The meme above depicts my reality as a film camera owner. One of the most common questions I get asked from people is why I chose to shoot film over digital. People don’t understand why I don’t just use my phone’s camera or digital camera. They don’t understand why I would want to pay more for grainy pictures or why I would choose to wait for days before receiving my printed photos. Here are three reasons explaining why I do what I do:
#1:My film camera taught me patience
My film rolls can usually take up to 25 photos which means I have 25 chances to capture beautiful memories. Once I hand over my film rolls to the store to get printed I usually need to wait a couple of days before they are ready to be picked up. This process takes a tremendous amount of patience from my side. Sometimes I need to wait for weeks and weeks before seeing my photos because I haven’t yet completed my film roll. If you know me, you know that I’m a very impatient person and prefer instant results. I believe that the most fruitful part is waiting for the imperfect images I receive because it teaches me patience more than anything else. I never thought a film camera could teach me to appreciate the beauty of patience yet here I am.
#2: Family heirloom
I use the canon sure shot film camera to take all my photos. It was passed down to my mom from my grandma and then came to me. All of my childhood photos were taken on it. My grandma first purchased it in the early 2000s and gifted it to my mother. My mom considered the canon sure shot 76mm to be a luxury item and always took great care of it. So, a few years ago when my mom gifted it to me on my birthday I knew that I needed to continue capturing moments on it.
#3: Embracing the imperfections
I love that I only have one chance to get the ‘perfect’ photo and whether or not it turns out how I wanted it to be, it is still always perfect. This may sound cheesy but the imperfections of each photo make it the perfect photo. Each photo triggers an idea, an emotion or a view that differs from person to person. I honestly believe that taking film photos is more than just capturing moments, it’s an art.
