In this photo Natalie looks pretty and I look sleepy. We only took two photos, this was the better one. With a digital camera we might have taken a shot, looked at it, deleted it and repeated the process a few times, getting more and more frustrated that we didn't look good enough in each photo. But there were only a few frames left on that roll, so we only used two. This is the second shot, it's partially exposed, it's full of dust spots and not well composed, but it's good enough. And good enough is something to be proud of.
A photo is only an impartial as the photographer who took it, and by shooting one thing, you are by definition not shooting something else. I don't mean to argue that film is more "real" or "authentic" then digital, but I do think that film tends to be less edited. Editing is important in that when done properly it tells a concise and meaningful story. But it's important to be careful what one is editing out. By erasing the photos that contain imperfection, history is being altered.
I tell little stories with my photos. The small stories are about events or places or people. I'm also telling a big story with my photos. I'm telling the story of my experiences and my life. I think it's important to tell that story as truthfully as possible. My lack of perfection be dammed.
In an endless march towards perfection, amid landscapes that have been idealized beyond worldly recognition and women so beautiful that they don't actually exist, film, at least for me, can represent freedom from the Photo-shopped, retouched, hyper-real ecstasy that seems to be the de facto marching order for photographers these days.
Wind, aim and shoot. It either works or it doesn't. Either way, it's alright.
I guess it's kind of obvious, but it seems that the closer we get to achieving perfection the more we miss the point.
This isn't a call to burn your TV's and cancel your Vouge subscription. Do those things if you're moved to, but don't tell them I sent you. I'm just trying to say that a proper balance is needed. The advancement of technology brings things that are truly great, but there is always a trade off and it's important to know what that trade off is.
Life isn't perfect. Neither am I. Neither are you.
And that's OK.
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