When I was little, we’re talking under the age of 10, my parents started buying disposable cameras for me when I took up an interest in photography. My dad is a hobbyist photographer, so I’ve always been around it. I have boxes and boxes of film that my mom would take to have developed for me. From a very early age she supported my love of making photos and never once complained about the ridiculous about of film I would go through, so it was no surprise to me when I told her that I wanted to quit my job to raise my children and grow my business she was just as supportive as she was when she’d spend her hard-earned money on developing another roll of film full of photos of trees and flowers.
A few years ago I was gifted a film camera as a “thank you” for mentoring a friend at work, thus reminding me how much I loved film. It’s where I started. The excitement of creating something and waiting for the result is magic. We’re so spoiled with new technology sometimes. Digital cameras can take away from the magic of creating, I believe. It’s so easy to get comfortable when we have instant gratification.
Film is so much more rewarding, I think. It forces me to be intentional with what I am making-studying the scene and my settings to make sure the image comes back to me a week later looking exactly as I imagined it would.
It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to be able to work in a darkroom completing the process of creating a photo on film. Over the last few years I have been studying and reviewing the work of some well known film photographers,Elsa Dorfman, Platon, Sally Mann, and Harry Benson to name a few, and couldn’t help but imagine how it must feel to have a hand in creating images this way. When the 304 Collective opened registration for a film developing and print making workshop, I immediately signed up. There’s something pretty rewarding about giving yourself the gift of living out a lifelong dream.
Before shooting for the course, I shot a roll of color film and sent it out to be scanned. All of the black and white images below were shot by and developed by me, and let me tell ya. Even if they’re not great photos, I still love them because I had a hand in the process.
This is Artifact Motherhood; a collaboration of artists from around the world who have come together to share our stories of the joys and struggles of our journey. Through our writings and visual records, we want to create memories that are more than photographs with dates written on the back. These are the artifacts we are leaving behind for our children and for generations to come. Please check out, Ann, the next artist in our blog circle, and continue through all the artists until you get back to me
I’ve always wanted to get into film – I too had an upbringing with old film cameras, yet have only had digital for my career. You inspire me to try it someday. Your images are simply stunning, my friend.
I’ve always wanted to develop my own film, I’ve only done it once as a teenager but have this little daydream sometimes about creating my own dark room one day. I love hearing about how supportive your parents were too.. What a lovely environment to grow up in! These are such beautiful images and the ones you developed I absolutely love can imagine how fulfilling that must feel to have them and to have wholly created them .xx
I love these photos! I love how shooting with film reconnected you with your childhood and memories of your early days with your dad watching him photograph too. That was part of my own reason for dabbling with film too a couple of years ago. I say ‘dabble’ because it was much harder than I remembered playing with my dad’s camera! Back then I was ok with taking snapshots….But, every one of these photos are beautiful and must feel special to be able to hold in your hand. The one with Piper in her white fleecy top completely took my breath away.
How exciting! There’s a part of me that would love to try film, but fear holds me back I think. These are beautiful.
These are gorgeous Lauren! I used to shoot film on my Dad’s film camera and develop the black and white film at school! I always have a roll in a cheap film camera at home, I finish a roll every few months but haven’t used it for a while, you’ve encouraged me to pick it back up! X
Good for you for making your dreams come true! The images are gorgeous and that’s super awesome that you developed some of them. I’ve always wanted to learn film so you are an inspiration!
I love all your images, there are all beautiful! I have a few rolls that I need to develop. Indeed film camera are more rewarding!
I feel like our stories are very parallel. I was gifted a film camera by my parents around the same age… give or take a few years. It was a Kodak 110 camera. I used to hang up sheets as a backdrop and try to re-create “cover girl” photos, you know the “easy breezy, beautiful cover girl” ads? Fast forward to today, I am very drawn to the medium because as a busy momma I rarely have time to edit my family photos, film feels more freeing. I’ve been looking at Nikon models for over a year but I haven’t committed. This collection of yours is so stunning! It evokes the feeling of nostalgia and timelessness. I can certainly feel the intention behind every photo.
I have always wanted to learn how to process my own film but never get the chance to do it. There’s something so special about the photos taken with a film camera and I am always delighted to see the end result of the images I have taken although it’s not perfect. All these images are beautiful especially the black and white and it’s must be so satisfying to develop it yourself!