Photo by Pour The Rain on Instagram
In the olden days, photography wasn’t very popular among the community. People went about their days, not knowing about the joy of capturing images, until the first Kodak camera was launched in 1888; which became the birth of film photography.
As years passed, the invention of the camera became an international craze. Stores had to replenish the shelves frequently, as customers flooded through the door, looking to acquire a camera for themselves. With that came the start of Snapshot Photography, with the usage of Kodak cameras filled with a 100-gauge film roll.
Fast forward to today’s era where everything is modernized and society as a whole has adapted to the digital age: Film photography has become hardly present in the industry, as digital cameras became the booming sensation in the public’s eye. The creation of the first digital compact camera in 1988 transitioned the industry into something unexpected… something new. Today, Film photography no longer received the same buzz that it did a century ago. Digital photography was now the hottest new trend, as Film photography slowly became a forgotten art.
Despite this widespread change in the Photography industry, a young amateur photographer steps into the scene, with an unrecognizable alias; “Pour the Rain”. Looking through a different perspective, ‘Pour the Rain’ a.k.a. PTR, found herself unable to fully connect with digital photography. She always felt like something was missing.
Having started photography in 2016, PTR was inspired by two renowned female film photographers; Vivian Maier and Donna Ferrato. These women impacted the way she viewed the art of Photography, opening her eyes up to its many diverse forms; rather than imprisoning herself within one mere perspective. In PTR’s eyes, photography was more than its definition, there was a connotation placed deep within this form of art. Having this realization and mindset, PTR was led to invest her heart and soul into film photography, rather than limiting herself to Photography in its mere digital form.
Photo by Pour The Rain on Instagram
In comparison with the reaction PTR had when having her hand at Digital photography, nothing could compare to her experience with Film photography. There were so many aspects that Film Photography contained that truly captivated her. For example, the nostalgic and vintage feeling of Film had a powerful influence over PTR, as it reminded her of old memories.
Despite her thoughts on launching her career solely based on Film photography, she had her doubts due to the amount of time, effort, and cost needed to process one roll of film. However, when she heard the phrase “Build to Last” from the owner of Bang Bang Geng; a film photography store in Publika, she decided that she wanted to commit to her passion of learning film photography, despite the various obstacles that stood in her way, “I didn’t understand the true meaning of the phrase until I echoed it in my head.”
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Photo by Pour The Rain on Instagram
When asked about what ignited her love for Film photography, PTR gave her comments on the different aspects of Film photography, which she felt Digital Photography lacked.
“Film photography isn’t as fast-paced as digital photography, and that’s the beauty of it. With digital cameras, the shutter count on capturing a single photo can go up to hundred thousand. This means that a person can take as many photographs of the same subject without worrying about their film running out. But by having so many copies, it may cause the photograph to lose its originality. With Film photography, the situation is completely different. When capturing photographs on a film camera, the photographer is limited to only 36 exposures per roll. Though at first this may sound like a bad thing, but it could really teach a person to slow things down and to pay more attention to the little details of their photographs.”, she advised.
That’s what really made PTR so invested in film photography. Despite digital photography being an advancement that helps a person not worry about having limited shots, film teaches the photographer to look at things that are worth capturing, because you only have so many shots to capture.
Photo by Pour The Rain on Instagram
Throughout her journey in the industry, PTR has tried to express herself in different aspects, in order to discover who she truly is, and how can she contribute to society with her photographs. With that, she realizes that photography is very obscure and subjective, “Photography is like an iceberg, most of us see what’s on the more obvious side, but the hidden messages are often overlooked and forgotten.”
All in all, PTR admits that she has learned a lot in her 4 years spent learning photography. By investing her time to learn about film photography, this eye-opening experience has helped her discover what she can set for herself in the future. To her, although the digital age is ever-evolving and taking over the photography industry, nothing beats the feeling of originality and nostalgia that comes with Film photography.
Photo by Pour The Rain on Instagram
By: Nur Adriana