Film Portraits

There is a reason why people like to use filters on Instagram; they are seeking to recreate the genuine, intimate feel of film. Digital tools cannot recreate the grain, the color blending, or the color blending of film. Each film photograph is truly a unique object. 

Philosophically, I appreciate that a film negative preserves a material connection to its subject. Light from the sun reflects off the subject into the camera, physically altering the film, then, if you choose to actually develop the photograph, light is shined through the negative onto photographic paper. This process—from the sun to the subject to the film—creates a kind of fossil that preserves a physical relationship to the subject. In this way, a film photograph actually captures the subject, whereas a digital photograph transforms light into a code that a processor then interprets as an image. 

If you want to hold on to a physical connection to something, film photography is for you.