Day 12: On Top of the World With 25 Year Old Film
Day 12: January 12, 2014: Twin Peaks
Hello! I’m back with some interestingness today. My friend Lorrayne gave me some strange old (real old) 12 shot expired film found in the back of her parents’ closet. This particular one was a Fotomat branded 100 ISO color film that happened to expire in 1990. Now, I don’t really have a clue how far out they set those expiration dates back in the day, but I figure it has to be at least 25+ years old. I overexposed it by one stop, because the Googles told me to, and I’m quite pleased with the results. Obviously, there’s some funkiness there, but what can you expect? Seriously, this film has been sitting on a shelf since the days of Hammer pants and Twin Peaks, and has likely been there longer than the Hubble Space Telescope has been in space. Think about that for a second. Crazy, huh?
Who would have guessed back in 1990 that this simple little roll of film would be used to capture a scene of the future 25 years later? Yet, here I am now, using a little piece of history to capture the present. It kind of blows my mind to see my world appear on this little strip of material from so long ago. As I try to wrap this up so I can get to bed, I’m left thinking about the world of photography past, wondering if our present is anything like any future that could have been imagined in those ubiquitous developing shops that are now long gone. I suppose nostalgia would be the right word, but having never really used film outside of the cheap point and shoot cameras I had as a child, can I feel nostalgia for something I was never really a part of? Maybe it’s more of just a connection with the past that I’m feeling. It’s something, though. Something I’ve never felt from digital. Will my digital SLR today still be taking photos as we approach 2040? I doubt it, but what do I know?
Honestly, 95% of the time, I could personally get a better image with a modern digital camera than I can with any of my film. I certainly have no plans to ditch the digital, but the film has it’s own unique energy. There’s something special there. Something tangible that I’m having a blast exploring.
I have a lot of film scanned now, and some fun stuff coming up. Stay tuned!
🙂
