Customer Showcase #3

Hii, I’m Millie, I’m 23 and a Gallery/curator assistant and amateur analogue photographer based in North Wales. I’ve only been doing photography since early last year, and have only been using analogue throughout – it all stemmed from inheriting a Canon AE1 from my late grandad, and after taking it up to Snowdonia, with no clue what aperture or shutter speed were, then accentually light leaking the film.. I’ve been hooked.

 

I started off on the AE1, but quickly found a few others that worked better for me for 35mm – including the Nikon F2, Canon AV1, and my good ol’ reliable Cosina CT1G which I brought from a charity shop for £5! For medium format I use a Rolleicord and I’m currently trailing a Mamiya 645

I think im still at a stage of figuring out what kind of photographer I am/want to be, but at the moment im really enjoying capturing things I feel ‘drawn’ to, moments I feel need to be captured on film, maybe candid moments other people would think are boring.. I’m at the starting point of my first documentary project which follows a ‘spiritual’ community that gather in North Wales – im hoping to capture intimate moments, stories and the land around them on film as a way to create an archive and a celebration of the community that can be passed down generations.

 

To be honest – the price and quality. Im still fairly new to film, having dabbled with ‘creative’ film, expired film, even light leaked film for most of my first year, so at the start, it was a way of both experimenting and saving a bit of money! But ive come to absolutely adore it, the colours are so true to life, if not better, more saturated in the best ways, the grain is almost undetectable, the images are so sharp and it just really works for me! I always know ill love my photos more using this than any I take on any typical colour film.

 

Just enjoy it, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to capture ‘the photo’ just because its on Kodak vision 3 – maybe this is the wrong advice but just get out there, ive found it works best when photographing people/portraits and colourful scenes, particularly anything pink?! I’ve never used a light meter so cant advise on anything technical but defo in soft daylight works best

I haven’t really set many goals for my photography, as I follow my drive and inspiration intuitively, but im really hoping to carry on with my documentary for at least 5 years, incorporating some video and written word like poetry, and then creating a book and doing an exhibition on the land they gather on. I’ve been really inspired by the work of Amanda Jackson and Ed Gold recently, both exploring what it is to live ‘off grid’ so that’s something im toying with for the future! I’m also trying to put my work out there a bit more – submitting to open calls, creating small Zines, small things that make a big impact in the long run

Pretty much all of them were taken in Berlin and Ibiza while on a solo trips in April on my Nikon F2, I’d shot a lot of normal film while I was there too, but felt like I had to make the photos really stand out somehow! I didn’t use a light meter and most of them were very impulsive shots. 

The first one is a still life picture of the kitchen in my Airbnb in Charlottenburg, I just love the chaotic but really gentle vibe it gives, and felt like the film would really capture the feeling I have of waking up, making a cup of tea and some toast and looking out of the window to people watch. 

The second one is my favourite out of all my photos from Berlin – it was so perfect, I was sat on my way to the airport to head home, and these two gents just looked so relaxed, the lighting was beautiful and I knew the contrasting blue, pink and white would look amazing. It was a bit daunting taking this photo, im not typically a street photographer and was a bit worried they might notice me and say something, so I rushed the settings and quickly grabbed the photo before getting off the train.

The third one was taken while I was on a walk through Lietzensee-Park, and purely taken because I loved this tree and the lighting was great, the shadows the tree casted on the floor, the brightness of the leaves, I didn’t notice the people in the photo until after I got the scans back!

The fourth one was taken while I was actually waiting to get another shot, I was stood waiting for this one specific person to walk past me in the opposite direction, but after a couple of minutes I got a bit ‘bored’ so turned around to see what else I could photograph – and there he was, just stopped in the perfect spot with a gorgeous soft pink building behind him, and I really loved the pink graffiti next to him. I had to get the shot, but again since im not usually a street photographer I felt a bit out of my depth, so I took a few photos of his surroundings, then snook one of him, kind of acting as if im a tourist rather than a photographer. 

The last one is a pretty random photo I got while on a solo trip in Ibiza in April – I was so fascinated by the amount of orange trees and trees in general in Ibiza, and as I was heading to the beach, I saw this set up of fallen oranges from a bush above, and im not sure really why I took it apart from that I liked the colours and knew the film would pick up the pinks, greens, soft blue background and that one bright orange orange!

I’m mainly on instagram @emhulme but working on new website which will be up soon!

I sometimes wish id studied photography, or at least known how to roll the film back into the canister after shooting, but actually some of my ‘failed’ trails with film are still my favourite shots, so I guess I wish Id known to trust myself, that ill figure it out somehow and to write down if I loaded black and white or colour!! Id also tell myself that theres really no such thing as a bad photo when youre learning, it takes time to find your style but those bad ones will only help you

I’m hoping if the british weather is forgiving this summer ill be shooting more 50D, but im also really looking forward to using any of the stock on Medium format