Detox diets and drug detox rehabilitation appears to be a growing part of the society we live in, I wonder how many street photographers might benefit from a digital detox ? Could a short session of digital free photography help togs move away from pixel peeping and help them see the bigger picture ?.
Let me make it clear that I come from a pre-digital photography time which probably makes me a dinosaur in the eyes of many reading this ! I don't want to turn this into the old film versus digital debate because that debate is as tired as my old Yashica-Mat , what I am hoping to highlight here are the creative opportunities that film cameras offer over the strict digital workflows that we all follow slavishly in order to achieve images that appear to have the same photographic DNA.
Set yourself free and escape your comfort zone every now and then, my guilty secret is the 120 Holga I carry around and even use when I discover what I think is a Holga-listic moment, these moments are much more pre-visualised and planned than my more spontaneous street style and to be honest is far removed from the Lomo ethos of shooting from the hip, in fact the attraction of plastic cameras to me is that the thought process is completely different from our auto-everything digital everyday street capture's. I have learned to embrace the flaws of my "plastic" workflow and enjoy the "dream-like" (soft) look of the work that seems to have a more fine art photography feel.
If you have started the year a little more sluggish than you would have liked and are finding it hard to find the mojo needed to get your photography moving, dig out an old film camera and have some fun !
I wonder if I can persuade those brave souls who are prepared to give up digital now and then to try lens-less photography . Pinhole photography is the most extreme digital detox I am aware of but it should be approached with caution as this level of serendipitous photography is truly addictive
World Pinhole Day takes place on Sunday the 26th of April this year and might be a good time to give up mega bites .and lenses for a day.
I have enclosed a picture of my "Geordie Leica" below, the tape and over spray are all part of the refinements !
Keep it real !
