One of the things I’m finding really sad about film lately is that it’s not so much a niche associated with charm and nostalgia, but rather a niche associated with a prestige hobby that few can afford. As much as I love film, it’s so hard these days to try to justify the expense. I went on a two-week vacation, and between film and developing it was somewhere around $400 for the trip. There’s a guy around the corner from me with a shop charging $30 for one roll of Ektar 100 or Kodak Gold 200 or any of the high-end films like that. I know it’s possible to get it cheaper, but Madon’!

Also, and it’s probably not worth arguing about, but I don’t think it’s the digital photographers who are shooting on real cameras (not phones) that are increasing server space as much as it is the instagram/tik tok/etc folks who post content that could have just as easily been texted or emailed to five of their friends. I mean, is it even worth mentioning the amount of server space photographers use? Besides, most of us who shoot film end up scanning negatives these days, anyway. It’s hard to make an argument in favor of the environmental impact of film given the petroleum and chemicals we use vs server space. Like… really difficult.

That said, I really enjoyed reading his thoughts on film photography. Well presented, great quotes to drive home the point, and he’s obviously really passionate about art. You can’t help but love that.