I’ve been drawn to abstract paintings since I was a little girl. They really seem like nothing, right? Like you could paint them yourselves? And then you try and you realize yours just looks like it was an accident and there is no real staying power for it. Or, at least, that’s what happens to me. So I marvel at the simple, yet thoughtfully colorful modernist abstracts.
Well, film has the ability to do something very similar, but with a chemical reaction from the emulsion and the light. It is imperfect. It is unpredictable. But, when it happens. It is fascinating and beautiful. Roll film (not all film is on a roll…but that is for a later post) is loaded into the camera and then the shutter is pressed and you advance the film manually and you repeat this a few times to get the film loaded on the reel in the camera. Frequently (almost always…depending on your gear), you will get pieces of the negatives at the beginning and end of a roll that have ‘recorded’ light as it entered the lens, but the camera’s counter has not reached zero, yet. It may be seen as half a frame of an image, or burned-in color or patterns. These are frequently bypassed, cut-out, thrown away. They often mean nothing. It’s a technical element. A ‘glitch’.
(and, yes, I used way too many air quotes or quotations marks or parentheses on all of that. you get it. the terms aggravate me and should definitely be redefined.)
In addition, shooting with expired film lends itself to all sorts of quirky results. With expired color film, you can expect color shifts due to the films degradation of chemical components over time. Along with that, increased grain, decreased sensitivity to light and loss of contrast are typical with both black and white and color film. It is tangible. It is imperfect. It is prone to change as time goes by.
In addition to THAT, shooting with cameras that are 40-100 years old sometimes just don’t keep operating as if they were in mint condition (ahem…I’m only a 45yr old human, but also feeling the reality of this statement.) You may have a shutter opening issue, a film advancement issue, light leaks from the film back, etc. The list goes on. Sometimes these remnants or artifacts or frame advancement issues lead to full compositions in the middle of a roll that just don’t make sense.
that being said
I’ve been sitting on a film project for awhile. Since all film negatives are currently scanned into a digital file (sigh) I have a folder on my desktop containing 23 oddly colored, oddly patterned, negative scans. I think they look like the abstract paintings I was never able to actually recreate as a child. And I love their magic. When turned vertical, some of these mimic paintings similar to the The Color Field paintings of Latvian-American painter, Mark Rothko, and some appear more like an ambiguous modernist abstract painting.
“lime and black'“ 20” x 30”
Nonetheless, I think they are a beautifully unique part of film. Something that can never be recreated, never be re-shot, never re-imagined. The are one-of-a-kind. And, I’ve decided to release some of these as a mini-series available for purchase. They are big pieces that make a statement. They are conversation starters. They are the modern flair to any home decor style.
I realize many of us don’t have gallery size walls and wallets. So, there is a budget option in a smaller size printed on light weight fine art paper. However, in my ‘professional’ opinion, I think these look best in the largest size possible. I am also dabbling with a sample on canvas. If I like those, I will add them to the print purchase options.
Check the rest of these out in the online store HERE.
“Sunrise” 18” x 24”