Film is an incredibly frustrating, but satisfying photographic medium. I first fell in love with photography using an old Minolta and then quickly got tired of dealing with the chemicals that come with film. After a long time of working with pixels, I've recently rediscovered film's magic through a small camera given to me by my grandmother and want to share some of the moments I've captured.
Posing before the 4th of July fireworks - New York, NY
One of the hardest things about film is having to choose the ISO of the film (i.e., how sensitive it is to light) and stick with it no matter the conditions. What I was shooting with above isn't made for night-time photography, but this duo was using some pretty intense lighting to shoot their fun and over-the-top photos.
A red field - Paros, Greece
1 print sold to private collector at Unicef - Next Generation's exhibition in LA
My favorite film shots are ones where the nature of the film successfully adds something to what you see. In this case it's the grain of the film that reinforces the natural chaos of the sunrise and the expansive poppy field. Every time I see this image I also get really sleepy because it took several days of waking up before the sunrise to get the shot I wanted.
Film is finicky and it expires. This particular roll was a couple of years past its prime and was stored in a room with large temperature fluctuations. This made the images look like they could be from the beginning of the 20th Century and are truly unique since I can't recreate the roll.
Climate March - Washington DC
There's a reason Instagram filters that were meant to make images look like they were shot on film became so popular. Film's colors create a cozy, familiar aesthetic that so many people love, including myself.
Landscape photography with 35mm film is a bit counter-intuitive since digital has advanced so much and larger format films do a much better job, but I still think there's something pretty about its imperfection.
Window Composite - Paros, Greece
Unrelated to film specifically, sometimes images are best when part of a composite or series. This is a window at the house of one of my favorite artists, Alice Meyer Wallace. Some of her best paintings have been created by looking through that window and I was hoping to capture some of that inspiration.
These particular photos of Paros were taken with an old Minolta camera of my mother's, who had likely also taken similar shots when she first moved to Greece. Using her camera and seeing the images come out like they were shot a couple of decades ago felt a little like I was seeing Greece through her eyes.
Sunrise - Kirkland, WA
Finally, a sunrise shot with a couple of ducks that were annoyed at my being there! All the images in this post are available in limited edition print runs (only 5 of each), so get in touch if you're interested in buying for the holidays (stefanos@metaxasphotography.com). Thank you for reading and letting me share these moments on film with you.