Expired Film

Just like cameras, I hoard film, and for some reason I quite often come across people throwing it out, or shops clearing it off their shelves.
I can’t stand the thought of film being thrown in landfill somewhere when it can be used for something creative or fun. It’s just a waste. So as a result I have quite a lot of it.
Mostly I just load it into one of my mju:II‘s and keep it in the car or in my pocket and shoot anything that come to mind. A lot of the time they don’t turn out, and from the ones that do, only a small number are “keepers”. I’m not really bothered. This “low stress” type of shooting is what got me into photography in the first place. It’s something I lost for a couple years. Instead I’d agonise about the shot I wanted to get, the preparation and post work etc. It became a chore and not enjoyable.
These days I just shoot for the fun of it and the final result isn’t the prime importance. I find it a lot more fun now.

Below are some shots from expired film I’ve been using. I’m not even sure what it is. Just some consumer grade Kodak 200 & 400 iso I think. These are some scans of the prints so things aren’t as sharp as they’d be from a negative scan, but I kind of like the aesthetic anyway.
Some shots are from my ongoing A car took me there series.

One Response to “Expired Film”
  1. 07.28.2010

    I enjoyed them all, but the portrait is the best of the series. Long hair and a bit of wind blowing can make things very very tricky, but your shot is very relaxed and just works. The sunset through car window with nothing in focus is also quite nice. There’s just something about film for shots like that. I cull every single digital shot I end up taking like that.

    By the way, thanks for the R2A/R3A manual that I found on your site! I don’t know if I really need it, but it may come handy some day…


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