I was reflecting the other day that I've been in and out of FW since 2013 but never introduced myself at the beginning, so I'm doing this now before it reaches 10 years!
As a child of 1964 I recall my folks taking one or two films on holiday on the easy to insert 126 format, later a 110, and then a point and shoot camera taking 135 during my teens. I managed to "borrow" a friend's Pentax ME Super during my undergraduate degree, and though film was regarded as expensive, I used one of the mail-in companies that returned a free film for every roll you sent in. I bought my own first SLR (a second hand ME Super) in 1990, but didn't start shooting film with gusto until about 2009.
I re-learned the joy by shooting lots and regularly, mainly using cheap expired film, before the prices started to get a bit excessive. I've had a career of working in secure mental health services, and I think that's helped me value solitude and the process and rewards of visual creation. I'm now semi-retired and have a lot more time, film, and cameras, and I finally started developing film only this February. And I love it! And there's still so much more I want to explore: developing in E6 and C41, learning to use that MPP 5x4 camera I bought 10 years ago while it was going cheap, using the 2 pin-hole cameras I made back in January, shooting more of those rolls of film that expired in 1964 now I know better how to expose and develop them, learning how to scan film better, and using that enlarger I was gifted...it just goes on
Your collective wisdom, fun, and tolerance are wonderful to be a part of, so thank you!
My image was made by Laura Peters, using the wet plate collodion process on tin at the Phoenix Festival, Llanfyllin in Wales in August 2018.
Andy
