Exploring Black & White Film Photography
By AccessArt Young Artist Alexander Mitchell,
Facilitated by Paula Briggs
AccessArt Young Artist Alexander Mitchell (aged 17) shares his exploration and love of black and white film photography. The images in this post, and in this short film below in which Alexander talks us through his process, were taken at the launch of the #BeACreativeProducer project.
“Working with Alexander to create this post, and as someone who was at the launch night, I am struck by one phrase when I look at these photographs, and that is “outward-looking”. Alexander has captured with such an eye, so many amazing “moments” of the night, and in every image I see Alexander’s ability to look “outward” to let him truly see. I can feel that he has taken time to “see” each and every image (and remember there is no digital camera to delete and try again – film is finite).
This sense of looking-outward contrasts hugely with the sense of “introspection” with which so many digital images are taken. The moment the front facing camera gave us the selfie, we turned the camera on ourselves and began to look inwards. And then our brain quickly became so wired to look inwards, that even when we are presented with images of other people we still somehow refer them back to ourselves (“they’re having a better holiday, they have a perfect family, they are better looking…”).
Alexander’s exploration of film photography using a camera NOT designed to take a selfie reminds us we can (and perhaps used to) take time to look outwards and learn to really “see”.
Thank you so much for taking the photographs and sharing your process Alexander.
See also Project 13 in which Young Artist Rowan creates portraits in contrast to the “filtered, selfie culture” ” Paula Briggs, AccessArt
Gallery: #BeACreativeProducer Launch Night, Cambridge Junction, February 2019
Taking Time Out Before the Guests Arrive
Presenting
The Screening
“Mingling”
Starting to Relax
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Rowan Briggs Smith
March 16, 2019 @ 5:46 pm
I love how ‘real’ each photo is. You can tell they’re not posed, and so they capture the evening so well! I agree – the timeless quality is incredible!
David Smith
March 16, 2019 @ 6:26 pm
Thanks Alexander, great to see the photos and hear you talk about your exploration of black and white photography. Looking forward to seeing what you do next.
Clare T
March 17, 2019 @ 9:36 am
Great post Alexander, thanks for explaining so clearly and eloquently the attractions of using analogue film over digital. Taking the time to create more mindful and meaningful images perhaps gives them more value and they are more likely to be revisited and enjoyed in the future than a less carefully curated collection of photos taken on a phone and stored somewhere in the cloud.
Andrea Butler, AccessArt
March 17, 2019 @ 11:09 am
Really fascinating to listen to your process, Alexander, the use of black and white creates such a different sense of time, compared to looking at a colour image. I love the range of tones you’ve created especially those rich darks, in some pictures, the atmosphere is almost tangible. Your photos have a great documentary element, the the way you’ve cropped the figures and shown us ordinary objects conveys a real sense of immediacy. You must have been watching like a hawk to spot potential compositions and making split second creative decisions to have captured these fleeting moments with such beauty.
Rachel Thompson
March 18, 2019 @ 10:26 am
These photos show a real maturity of approach and technique and there’s an interesting sense of activity and movement in each -great work!