MJR PRESENTS: AN ANALOGUE TRIBUTE from Ling Ang on Vimeo.
To the sadness of analogues out there, film is dying a slow, gradual death. They took Paul Simon’s Kodachrome away, and the small neighborhood processing labs are being shuttered everyday. But how much is this old medium fading away, really?
A relaunched Polaroid and “The Impossible Project” have resurrected instant film and you can even buy Holgas at Urban Outfitters. Film isn’t dead; it just isn’t something that’s consumed en masse. Photographers have simply allowed film to evolve from an out-of-date technology into a medium that can be appreciated for its own innate qualities. The detail, the grain, the saturation, even the light leaks are something that digital has not been able to replicate quite right. Beyond it’s aesthetic qualities, film also requires a drastic shift in creative process. Shooting with a roll of 36 suddently makes a photographer care more about each exposure than they might have with a digital camera. A new generation of photographers are not just curious, but excited about the limits of film, almost as a reaction against the ease and (supposed) carelessness of digital photography.
To stoke those creative fires, New York based photo collective MJR is sponsoring a $500 film grant for photographers committed to carrying on the torch for analog photographers everywhere. To apply, they are simply asking for a short proposal of what the film will be used for and a sample of other work done on film submitted before June 1. Along with the prize, the photographers of MJR hope to start a conversation and meet the recipient face to face. Hardly a necessary addition, but in the world of online competitions and less face to face interaction among photographers, the benefit of building a community, especially a community of films lovers, is hardly a bad thing.
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