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Photography 101, Old School

8 March 2019
Paul Fletcher, Photography Instructor
Welcome to my world, or as a friend of mine calls it, ‘Old School’. Despite the fact that most of my professional photography work is done using digital equipment with processing done on my office desktop, I still hold my love for analog (film) photography close to my heart. I am ‘Old School’ for sure. Walking through the Camera Arts door and seeing the large display of analog cameras, some dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, one is immediately whisked back to an earlier time when film was king and photography was an art form. Turn around and you will see a library illustrating the passage of photography. Down the hallway are three analog darkrooms, two for printing and one for developing film. Anyone past the age of digital always remarks about the darkroom smell that pervades the area often triggering memories of many happy hours in the darkroom. In my own little way, keeping analog alive for Brentwood art students, I am thwarting the advance of digitalism, planning for the day that analog returns to the throne as the king of art photography. Beau Photo, a major photography supplier, is celebrating the return of film photography with increased sales and inventory. While I do acknowledge that there is plenty of great digital art around, I still struggle with calling it art when all you do after taking the photo is mess around with the computer. When you enter the Camera Arts area, things are purposefully designed to slow you down. Rushing is not worth the extra effort you will have to make to fix the problems caused by your hurry. This is why analog photography is such a good skill to acquire. It slows you down. It helps you think and evaluate. It opens up a world of seeing that you will never appreciate when your eyes are not open. Analog slows the photography process. One shooting film learns very quickly that a perfect negative means an easy printing session and brilliant results. A poorly made negative soon shows its failures once you try to print the photo. Unfortunately, digital photography pulls students far from the important technical elements used when making photographs simply because ‘I can fix it on my computer.’ Sure you can fix it on your computer, or you can look at the screen on the back of your camera to see if the photo is good or not, but not knowing how to use the camera’s tools to help get the perfect image is the same as getting in a car for the first time thinking you can drive only to discover the error of your choices later. The rental cameras we provide to beginner analog students are particularly useful as they are completely manual - nothing automatic about them anywhere. Most of the fancy digital cameras you see people carrying around are often set to automatic everything, relegating them to a point and shoot status. That is why Brentwood encourages first year photo students to begin with, or add to their photographic experience, using a simple analog camera, developing their own film and printing their own pictures, with lots of time to complete assignments in an incredible, modern and safe working space, not matched anywhere in BC. Sure, you may never pick up an ‘Old School’ camera again. That’s ok. It is fully expected that most students arrive with a knowledge of digital cameras and leave after their first year happy to return to digital, but I can guarantee that you will always be a better photographer because you know what is needed to get a great photo every time. Mr Paul Fletcher

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