Nostalgia for light

As technology gets better, it makes it so easy to shoot it eventually becomes effortless. Does this free your mind for creative ideas, or does it lose the challenge of photography to lack respect for getting a good photo.

When I starting out, low light was so difficult it could barely be achieved for events like music. With generations of DSLR’s, iso performance became so good, it breathed new life into my photography. No longer was tech a limitation. Fast forward to 2022, we complain about the accuracy of eye autofocus. Is tech still limiting our creativity and photography achievements?

In event photography with no time, space and low light, tech makes life easier and I can get good results now (low light is still tricky) When your income depends on getting results, being more arty goes out the window for simply capturing the scene. The clients don’t care about extreme DOF or bokeh as long as there is some pop to the photos and the moment is captured. Content is king. We are the ones caring about the intricacies of photography. Trying to be artists for ourselves and other photographers. Which is a valid approach but in what way does our fulfilment land. Whenever you turn a hobby or art into a business, it going to take something artistically fulfilling as well.

With lens sharpness so good we have to pixel peep at 200% to find differences, we forgot to really think why we need it. Older film lenses and even DSLR ones where sometimes so soft wide open it was a limitation but that’s long gone. Maybe we still have that old notion in us to get sharper. But if sharpness and low light aren’t issues anymore. Does this make us question the art of photography which we really never had a chance to before.  Older lenses are becoming popular again as they often have character and warmth despite their flaws. This is a reaction against the cool clinical ultra sharpness they have not achieved with modern glass. But that’s what we always wanted so can’t blame the makers. Are we actually involved in photography anymore, or is it just tech taking and creating things for us.

As with all new tech as it gets better, the nostalgia for old tech becomes popular again. I taken this photo at a wedding after I taken my photos of the bride and groom signing the registrar. The young girl was amazing as she shadowed me the whole day with her polaroid. Instant results, sure often over or under exposed but the photos got a lot of awws. The younger man in the photo looks like he’s using a 35mm film camera. then Camera phones for the other two. Interesting how they aren’t using digital cameras but prefer analog. Just like vinyl in music is having a new birth. So film photography is on the rise with young people, even though it's still quite expensive. Hopefully it’ll get cheaper with popularity. Film shooting is tricky, limiting directly opposed to new cameras with almost unlimited retakes and corrections. Film is what it is. No retakes or corrections and their lies the new old pleasure. I admit my editing preset is based on a retro look as was the very creation of instagram which turned digital pics into something like film types. I sometimes, rarely print out my work, its great and tangible. Then try to sell it, which is tough in an oversaturated image world. So the photobook goes on the shelf forgotten.

Does this mean I should stop chasing and spending big money on new tech and go retro? Taking a wedding with a film camera would surely give me a heart attack, too many mistakes could happen! But what a sales pitch it would be - retro photographer. I keep spending more and trying new lenses to feel fulfilled. But it only lasts so long until I get something else. Tech is fun and reliable, but retro is cooler. 

Art is doubt. All artists are riddled with it even the most egotistical ones. This also makes us push for more in originality and personal style. I used to think better technology would free me to think more creatively but now i’m not so sure. I’m always interested to see film photography albums where as digital has to be really impressive to get our attention. Maybe the art is the process too.

Sometimes it's nice to grab a flawed little camera or big old nearly broken one and see what you can do. For the fun and challenge of it, to get back to basics and fundamentals of photography as an art. Or instead of using three cameras and multiple lenses, pick one and push it, see what you can do. Let your emotion, feelings and experience of life project into the vision of the camera and make that photo personal.  Maybe a retro looking camera with modern tech is the future to appease both sides. This does exist in forms such as the Nikon ZFC. But not fully there yet with full frame.

Challenge yourself to go into any room or area. Stay there until you can get a photo you are happy with. The idea is to make art from anything to really stretch that muscle we seldom use. Photography nostalgia for me is the idea of always having your camera with you, always being the artist, chasing the light and magic where it collides with dark.