Confessions — STREET SILHOUETTES

2020 was supposed to be a great year. Mr JapanCameraHunter and I were about to launch the first new color reversal film in more than a decade. The future of film photography was finally back on the rise, after years of film manufacturers scaling back on production. But then Covid happened, and the world was never the same again. As for the fate of this first new color reversal film in more than a decade - well - let us just say that the momentum we previously enjoyed - before the world closed down - pretty much fizzled out.

To make a long story short, economic realities as a result of the pandemic forced the manufacturer of our film to restructure. In other words, what was previously agreed upon by the manufacturer was no longer honored by the new management. Of course, the option to continue with the project was still offered to us. However, the terms had changed. Given the new reality, I decided to bow out of the project. With everything that I had done, I felt betrayed. But I suppose I only had myself to blame for being overly naïve with my expectations.

As you can expect, my decision to end my involvement in continuing with the project was a huge blow to Mr JapanCameraHunter. He had such great expectations. Unfortunately, the person he selected to manage our project - a friend no less - was inept. In truth, both Mr JapanCameraHunter and I could not have predicted the scale of uselessness exhibited by this project manager. The project began in 2018. It should have been done by 2020. I cannot begin to tell you how betrayed I feel by this charlatan. As you can expect, it changed me.

Mount Hood, Timberline Lodge Parking - Leica M11 + Leica APO 35mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH

Mount Hood from Timberline Parking - Leica M11 + Leica APO 35mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH

Mount Hood, Timberline Lodge - Leica M11 + Leica APO 35mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH

In short, I felt embarrassed by the whole debacle. I felt stupid for trusting people. I really felt that I was going to be able to save film photography. Yes, I was trying to save film photography. It was more than just creating the new color reversal film in over a decade. It was an all out attempt to save film photography. But for my plan to work, it required help from the film photography community. But given the betrayal I experienced, plus the the lackluster support I was receiving, I realized I wasn’t going to get the help to make my plan succeed.

To understand what I mean, I must disclose to you what my plan was. And to understand my plan, I must first establish why film died. Obviously, film photography died because non-photographers (meaning people who don’t know how to take a proper photograph) were no longer forced to buy film to record life events, given the popularization of digital photography. When non-photographers stopped buying film, film manufacturers like Kodak and Fujifilm could no longer afford to manufacture the specialty film real photographers love so much.

When one examines the reason of film’s demise in such a specific way, the solution to revive film is clear. Get non-photographers to subsidize film manufacturing and development. Obviously, there’s no way in which any non-photographer will ever buy film again. However, persuading non-photographers to buy something else that can subsidize film manufacturing and development is a different matter. In making that realization, saving film was just a matter of figuring out what to sell non-photographers to subsidize the survival of film.

Mount Hood, Wy’East Day Lodge - Leica M11 + Leica APO 35mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH

Mount Hood, Wy’East Day Lodge Parking - Leica M11 + Leica APO 35mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH

So what does one sell to non-photographers? Simply, affordable branded lifestyle products like t-shirts and other small apparel accessories. Of course, why would non-photographers buy such branded products? This is where help from the film community is needed. There are many influential people in this world who claim to love film. People like Jason Sudeikis and Christopher Nolan. All they have to do is convince other influential people to wear our branded lifestyle products or place our products in their programs or films.

Through word of mouth through social media, our branded product will be noticed. It would only be a matter of time when early adopting non-photographers (also known as influencers) will begin to buy our branded lifestyle product. With the proceeds earned from the sale of our branded products, a portion of the proceeds will go back to the development of new film emulsions. After the introduction of our inaugural ISO 400 color reversal film, our next effort was going to be a high ISO color reversal film, around ISO 1000 to 1600.

I know. What a harebrained scheme. But since I love film, I was willing to give my plan the old college try. I mean, what is the worst that can happen? Ending up with just one color reversal film was the worst possible outcome - so I thought. Unfortunately, given Covid, betrayal, and management restructuring, we couldn’t even reach our worst possible scenario. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that our film doesn’t exist. It has been developed. It’s just a question of who wants to be the one to bring it to market. I think it should be all of you.

Government Camp Loop - Leica M11 + Leica APO 35mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH

It has been over a year since I’ve talked to Mr JapanCameraHunter. I don’t know what he has done so far with the color reversal film. If I were him, I would appeal to all of you to do a Kickstarter. Unfortunately, he doesn’t like Kickstarter campaigns. Personally, I don’t blame him. But for this film to see the light of day, it will require some effort from all of you. As for my part in all of this, I’ve already done most of the heavy lifting. However, I’m no longer in the business of promoting film photography. I’ve been bitten once, and so I won’t do it again.

Believe me, I really tried. Beyond the effort invested in this project, I also preached the gospel of film for quite some time. I experimented with various different methods of digitizing film. Finally, I came to the conclusion that digitizing color reversal film with a digital camera was the most accessible and affordable method. All my experimentation is well documented on the blog for everyone to see. But in the end, all that effort came to naught. I failed. I am sorry for disappointing everyone. That said, I am truly disillusioned by the whole debacle.

There is more to the story. But, the essence of what happened has been disclosed here. So, what happens now? For now, I have decided to go back to blogging. I miss it. I miss writing about nonsense. I miss going out on my photowalks. And I miss talking about nonsense with my partners-in-crimes. Of course, with only one camera and lens set up and no film digitizing equipment here with me, I really don’t know what I am going to write about. And if I do write about something, I don’t know if you would be interested in it at all?

So for Series III - which is how I am categorizing the different parts of this dog and pony show - I think I will write more about the organic aspect of photography. In other words, I won’t be as technical, since anything technical about photography has already been discussed, disclosed, and documented online. I don’t want to be yet another blogger regurgitating content that has already been published before. That said, finding my stride, a long way from Hong Kong, has been challenging. It’s not as if I have a network of talent to rely on.

In any event, I won’t be writing about film anymore. That ship has sailed - or at least for the time being. It is not like I can write about film - with me so far away from my film scanners. That said, the silver lining for all of you film fanatics, in me not writing about film anymore, is a noticeable decrease in demand for film cameras and expired out-of-production film on eBay. Of course, that is not to say that prices have fallen yet. But ever since I stopped writing about film photography, the duration of eBay listings for film product seems much longer.

Still, this does not mean I am forsaking film photography. Film is magical to me. That said, I need a break from it. I really invested too much of myself into film only to end up in my present situation. In the end, I wish that Mr JapanCameraHunter would find it in his heart to just start a Kickstarter campaign. Selfishly, I would love to see the finished product, even if I won’t be the one to take credit for bringing it to the world. I think it would be the only way I can ever forgive myself for being a failed dreamer and renew my trust in the film community.

Maybe it’s already too late to organize a Kickstarter campaign. Of course we will never know unless someone pesters Mr JapanCameraHunter with it. I already did my part. All I am asking is for the rest of you to put your money where your mouth is.

For now, I will continue my exploration of the Pacific Northwest in hopes of making sense of the past.

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