Welcome to two brand new film photography Facebook groups designed to create a space for long-form discussion between the EMULSIVE community, as well as fulfilling the idea of a trading platform, which was floated by members of the community in 2016.

The two groups existing in addition to this website, and the EMULSIVE communities/presence on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit and a whole bunch of other places regular readers are most likely not familiar with (shame on you!)

In a bit more detail, the groups are:

 

Film Photography Chat (LINK)

An extension of the EMULSIVE Facebook page and Twitter communities; and intended as a space for everyone who currently shoots or has an interest in film and other forms of analog photography. The group’s purpose is to allow members to post their own photographic work, that of others (with appropriate credit), as well as links to articles they feel would be of interest to the community here, with a view to creating discussion around them.

Join here: www.facebook.com/groups/filmphotochat

Film Photography Marketplace (LINK)

This is a buy/sell/trade group where members can create listings for any kind of film/analog camera gear and film, or other items such as prints and ‘zines. Formerly known as Camera Detox, the group has a very strict set of guidelines and we hope that these, plus active moderation, will help to create a space our members can trust and use without worry that their transactions will go awry.

Join here: www.facebook.com/groups/filmphotomarketplace

 

I understand that some of you reading this might be wondering why Facebook, so let’s get to that first…

 

 

Why Facebook Groups?

The short version is that (hopefully) like Twitter, we don’t have to worry about the platform disappearing. There are existing services out there that could loosely fit the bill but I think we can all agree that Facebook is likely to remain a fixture for the foreseeable future.

The long version goes a little something like this…

An idea for an EMULSIVE buy/sell/trade platform called “Camera Detox” came about last year as a result of various discussions on Twitter and Twitter DM. I went as far as to build out some functionality on EMULSIVE.org for it but was stopped development relatively early on as it simply wasn’t good enough and wasn’t going to be unless I could scrabble together the resources to scale up and out. In addition, the headaches of user management, security considerations and everything that comes with it, forced my to put the idea on hold until I could find something more suitable to build out from.

I looked into other standalone platforms (communications services, forum software and the like), but again, they required a relatively large time cost to set-up and still left me with user management and security headaches.

In recent weeks I ended up deciding on Facebook. You may say it was a bit of a tough choice. You see, on a very personal level, I’m not a huge fan of what the platform can bring with it and rarely use it myself with the exception of Groups and Messenger.

Ultimately the choice – or eventual acceptance – of Facebook boiled down to two main factors:

First, nothing beats it functionality-wise. I’m a member of several special interest Facebook groups – film photography, urban exploration, etc., and in all honesty, they’re great places to learn, understand and converse (in long form) with people who are there because they share the same interests. They are a world away from personal newsfeeds filled with content from people you probably don’t have much in common with.

Second, high quality (participation/discussion/trade) communities can be built. This is largely dependant on how the community comes into being and the people driving it.

 

 

Closed communities

Both Camera Detox and Film Photography Chat will remain closed communities, with a small group of moderators managing member acceptance. The idea is simple; we’re not interested in creating huge, faceless groups where members fend for themselves. Each group is governed by a strict set of guidelines that dictate method and standards for posts, content and the way that members conduct themselves.

They may seem onerous or over the top but they are the standards that have been set.

The flip side of this is that members will be able create and join discussion with like-minded members – most likely those they’re already used to conversing with over on the wonderful Twitter film photography community.

 

 

Thanks and next steps

I can’t say anything more without acknowledging and thanking Dave Young, Dustin Vietch, James Cockroft, Jim Denham, Kilian Idsinga, Matt Parry, Richard Pickup, Rob Davie and Tom Rayfield for their input and advice in getting both of these groups up and running. A huge thanks to you all for their help and support so far; and for setting the bar so high.

To all of you reading this, I hope to see you in both groups very soon. We’re trying to build vibrant, successful communities that are based on mutual respect, knowledge transfer and helping to inform and inspire the next generation of film photographers.

To put it plainly, no drama, no bullsh*t. Just film talk and fair trading to expand the mind and photographic possibilities.

Looking forward to seeing you all there soon.

~ EMULSIVE

 

 

Share your knowledge, story or project

The transfer of knowledge across the film photography community is the heart of EMULSIVE. You can add your support by contributing your thoughts, work, experiences and ideas to inspire the hundreds of thousands of people who read these pages each month. Check out the submission guide here.

If you like what you’re reading you can also help this passion project by heading over to the EMULSIVE Patreon page and contributing as little as a dollar a month. There’s also print and apparel over at Society 6, currently showcasing over two dozen t-shirt designs and over a dozen unique photographs available for purchase.

 

 

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6 responses to “Welcome to Film Photo Chat and Camera Detox”

  1. Doh! my book of face is no more! Alas I cannot not come out to play. Some may see this as a bonus mind.

  2. you got it going, congrats!

  3. Ok. I should not have done it with my mobile. Now I am not even sure for which group I answered quest… https://t.co/IdtyxWGbFL

 

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