable,our cloths,digi camera's, food, cars, when it ware's out just go buy a new one, we should have plenty of extra time, but I don't . But still develop and print, but not as often as I would like.


Mike

Does this mean that for those that strictly photograph digitally are creating something that's ephemeral and not a cherished object? If so, what does that say about analog photographers?

 

[darkosaric]

party

how does analog photography fit with your modern life?

Fit excellent. When you are at party with Instax or Polaroid: you are the coolest person there. The same for Lomo fisheye and many other cool cameras (everybody can have iPhone - that is not cool any more ). After party when you show the prints and not pixels - again you are the coolest.


Outside parties (and being cool or whatever - I am too old for parties nowadays ) - it also fits perfect, it slows down the modern lifestyle - and that can only be good.

 

[pdeeh]

What's "modern life"?

If it's one where we are so caught up in working and consuming that we have no time for anything that requires us not be working or consuming, it's probably worth considering whether one's priorities in "modern life" are wildly out of kilter.

Using film isn't the core issue here, it's just a symptom.

Plus of course "modern life " in Greece or Mali or rural China or wherever else can be very different to "modern life" in the USA.

 

[largely]

I'm retired.
Wife left long ago.
Kids grew up and moved on.
Friends have mostly moved to other locales or kicked the bucket.
I have no one to look out for save myself and my dog.
Film photography (along with good books and good music) not only fits my life it IS my life.
And life is good.

 

[darkosaric]

I'm retired.
Wife left long ago.
Kids grew up and moved on.
Friends have mostly moved to other locales or kicked the bucket.
I have no one to look out for save myself and my dog.
Film photography (along with good books and good music) not only fits my life it IS my life.
And life is good.

 

[blansky]

It fits fine, as instead of taking 7000 digital images, I may take 7 film images.

On a trip to Greece and Turkey you'd take 7 pictures?

 

[David Brown]

Does this mean that for those that strictly photograph digitally are creating something that's ephemeral and not a cherished object?

No.

This is a generalization that many here use to justify their choice of using film when no justification is needed.

I shoot both. I make (and sell) prints from both. Give me a break. I'm so tired if this rationale.

 

[RobC]

On a trip to Greece and Turkey you'd take 7 pictures?

don't you mean "photographs"

 

[removed account4]

I hate to admit this, I get my photography fix with my Iphone.

nothing to hate to admit. do what works.
i was in the woods last weekend and got my fix
with a nokia, and they look nice.

7 pictures on a vacation trip to an exotic place like greece and turkey is kind of funny.

 

[moose10101]

My question is how does analog photography fit with your modern life? As for me, It's very hard to process film and print with my life. I currently have a full time job, a wife and I'm also caring for an elderly mother.

What's modern about that? When I was growing up, some dads worked two jobs, and lots of us had grandparents living with us instead of in a "retirement"/nursing home. There's nothing modern about wanting more free time.

 

[PatTrent]

Retired now, so no problem developing my film, which I then scan. I use film for "keepers" and digital for experimenting or quick documentation.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Good question

What's modern about that? When I was growing up, some dads worked two jobs, and lots of us had grandparents living with us instead of in a "retirement"/nursing home. There's nothing modern about wanting more free time.

I grew up in a house where our grandmother lived with my father, mother and my brothers. I was a very important part of my childhood. I only work 40 hours a week but I rarely seem to have time for hobbies. But I know some that have full time jobs and kids and they somehow have more time than me. I think it's how I prioritize my time. I have a pretty good life where I can not think about work after I clock out and the pay is not bad either. I feel lucky. Not having time to play is just a first world problem. In my travels, I seen plenty of my fellow global citizens work longer and harder for a whole lot less pay. I started this thread just to start a conversation about analog photography and how fellow APUGers integrate the craft into their life.

 

[lecarp]

QUOTE Originally Posted by lecarp

"You might have spent your spare time in the darkroom rather than on threads like this one."

