Fun with film

 by R.AGE 

By JAYDEE LOK

FILM gives you more,” believes Paul Gadd. “You can play around more, and it’s easier to control.”

With nearly 16 years of experience shooting professionally and having his work published in the likes of Marie Claire, Harpers Bazaar and The International Herald Tribune, you’d best believe the man knows what he’s talking about.

Film Buff Paul Gadd of The Print Room began his career as a catwalk photographer in London.

Gadd, who now runs The Print Room photography studio and gallery in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, explained his preference succinctly:

“With digital, if you overexpose or underexpose (a part of your photograph), you lose everything that’s there. It’s just a pixel. There’s nothing to bring back. But with film, there’s always something there that you can bring back whether or not you can see it properly. Eventually, you will be able to print it out.”

In other words, film can capture a moment more accurately. It let’s you fill in the blanks that would have otherwise been washed out by a digital camera.

Last week, The Print Room gave this R.AGE reporter a two-day crash course in film photography. It was both extremely fascinating and frustrating at the same time.

Film photography beginners are first introduced to the various types of existing film cameras and then briefed on their various functions. Everything from how to load the camera with a new roll of film to the ISO (film speed), to choosing an aperture were explained before the workshop students were left to roam The Print Room’s premises in search of interesting subjects.

After finishing the roll of film, we were taught how to develop the film (this involved a lot of chemical shaking in a light-proof container) and how to load our negatives into a developing tank to print the images onto the photo paper.

Following that, we had a retro movie moment where we dunked the seemingly blank sheets into developing chemicals and watched our photographs come to life.

The chemistry of developing photos is a three-step process – develop, stop and fix.

There is a tangible sense of satisfaction achieved with this process that the digital world leaves us bereft of, what with the gadgets we rely on to function everyday.

However, human error makes inaccuracy inevitable. Hence, it can be rather daunting when you have to redo your images over and over to get a perfectly saturated image printed at the perfect angle on a sheet of photo paper. Many film photographers spend hours in the darkroom because of this.

Even so, photographers like Gadd still prefer using film over a digital SLR.

“Digital isn’t necessarily easier,” he said. “There’s still too much post production when it comes to digital photography, so it can actually be a bigger headache (than shooting film).”

Gadd also points out that whether or not you see yourself as a creative photographer, experimenting with film photography in itself is a great experience.

“I think what people worry about is that they need to be artsy to do this. They don’t. They come here (to join some of The Print Room’s classes) to learn something new for the sake of trying something new.

“It’s to show people what it’s actually like to learn the basics of traditional analog photography. It’s not just about taking the actual picture. They don’t have to become photographers.”

However, should you see yourself as a professional photographer, you might want to try to get your work showcased at The Print Room.

The next exhibition, KL Street, will be on display in August and all are welcome to enter. The only requirement is you have to shoot with film.

Gadd believes that good photographs speak for themselves, so if your photos beautifully document life in Kuala Lumpur (past or present), cart them over to The Print Room. If the pictures are up to snuff, they will be displayed.

For more information, visit The Print Room at at 49 Lorong 16/9E, Petaling Jaya, 46350 Selangor or check out theprintroomkl.com.

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