Project Film 2020
Shooting 1 roll of film per month in 2020. Why? To document my life, spark creativity, and go back to basics.
Wait for a second, you might wonder. With all the digital photography tools and cameras available, such as the full-frame camera I have to the Pixel phone I carry which promise image quality with no compromises, why are you willingly choosing to take photos using the antiquated way of loading film, setting exposure, manually focusing on the subject, take the photo, wind the analog film camera, and bring it to a store to get it developed? This sounds crazy and makes no sense.
To some extent, I agree with you, partially because I decided to jump into this adventure in late December 2019 impulsively, purchased a film SLR, and set myself a goal to commit to shooting at least 1 roll of film per month. You might say it’s an impulse decision purchase, but I want to see this as an investment.
This adventure will not only force me to slow down and be very picky and cautious with the composition and subject of each individual frame that I do take — since I cannot go back to delete, undo, or adjust an image I took, but it will also help me to enjoy the process rather than chasing after perfection of an outcome or image. As a sidenote, trusting and enjoying the process is something I realized this past year.
Having taken up photography seriously during my middle school days, I have always desired to use and experience the raw process of creating and taking images using film. The way an image and color tone renders from film is just bespoke, the essence of which is something that cannot be perfectly replicated digitally. Though there are so many limitations with film photography, these limitations also serve to set free the never-ending pursuit for perfection that modern digital photography so demands.
So this is why I will embark on a journey, Project Film, to shoot at least 1 roll of film per month for the year to document my life, spark creativity, and go back to basics. I will be posting monthly and sharing my favorite and moments through images. Follow me on my Instagram account @thebowenchin to see updates and photos as well.
See January highlights: https://medium.com/@thebowenchin/project-film-jan-1-12-fd6880e689c3
