Shooting on Expired Film

While looking into the intimacy of the hand-held image and reading Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, I realised that the overwhelming emotional experience of seeing the original image is referred to as the aura.

Benjamin believes that processes such as photography and film are rarely associated with an aura. The ease of reproducing an image by taking a photo or video destroys the intimacy of the aura. However, Benjamin also believes that old technology maintains that aura.

This made me start to experiment with analogue photography as well as polaroid images. Currently, the images are only samples and test to get me used to the camera and how the analogue process of developing film works.

My analogue camera is a Practika MTL3 series. It was a very cheap camera from West Yorkshire Camera Shop in Leeds and consequently it has its problems. Through wear and tear of previous owners, the camera is now prone to light leaks which therefore effects the film.

The film I used here was left in my grandad’s attic for years and therefore was expired. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name or age of the film because it wasn’t in the original box. After developing the film, it became clear that the contrast of the film was effected because of the age of the film. There was also a purple hue to each image along with the occasional red tinge.

Ultimately, I enjoyed using and developing the film and liked the inconsistency of the images. Some of the images had to be discarded due to the light leaks covering the image but overall, the film created a lovely effect. It is something that I would definitely like to use again in the future.