If you are reading this article, you are a keen film photographer and have most likely experienced the joys of film photography across a range of film types, such as monochrome or colour negatives and colour transparencies. But black and white “slides”? Whoever heard of that? Go back 55 years to the time when I […]
Author Archives: Stephen Riley
I grew up in the film era. My family had a 127-format camera (a Benicini comet) which I took over and learnt the basics of exposure by trial and error.
I studied Biochemistry in Uni and worked for many years in Clinical Chemistry often using and adapting film like techniques (thin layers of chemical “soup” adhered to a flexible base) to analyse biomarkers. During this period, I began an obsessive relationship with photography, starting with Kodachrome transparencies and the brilliant Cibachrome printing system. However, this system was expensive, so I turned to black and white photography, doing everything from film exposure to developing to enlarging - from 35mm to large format.
I am very interested in the different qualities that films have both inherently and enhanced by a specific developer. Composition is another key factor – due to time spent in Asia I have been influenced by classic Chinese and Japanese print artists (eg Hiroshige). But I am not a complete luddite – I am currently exploring digital negatives for traditional processes such as Cyanotypes!
