Hello everyone. Tom here with a post about my new favourite colour film, Kodak Portra 160.
What I find really exciting about the discipline of photography is that despite the advancement of technologies available, access to old techniques remains, meaning that the rich and complex history of photography continues to be available for us to explore in our work. So, though a majority of the photography you see may well now be digital, if you want to experiment with techniques and processes of creating images that are hundreds of years old – from cyanotypes and wet-plate collodion to silver gelatine printing and C-41 colour chemistry – it’s all still there to have fun with!
I have been using black and white film techniques alongside my digital work for many years. The absence of colour makes us look more at form, texture and composition – this was an important aspect of our Shetland Oo project – where my use of black and white film strove to give the ordinary work of Shetlanders a “monumental” feel. I’ve continued to use black and white film throughout our People Make Glasgow project for the same purpose.
But as well as the special quality that black and white film lends to the discipline of image making, I also love the practical activity, the work that needs to be done in order to make a physical photograph. I enjoy my long quiet hours in the dark room, mixing chemicals, heating, stirring and washing film and paper, whilst the luminous hands on my old dark room clock tick by. A throw back to my days as a scientist at the bench perhaps… but still, the moment an image appears remains almost magical to me.
Despite this love of traditional processes, of film and of time in the dark room, I have generally avoided colour film. I think in part this is because of the reputation of it being “tricky” (colour chemistry is far more sensitive to temperature) and partly it’s about my love of my trusty black and white Ilford films. But for our People Make Glasgow project I’ve also been shooting and developing colour film. And I’ve found that I love the results!
The film I’m currently using is Kodak Portra 160. Released by Kodak Eastman in 1998, Portra replaced the Ektacolor line. It’s an extremely fine grain film, which is intended for daylight shooting.
Developed (easily) using Tetanal’s C-41 chemistry, it has wonderfully subtle tones and a pastel colour palette which, to me, is reminiscent of the later colour work of Jacques Henri Lartigue.
Without the sharpness of the digital image, without the saturated, balanced colour profile, these images seemed steeped in nostalgia – like the holiday snaps of my childhood.
But though the images feel nostalgic, I also find that they make me look at the subject differently… the rendering of textures, of shape and light. In the photographs here I’ve left the rough edges of the frame, and the dust and scratches in place – not as an affectation, but as a reminder of the materiality, the thing-ness, the imperfect work of creating these objects.
And though you can emulate these effects, these colours, this grain digitally with apps or insta filters, I don’t think it feels quite the same. Do you?
As I’m sure you can tell, I am really enjoying creating images with this film and I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of my work with it over coming months!
Enjoy your Sunday
As a portrait photographer I love Portra 160 . The skin tones are smooth and lovely. When I lost all of my film cameras in a flood, I switched to digital, but am nostalgic for Portra.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post, Tom. You are spot on about digital filters vs. hand-processed color. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, but there is something to be said for the serendipity of the hand.
LikeLike
You and Kate are masters of so many many things. Your posts, and photos, are always inspiring. Thank you so very much!
LikeLike
Gorgeous pics as per! xx
LikeLike
Fascinating! I began taking photos when it was ALL film. As an architect, I mainly was doing building photography. Used mostly Kodachrome, which opted to super-saturate by meddling with the F-stop. (The opposite effect from your examples above.)
It is nice to see the richness of real film, with the granularity, color and light sensitivities all out there. These images are lovely, and capture exactly the essence of your intent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s fascinating how a photographic technique (a chemical interface in this case) captures and defines an era. And then becomes so intrinsically linked to nostalgia, yearning and deepest memory.
I spend a lot of time in a remote Australian village that owes its current existence to the legacy of the photographer Henry Beaufoy Merlin who used large glass plates. I witness the huge “industry” in my country based on nostalgia and romanticisation based on a chemical reaction.
Fascinating…
I love the way your images capture light in a way that suggests a weather change. There is a point when all is still and waiting and the light is infused with what is to come. The birds and animals are quiet. Even people who live in their heads are pulled out to take note…
Great post. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hello Tom,
Thank you for another lovely post about your photographic work. I am no photographic expert, but I see such a distinct contrast between your colour film here and digital work. Digital technology captures a precise image, whereas your colour film has captured a moment. To me, there is a profound difference in the granularity. Your apple blossom picture alone launched me back into the orchards of my childhood home, and I thank you for that. All the best, Anna
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with Joan in seeing the similarity with Kate Hepburn! Both in the looks and the photography. very sweet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never knew that you processed and printed your images. I thought that was Tom’s domain. Good for you to dive into colour work. I haven’t done it since I worked in darkrooms 40 years ago. It is so rewarding . For the past 10 years, I have taught an advanced B+W darkroom course in our town’s Adult Ed program. We are very lucky that our High School has the last darkroom in the Boston area. We have 4 – 8week sessions every year and they are always full. And we do a fair bit of Alt Process. But with the Covid 19 lock down we have missed our Spring session and may not have a Summer one. But I keep in touch with my students (try to keep up their photo spirits). Many process at home but cannot print. I, too, love the old colour film; the softness and colour saturation. Are you aware of a online site, Lomography ? I love their B+W films, many of which are formulated to look like films from the 40s and 50s. They just released a very slow film that I cannot wait to use for landscapes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Josephine – this is Tom writing this post, not Kate! I hope you are able to get back to your darkroom teaching very soon, when its safe. I did several photography courses at Glasgow college which were invaluable.
LikeLike
Thanks Tom! I feel for my students. Most are working from home and I know that they are tired of it. We all need the darkroom. And the camaraderie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The photos of Kate remind me of another Kate – Katharine Hepburn in the David Lean directed film Summertime. Made in 1955 it sometimes shows up on the Talking Pictures TV channel and features Hepburn wearing a dress similar in colour to the one Kate is wearing in these photos. There is something about the feel of these photos that reminded me of the atmosphere of that film, shot in a very different location (Venice). If anyone reading this hasn’t watched it, it is worth seeking out.
LikeLike
A little off topic, but how I just loved the dog photos! I’m allergic to dogs but I love them and am lucky to live in a building with a dog park and tree-lined walkways and lots of dogs. And just watching and interacting with them has lifted everyone’s spirits. Just seeing them going about their interests, sniffing this, checking out that, wagging away at everyone they see–they represent a pleasant, inoffensive normalcy, which sometimes seems rare here in the United States these days. The photos just make me laugh and smile and just feel hopeful that maybe we can all be more “dog-like” going forward! Just had to say all that. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hear, hear!
LikeLike