I have recently fallen in love with instant film cameras
I now have a couple. They are fairly inexpensive to accumulate being plastic and cheaply made but the magic of watching the photo pop out gets me every time
I’m still learning my way around their idiosyncrasies and not every shot turns out, but every shot charms me
Because it is a reflection of the moment
Captured and held in my fingers
I have quite a few great cameras as I’ve been a photography buff for years but this week-end I’ll be taking a bag full of plastic and cheap and quirky lenses (I also use lensbaby lenses on my Canon SLRs) to various Easter events – just to see what I can capture
Using these cameras means I’m present and what’s more the present doesn’t disappear
Or get left behind in my space junk phone layered into the past by another photo and another photo and another …
Instead I take my still developing print and slide it in my pocket
A surprise to come
And later over a cuppa I gaze in delight at the morning that was
It’s beautiful
Try it
The cameras I’m using at the moment are Fuji film Instax 11 and SQ6 – pick them up on Amazon along with a pack or two of the right film and you’re off and snapping – I’ll do another post on where and how I use the photos that I take over the week-end
Cheers to a long and hopefully safe and happy week-end x
Our phone cameras have become so very good and the images so very easy to edit that part of the beauty in these little instant snaps is that I can’t “fix” anything, I just have to accept it the way it is
I also find it disturbing how realistic the photos and videos have become – it’s like the lines between the virtual world where we post these mediums is blurring
Is that a weird thought? That I prefer photos that look like photos? Probably – a bit of an unexplored metaphor there somewhere I’m sure 🤔
Not being able to make the moment even more perfect and throw another piece of energy to my online avatar is very relaxing and charming
It’s like “no the real Kate took this photo online Kate and it is very clearly a really real thing not another experience that you can take as your own”
Is that understandable? Well I get it anyway. Our online avatars have got whole lives they lead and they will live for far longer than us in the charming little worlds where nothing ever goes wrong.
Wonky dreamy photos are so very untamed and real. Finite in their inks that will one day cease to exist unlike the indelible ink of the internet …
Fact – you can get digital cross instant cameras now – so that you can fix before you print and I deliberately avoided that option
Anyway, enough rambling on – the moment is full of possibility and pictures to take – enjoy your day x
