Photography wasn’t something I necessarily took seriously as an outlet.

Upon moving to Melbourne in 2018 after finishing high school, I had hunted through a few Op Shops to find my first camera; purely through the vanity and early “adult” desperation of wanting to shed an old identity in way of a new one that was “cooler”. Film photography was this for me. Finding one for $40 back in a Ballarat antique store I started what was barely even a hobby. Film was cool, I thought it looked cool, and it was more fun than having everyone huddle in front of an iPhone. This was made better by the fact that this first camera - Konica’s “Kanpai” - had a microphone switch that turned on the camera’s voice-activated shutter. I’d done some light reading on the camera, I’d learned that when switched on, the camera would take a photo when people laughed, clapped or cheered. This made for what now seem like really special moments and photos, and is probably where I began to love taking pictures.

I am still very much a novice, and due to the expenses of film photography as a hobby I can lean in and out of it, but it is something that brings me a lot of happiness. I’m not entirely sure what it is about getting your scans back that feels so nostalgic despite never having experienced the process as a child. I guess to be pretty cliche, but something about being made to wait in a time that is so instantaneous, and to get an image that is imperfect or so different from the way you imagined it to be is a feeling that has somehow lost; or I at least struggle to find in other parts of my life.