Imitation...

"Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide." - Marva Collins

Ok blip land, let's chat. It's not fully known out there, but I am an avid filmmaker and photographer. Who shoots mostly on film. 35mm, 16mm, 120mm, super 8...I love film. I love to feel it in my hands when I load and unload a camera, whether it's a plastic toy camera, a Russian dead stock, a polaroid...whatever it is, I love it. I have only got a few blips here that are on polaroid or film mainly due to the date issue, takes forever for them to clear it so i stick to my DSLR. Anyway, point is, I love film, I know film and I believe every photographer should learn how to use a manual film camera, it makes for the best training, teaching you to really think about the composition because you only have that one shot to maybe get it right. ;)

So this photo. SIGH. I would normally achieve something like this with a Holga or a Diana, with some low ISO film, maybe a filter and a colour flash, keeping the back of the camera untaped to allow minimal light leaks (or shaking the film while it's loose in my hands before development). It's an awesome process and a romanticism is established with the handling of the film and the fact that you have to wait to see the final product. Alas, a dear friend of mine gave me this "Hipstamatic" application for my itouch, to try out and see if I would like to enter their online competition. I hated it from GO. It imitates it well but it's instant. And digital. And fake. And it hurts my feelings. And my problem is that people think they've become artistic due to an app on an iPhone or iPod, true talent's becoming obsolete and the creative process extinct. People don't even know the origins of where their technology came from, it's so... simple & taken for granted. Don't get me wrong, digital's easy, convenient, affordable, manageable...but in the end, all you have are numbers, code, data...no grain, negative or emulsion which will last a lifetime if you care for it right. There's no true physical product. Sigh...

I don't know...maybe I'm on a rant. I might get my butt kicked by digital lovers for this but hey, it's truth, there's the pic, here are my thoughts... Let's chat.