So are we wasting our time being online and on other modern pastimes like watching cable instead of doing analog photography? Is this why most of us don't cook, garden or sew our own clothes because of the modern lifestyle? Do we need to slow down? Is the excuse of the modern lifestyle making analog photography difficult a lame one?

Well, there you go again. Another exposed film sits neglected on a shelf.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Being single I have the ability to control my time such that I don't have to compromise when I want to indulge in analog photography. I frequently take a camera with me to work and then shoot on my way home. I also can add darkroom time whenever I want; the other day in a fit of insomnia I got up and developed two batches of film in my Jobo at 2 AM. Because I'm reasonably proficient with my scanner, I can get images scanned, edited and posted to my blog (and to the APUG gallery) at a reasonably rapid pace. I just post stuff at the pace I can work, and I don't worry about time pressures from other people to fit my workflow into their perception of a modern lifestyle. If it costs me blog readers, so be it. Quality over quantity.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

On a trip to Greece and Turkey you'd take 7 pictures?

Greece and Turkey? OK, I'm sure I'd take 8 pictures.

 

[Saganich]

I developed an easy black and white development process (simple formula, lasts forever) so I can get vacation film processed pretty quickly. Then I scan, edit, and upload to a website I developed for friends and family to enjoy. No one ever looks at it. Then I got an iPhone and would upload to iPhoto. But over the past year all this cloud, internet, upload service business has caused me such confusion regarding where to upload what and who can see it that I just quit using my iPhone to take pictures. In the meantime I'm still developing my triX, scanning, editing, and uploading to my personal website for people to enjoy...if they feel inclined. I guess the moral is stick with what you know and avoid advice from people with three first names.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Greece and Turkey are wonderful place to visit

Greece and Turkey? OK, I'm sure I'd take 8 pictures.

I can't stop on 8 shots. I ended up with 18 rolls. A mix of 35mm and 120.

 

[4season]

Photography as a whole fits into my life just fine: I always carry a camera! I just photograph the everyday stuff around me; it's not a special activity needing it's own block of time.

When I was still doing work in the darkroom, I was keen on anything which would free me from the drudge work (mixing chemicals, controlling temperature, determining exposure times etc) while improving precision and allowing me more to do the creative stuff, like split-grade printing, toning and bleaching. So I invested in a film processor, densitometer and exposure meter. And if I had continued, I think an archival print washer, magnetic stirrer and shutter speed tester all would have been logical additions. So would a permanent darkroom space with overhead chemical storage and print-viewing station. Yes, a bit of $$ involved but not so bad on the second-hand market.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Does this mean that for those that strictly photograph digitally are creating something that's ephemeral and not a cherished object? If so, what does that say about analog photographers?

Does this mean that for those that strictly photograph digitally are creating something that's ephemeral and not a cherished object?
YES!

If so, what does that say about analog photographers?
We have our heads on correctly.

 

[Truzi]

I tend toward traditional B&W film, but for color I prefer modern emulsions

I understand the what the question is trying to say, but I feel it presupposes something is easier/better/whatever. There are many "modern" items which take up more of our time than the things they replaced, and this has been true throughout history.

To test the validity of the question, one can apply it to other areas that do not appear, on the surface, to be so controversial or imperative.

No one asks how my bicycle fits into my modern lifestyle. Nor do they ask the same about walking (not even the people I've met who own Segways). Certainly I can get places faster, or travel further, in a car or public transportation, but this was true before I was old enough to drive.

The same is true of using the traditional old fire (natural gas) for heating and cooking compared to electricity (at least not in the U.S.A., where gas is cheaper and more efficient). I've cooked with both gas and electric, and the old gas flame is faster.

Forced-air heating is seen by many to be more modern, whereas radiator (and liquid baseboard) heat does not dry the already dry winter air as much.

For all of the above, including photography, I don't feel it is a question of "modern lifestyle" so much as what one desires, enjoys, has time for, and/or considers important - up-front cost, efficiency, robustness, ease, quality, etc.