When I heard about the washi film project, I was immediately hooked on the idea. Using stuff for other things than it was made for just sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?
Washi Z was used for aerial vegetation mapping which is why it is near-infrared sensitive (up to 750nm). When I bought it, a preloaded disposable camera was cheaper than getting a roll of film, which influenced my decision by quite a lot. On the plus side, I can assure you that all pictures are shot with the exact same settings.
…unfortunately, I have no idea which ones. But just as with any given disposable camera, it’s gotta be something reasonable for daylight photography.
The first three frames were shot on the coast of the Baltic Sea very early in 2018. The last two frames are from a place you wouldn’t know in mid-Germany, somewhere around March. I developed the negatives in Kodak D-76 stock for 10 mins and feel like I should’ve given them a little bit more time, but now I’m left with this very dark look which I absolutely love.
The plastic lens is even supporting that look with this insane blur you can see in every frame. I believe that this blur is something that has a lot of artistic potential like in the very last frame. For me, as someone that usually shoots on an SLR this is something I didn’t take into account and that caught me by surprise. I actually got one of my fingers in the frame quite a lot since I’m just not used to the idea that what I see is not exactly what I shoot 😉
So overall I think this has been a neat little disposable project. It showed me what is possible if I reduce the thinking, calculating and guessing I do before a lot of my shots to a minimum and just press the clicky thing whenever I feel like it.
I hope to have given you an idea of what exactly Washi Z feels and looks like.
Cheers for reading and definitely share any thoughts you may have on this!
~ Jonathan
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