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Introduction
I’ve been a photographer for 35 years since I was 11 in fact when I first loaded my Zenith 11 with film and set off for a walk into the wilds of South Yorkshire. 20 years later I turned professional and as soon as digital became a viable option I traded in my Nikon F90x and Mamiya 645 pro for a Nikon digital kit. Digital was for me always a triumph of convenience over real quality in those early years and not much else. It wasn’t until Canon brought out the 5D series that I found myself ...
Starting Out
As a relative newbie there is a lot I still don’t know or understand the history of photographic film types and the various process do’s & don’ts. I’m OK with this and let me tell you why. There are countless books, articles and resources to help me learn as well as a very supportive film community. It is important that I do my homework but it is also important I don’t let all this information overwhelm me.
Learning
For me the main and only way to learn is time behind t...
HARMAN Lab - The new name for ILFORD Lab Direct
We have updated the name of our award winning Lab service to HARMAN Lab.
The new name reflects our desire to give more recognition to the "HARMAN*" brand, and presents opportunities to further broaden our lab service offerings in the future.
We still offer the same high-quality film processing and real Black and White prints as we've always done. Using ILFORD Photo Papers and Chemistry throughout.
Operating from our factory site in Mobberley, C...
Never too young to learn about film photography
At home, one evening last week, I realised that I’d actually finished a full cup of coffee without any interruptions, a feat that happens rarely enough to lead to that moment of horror, (which can only be understood by parents of small children), when I wondered what our youngest (4) was up to.
He’d gone upstairs twenty minutes earlier. At first, I’d heard the usual sounds of teddy bear wrestling and superheroes flying through the air. Now ...
Self-portraiture as Catharsis
My photography is a form of therapy, a personal, emotional and sometimes turbulent struggle with the complexity of emotions. I feel my life and art have become intertwined and to bury this mental state deep within would only allow it to thrive but through my use of photography, I am offered a sense of catharsis.
My self-depictions manifest within the same four walls, my bedroom. The room I believe is the keeper of my trapped and repressed emotions. This often heavily constr...
A family of photographers
It’s difficult for me to imagine my family members without their cameras. I grew up in a family of photographers. This seemed so natural to me, that, as a child, I thought all my friends at school had photo labs at their grandparents’ house. For years, underneath my bed, sat my great grandfather’s wooden photographic chamber, along with its imposing tripod.
Ilford FP4 Plus / Hasselblad 500CM / Sonnar 150mm
Fujifilm Acros 100 / Hasselblad 500CM / Distagon 50mm
&nbs...
A black and white film community
Since film is no longer the primary domain of professionals, it’s been adopted again in earnest by passionate individuals that produce legitimate work. In this age of instant gratification, infinite dynamic range, and auto-everything, it’s nice to rely on a predictable and high-quality medium.
I shoot HP5+ almost exclusively. It’s everything I want in a black and white film. It’s flexible, widely available and fits right into my workflow. I’ve played both...
A little background
I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. My chosen field of study was production engineering, but was I taking photography classes in the evenings and began working for a super cool magazine called Urbe, which is a bit like what Vice is in the UK now. I quickly became the chief photographer shooting all kinds of amazing and interesting people, and it was then that I knew that this is what I wanted to do with my life. Looking back it was quite an interesting time - I’d be learnin...
Sharing my skills
I’ve recently started working as a lecturer on BTEC and HND photography courses at Swindon College. A job which I’m enjoying immensely. Teaching was something I’d never considered before, until I started helping friends who were studying on the same BA Photography course as me. I enjoyed helping them but most of all I enjoyed seeing them understand and use the skills that I’d shown them.
I now teach mainly 16 – 20-year-olds, which is enormously satisfying. Watching thei...