Backwards To The Modern World

I've been a fan of analogue photography for what must be going on 30 years. I'd frequently convert my parents' bathroom into a temporary makeshift darkroom, the bathtub sloshing with chemicals and rolled up towels jammed into the cracks around the door to stop the light getting in. It was a wonderfully slow and physical way of working.

Then digital came along and like many others I abandoned my old film cameras and embraced the speed and convenience of the new technology. It would take being employed in a toxic workplace to start thinking about what analogue photography might still have to offer.

For nearly three years before starting this project I worked for what might charitably be described as a dysfunctional organisation. I eventually quit after my boss's behaviour became unbearable, and the only thing managers and HR would say is "that's just the way he is". Staff who had left long before me described their treatment as a form of gaslighting. In retrospect they were entirely correct, and being equally charitable.

I was born not long after Thatcher came to power, radically changing our entire way of life, and creating the mythology that my old employer, along with many others, came to embrace. The hyperindividualistic society we now live in continues to promise ever more elusive personal rewards; if only we work faster, work longer, do more, consume more, and generate vast quantities of data to fool ourselves into thinking it's all worthwhile.

The mental health effects of this have been devastating.

The UK workforce has become increasingly unhappy since the 1970s. The quality of our working lives, across many measures, is now astonishingly poor. We are seeing higher workloads, increased exhaustion, and workers feeling like their employers aren't listening to their concerns.

Most workers who experience anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and sleep problems do not feel able to report these to their employer. Going to work when we're not well enough has become disturbingly common. Overwork has become the most common cause of stress-related absence.

My own experience of being overworked to the point of mental and physical collapse by an uncaring employer determined to cover up their structural and cultural failings by blaming my burnout on personal weakness is what would ultimately inspire this return to analogue photography.

It's a process which requires care, attention, and patience. Operating vintage cameras is a physical experience that digital cameras cannot hope to replicate. The haptic feedback from an old camera stimulates us because of the direct connection between human and image-making mechanism. Unlike the mere simulation offered by modern digital cameras, vintage cameras hold us in their mechanical grasp for longer, creating an attachment between scene and self. That this attachment remains transient only confirms just how rushed, dislocated, and inhumane the characteristics of digital photography can be.

Returning to analogue photography is one way of recovering a bit of that humanity.

If you're reading this then the original project is complete. The grant I received from the Visual Artist and Craft Makers Awards Scheme allowed me to reinvigorate my practice by returning to the world of vintage cameras, rolls of film, and chemical processing. The blog I kept during the project can be accessed from the link above along with some of my images and other information if you'd like to embark on your own journey.

We talk about taking pictures. It's also important to give something back.

Less Is More

Photos inspired by the art of slowing down.

Moving slower is good for us as individuals but more importantly it is an act of political resistance.

Communities which stand against the frantic, hyperactive, incessant noise of contemporary capitalistic society will flourish in ways that have been almost forgotten.