Project Film — Jan 1/12
First month of the year. New year and a month in.
One month into the project, one month into the year, one month into the decade. This month has passed by in a blink of an eye, with a new year rolling in bringing about so much already, coming up with goals for the new year, using hangouts with people as photo opportunities, and Coronavirus hitting town.
To sum up, this month has simply just been experimenting and getting comfortable with the process of shooting film. I would take super long to ensure that I nail focus, only to find out after developing my film that those shots that I took longest to get focus are out of focus. And at the end of the month, I thought my black and white film is jammed inside the camera but foolishly opened the camera back only to have forgotten to rewind the film and lost many great shots to severe light leaks. But beyond the unfortunate and noobish mistakes, I carried my camera with me whenever I am out and about and began to treasure every moment and how they can be captured and conveyed in a 35mm frame. I see people and friends in a new light, wishing to capture their individuality and expressions in the moment. I see seemingly random scenes around me as stories waiting to be unlocked. All in all, this month of experimenting has been fun and I wish to learn from my mistakes and make the tools second nature so I can be focused on capturing the moment and person and moment in front of the lens.
New Year
During the new year holidays, I walked and strolled around Tsim Tsa Tsui promenade with friends, explored Sai Wan swimming shed on the Hong Kong island, and welcomed in the new year by Victoria Harbor on the Central side.
Sai Wan Swimming Shed
I also explored the swimming shed at Sai Wan with Alvin. The swimming shed is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong island where a jetty walkway extends into the sea. Turns out this is a hotspot for basic photos of couples or middle age aunties for their Instagram game. You’d need to line up to pose and take a couple of photos on the walkway. Also, as I was researching this location, it seems like this is one of a few public swimming sheds remaining in Hong Kong.
Hangouts and Friends
The holidays and Chinese New Year provided various opportunities to take portraits of friends and random moments.
Random Shots
Random shots around Hong Kong.
Technical Stuff
Shot 3 rolls this month. The first roll is a Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400 shot during New Year’s Eve and New Year. Second roll is a film with really nice color and grain structure called the Kodak Portra 400. And last roll is a black and white film called Ilford HP5 Plus 400.
This is part of a series called Project Film, my journey 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.
Read why I started Project Film https://medium.com/@thebowenchin/project-film-2020-ed131ed90ec1?source=friends_link&sk=f0907d537d971ef261cca999c447a8c8
