The Surfer's Path
I had a little conversation with myself last week about speaking my mind, so in the spirit of that, I am going to say I sure wish I had a bit more direction in what to submit for the writing part of it! I sent in my standard ho-hum artist statement (which I have taken off my website for revision, on no account of this article) but something about why I still shoot film would have been much more appropriate. Let me take this opportunity to shed some light on this.
The process of shooting film is slow and contemplative, especially when you're shooting medium-format and larger films. It's almost like a dance between me and my subject to get everything just-so within the frame, knowing that each fire of my shutter counts (and costs moola). Especially shooting people - I have to be fairly certain of what I want. Slowing down and being thoughtful with my camera brings out a feeling of clarity and helps keep me in the present moment. Funny, because being clear and present is one of the things I love about surfing too!
I also shoot film because I like it's aesthetic qualities. The images seem more vivid, tactile and closer to my memory of making them. It could be that my digital camera is sub-par, or that my memory carries a romantic perma-haze around it, but either way, the film resonates with me and my reasons for picture making more than digital ever has. The anticipation of getting film back is pretty cool too.
I'd like to take this opportunity to invite Hasselblad to give me a complimentary digital back for my camera...I'd be glad to put it to the test and see if it is indeed my memory or my current digital gear :)
There are at least a dozen more reasons I love film, but I don't want to blather on too much. I'm still scanning in all the Europics (ok, one thing I don't love about film) and will post when I have time for some clean up on the scans.
I've been overwhelmed with responses to people who want to partake in Sirens, so more work on the way for that too!
Be well,
Liz
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