>>3546780I do it because it's something that doesn't have to be 'right'.
I work in engineering which means that, when I fuck up, there's a potential for bad things to happen. From, Sorry about your tank, to sorry about your house, to sorry about you missus level bad.
It's enough to build a really shitty fear of failure. Especially when you were brought up as one of those 'smart' kids that does all the extra classes and cruises through school and college without ever being challenge.
Failing is hard.
Even risking failure is now hard. Okay, so I'm a defective adult. At least we know.
One of the reasons I shoot on film - almost exclusively - is that it forces you to risk and accept failure. There is no delete, or undo - push the shutter button and the picture is more or less done. (Leaving the darkroom out). I've known I've blown shots I risked and I've attempted shots I expected wouldn't come off and nailed them. More than that - it's about confronting the possibility of failure and just missing the shot or blowing it.
But most of all, it's a chance to get out and walking and looking and talking with people which is also important.
Most of my actual 'photographs' are fairly tepid - at best. Some of my favourites are on slide film - because they really were a challenge to get right and there's a certain mystique to slide exposure. My last roll of Ektachrome was a bit underexposed making for a dull ground but a stunning dramatic sky - for winter photographs I guess it suits.
The result is always exciting and - aside from one mechanical malfunction - I've had remarkably few utter fuckups.
< Hugo awards this year. Taken with an F-1,. FD 135 F 2.5. Almost certainly shot at F4, 1/125S and ISO3200 Delta.
