Bronica

The Bronica S2 is the first real film camera that I’ve had. It’s a fully manual square format camera from the 1960s.

I love that it slows me down and makes me think more about what I’m about to shoot, a habit that has since crossed back over into my digital photography. I am still more likely to be seen with this in hand than a digital camera, unless travelling.

I love shooting harsh scenes in a tenebrism style using a high ISO colour stock when the weather allows. Sadly last summer did not really allow for much of this, as it was very much a summer of rain, so expect to see more chiaroscuro and harsh shadows if the weather this year is better!

Mint RF70

I bought this camera to have a physical print of my photos in my hand, and this is something that I’ve relished. The camera doesn’t have any digital sensor or storage, it uses instax but purely as a film stock, meaning I can’t make reprints of the same image. This camera predated my Bronica, but was a gateway drug, so to speak, into the world of film.

Whilst I don’t carry it with me as much as I used to, you can see how the tenebrism style runs through a lot of these images. Helped rather than hindered by the lack of dynamic range of the stock.