Photo taken by Sawyer Richburg on Ilford 3200 ISO.
Location: South Congress Hotel in Austin, Texas.
I was raised in the Texas Hill Country and currently live in the Austin area with my wife, two daughters, and a big dog named Teddy.
About the Work
Our plastic culture starves for things that are real. The phones can hold fifty thousand photos, but show me one worth a thousand words. That’s why an old, finicky photochemical analog process has been resurrected.
Film photography is imperfect, slow, and old - words you’d never hear from an Apple event. But I’d venture to guess you’re considering film for your next project because you’re the type of person to whom that imperfection is attractive. Trust me, I get it. There is something uniquely earned and magically accidental in every roll of film.
Many photographers talk of authenticity in their images, and I understand why. Authentic. Raw. Honest. These are (sometimes) helpful buzzwords in creative spaces. But frankly, the photo you took of your kid eating breakfast is authentic. I have hundreds on my phone.
Authenticity isn’t enough. Honesty isn’t enough. My objective is not authenticity but beauty. Beauty in the way a classic shot in a movie is beautiful. The sum of your memories of the film captured in a singular frame. It’s not polished perfection. It’s an image that’s beautiful because of craftsmanship and skill, with weight and meaning.
And that’s my objective for you: that amid many pretty pictures, there is one moment when light passes through the lens and flashes onto the film, emblazoning a picture worth a thousand beautiful words.