Guess what? I have started my journey to become a "real" photographer. Dipped my toe in the film world, and now I am struggling.
Yes, I did grow up in the 90s, when digital started to exist. But my life story started in a third world country, so anything not necessary was considered a luxury. My parents had a point-and-shoot Minolta and of course, you weren't allowed to touch it, or else you'd get a beating for wasting a frame. My dad took a lot of 90s photos and kept them in photo albums where my siblings and I could browse.
Fast forward to the present, and all of a sudden photography has become nostalgic to me. So I started learning through YouTube University. I've been continuously learning and shooting digital for four years now, and I still have this question: am I going to be a "real" photographer if I don't shoot film?
Intrusive thoughts kicked in, and I picked up a Minolta X-700 and a very cheap Minolta XD-11. Shot a few horrible rolls. Brought them on our trip to the Philippines and Japan and boy, does it get any harder than film? Good thing I brought my Fujifilm too, or else we'd have had a trip and no flexes for IG. Fool that I am, I then picked up a Nikon FM2, thinking this would be it, the tool that would finally make me a "real" photographer. (At least I can't afford an M6, which is why I may sound like I didn't listen to the voices on the internet telling me an M6 is what would make me the "real" photographer I'm supposed to be.)
Some would say film slows you down, that it teaches you self-discipline. Yes, I agree! Now that I'm still learning, I'm as slow as a sloth crossing the road. But I've also never been more disciplined than I am now, learning film. Wouldn't you be? A frame of Kodak Gold costs you 50 cents CAD. We won't even mention Portra 400, I'm disciplined enough not to jump to that level of "realness" yet.
So yes, I’m hopeful this journey will somehow make me a “real” photographer. Real photographers shoot film, or so the reel says. I’ll let Instagram be the judge of that.
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