Back to where I started.

[John Bragg]

Hi all. During this crisis and lockdown that we face, I have had more time for reflection than I otherwise would, and it occurred to me today that during a journey of some 35 years of black and white photography, I have essentially ended up right back where I started. I have enjoyed shooting the same original camera this week that I shot my first roll of FP4 with, (Olympus OM1n) and used essentially the same developer (Ilfosol) to soup my film that I used on the reccommendation of the guy in a B&M darkroom shop exactly 35 years ago. These days I use HP5+ which is far ahead of the HP5 back then, but that aside, when you sum it up, I have gone full circle. Anyone else had similar experience during their photographic learning curve ? Essentially ALL my advances have been in technique and not in equipment, materials or chemistry. It seems that no matter what I have tried, my photos always look like "MY" photos. Lesson here, enjoy the journey, pick one film type and setup and learn how to use it effectively. The rest is all down to you and how you apply your brain.

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

I'm much less advanced on the journey than you, albeit without much of an age difference. I started with a Zenit E so I'm not going back there, and when film was the only option I only shot colour via a succession of OMs then Nikon, never once shooting black and white.

It's only with the return to film almost three years ago that I began shooting black and white, and that's when I started developing. I have many cameras and shoot in many situations, and much of the joy is the trying of different films and developers, and discussing them with my mentor and now good friend Keith Moss, a good friend and Ilford Artisan Partner. He keeps trying different things too - lately expired Pan X from the 70s. He will use a different regime for lenses and cameras!

Sadly my printing journey has been totally affected by the lockdown of the darkroom I used, so I have still to reach an endpoint, if I ever do.

For me, travelling hopefully is the destination!

 

[John Bragg]

Hi Charles, great to hear your story. I had an early foray into bulk loading transparencies, but I consider that a blip as I essentialy shoot and think in terms of black and white. A mentor is something that I would have liked, instead of always relying on the printed word for help. You can have a tremendous time trying out different stuff and darkroom time is a fantastically relaxing and sometimes frustrating way to create images. I miss my enlarger which is mothballed, but scanning has it's rewards too. Goid luck on your journey and have fun along the way