Analogue Beginnings: 36 expensive slides…

“Whilst times change, and we change with the times” is mostly true, I find that I am photographically and compositionally still as weird today as I was at the beginning.

I wanted to share some very old slides that really constitute probably one of the first few rolls of film that I consider to be reasonable.  Shot on Kodak slide film with the Mamiya 1000DSX with the Mamiya 28mm, 55mm and 105mm lenses.

I never formally learnt photography in a compositional sense, my father took me through the principles and the technical aspects. Compositionally I was always immersed in the images that he produced and I guess that over time his personal touch, combined with my inherent eye on the world resulted in my way. But how it happens to any of us is hard to say.

I could not afford the cost of film to just randomly shoot what took my fancy.  I wanted to make each picture mean something.  Something from both a subject matter and an artistic perspective. Digital has changed that. The ability to take chances, have a go and wing it and see are now affordable.

I think upon reflection, that the composition rules, are somehow inherent, as I did not consciously learn any. Whilst at the same time breaking them can be interesting, albeit in my case by accident rather than design.

Most people going on holiday will photograph the landscapes, the buildings or the people. I photographed mushrooms, doors and donkeys. Go figure!

This holiday with my family was really one of the first times that I engaged with photography.  France has more to offer than the images I walked away with. I was too busy working with aperture, shutter speed, centre weighted, spot metering and depth of field preview to care much.

It strikes me that these images in colour and capture are similar to the Canon 5d classic (mark 1) images that I have seen on the web.

Going back over old photographs gives a basis on which I can see where I began, in technique and composition, what I have retained and what I have exchanged along the way.

It could be that a personal private journey down memory lane may be helpful to others too!

Alex.,

All images are unedited and uncropped as usual. Spots on the Donkey slide are from the scan process years later.