Since getting into photography a couple of years ago I’ve been trying to make my photos more and more perfect each time. Whether it’s learning about shutter speed and aperture, or aligning my pictures to the rule of thirds. It can be a relentless and endless task chasing perfection, because does the perfect photo even exist?
Our preference for images is individual, in most cases, people’s favourite photos don’t resonate with them because they are perfect compositions or great artistic shots. They resonate because they’ve captured a moment of time that has meaning to them. They don’t need to be pin sharp and perfectly positioned. They’ve just got to spark a memory or a feeling. A reminder of what made you take the photo in the first place.
To give myself a break from chasing perfection, I decided to buy an old second-hand film camera and enjoy taking photos without thinking. To just capture the moment and then relive that moment later when the photos finally get printed.
I went with the Olympus Trip 35 for two reasons. One, I already own an Olympus camera so they’d match, and two, it was cheap and had limited analogue settings so would be just right for what I wanted it for. To point and shoot.
I eventually managed to get a camera within my budget of £50 on eBay but had no idea when it turned up whether it would work. The previous owner had said it had been left in a cupboard for years, forgotten. I checked the mechanical parts as best as I could, with some help from YouTube to find out what I was looking for, and hopeful that it all worked as it should, headed to the nearest shop to buy some film.
I got through that first roll within a couple of days, taking pictures of anything that interested me. It was going against the reason I bought the camera, but I had no idea how they were going to come out so wasn’t too picky with subjects. Once I filled the 24 shots, I took them back to the shop for processing.
It took over two weeks for the roll to be sent off, processed and printed, and then sent back to the shop for me to collect. The whole time I was waiting anxiously, hoping the camera would work, but not knowing whether I would have any pictures at all for my money.
When the pictures were finally processed, they sent me the digital scans a couple of days before the prints. It took quite a bit of willpower not to open that file and take a look. I wanted to see the pictures for the first time the same way someone would have done when they first bought the camera in the ’60s… in print.
The pictures finally did arrive and here is my first roll of 35mm film.
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