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| The Three Musketeers |
It was a great experiment in summer 2018, shooting film as a way to
limit living a digital life and to get back to my photographic roots. Starting as a boy, and then later at a professional, I developed and printed hundreds of rolls film by hand.
I used these three cameras. On top, my first Nikon, from the 1970s, a Nikomat (aka Nikkormat), purchased for me by my uncle in Hong Kong. It had a roll of film in it that I started shooting in 2011. I obtained a new battery for the light meter, but did not know if it would work.
In the middle is a medium format Holga. I bought it used for $10 at the In-Sight Photography project in Brattleboro, VT. I had no idea if it was functional.
At the bottom is a Diana Mini. The complex and creative film photographer
Beth Maciorowski spoke to my
photography students and suggested they use this camera for their nascent film explorations.
Beth also explained how to create multiple exposures and incremental, overlapping panoramic images. Thank you Beth for the inspiration.
I shot six rolls of film before sending them off for processing. Bye-bye instant digital gratification. The anticipation built as I waited to see the scanned film.
I cannot fully describe the thrill of seeing the scans of my film images. On one hand, I see them as rough, imperfect and bursting with soul. They disrupt clinical digital perfection.
I vacillate though, wondering if I am making romantic excuses for sometimes messy, unsharp and grainy images.
Click on images to enlarge them.
For additional film explorations, I invite you to also visit
Part 1: Shooting Film After All These Years - Process
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| Holga - East and West |
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Holga - From Concord to Rowe to Pittsfield, MA
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| Diana Mini - Boston Harbor |
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| Diana Mini - Walden Pond |
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| Diana Mini - Gettysburg |
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| Holga - Empire State Building |
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| Diana Mini - Long Point Light |
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| Nikomat - Labor Rally, Greenfield, MA 2011 |
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| Nikomat - Self-Portrait, Same Roll of Film as Labor Rally, 2018 |
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| Nikomat - Shutter Click Heard 'Round the World |
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| Nikomat - Dam |
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| Nikomat - Black and White Sails |
Professor John Nordell teaches courses in the Visual and Digital Arts Program at American International College in Springfield, Mass. He blogs about the creative process at CreateLookEnjoy.com
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