August 2020 on 35mm Film
Despite coronavirus, I had one of my most social August’s ever and documented most of it on film. So here’s some photos from a week in Wales, a long weekend in Portsmouth, a day trip to Brighton and a rogue photo of me in a hot tub at Centre Parcs…
Lockdown on 35mm Film
Here are a collection of photos I took over the past few months which kind of represent my experience of lockdown, apart from the fact that they were mostly taken on sunny days (and there was a fair bit of rain) and there are no photos of me in pyjamas (of which I spent a lot of time in).
The Monthly Media Catch Up: Everything I Read, Watched & Listened To | January 2020
(affiliate links are marked with a *)
T-shirt: Roberta Einer SS20
Cardigan: & Other Stories*
Trousers: Mango (old, similar here*)
Necklace: Missoma*
Hair clips: ASOS*
Oh hi! So the Monthly Media Catchup has disappeared from my blog over the past few months. This was not intentional but a side-effect of an overwhelming amount of university work (final year really is difficult, who would have thought?)
But no one wants to hear about the amount of work I or anyone else has, so let’s just get straight into everything I read, watched and listened to during January.
My birthday and Christmas fall within 30 days of each other and most of my presents for both of these occasions consist of books. Every year, I look forward to compiling a list of books to ask for for Christmas and my birthday and this years list was particularly long. I started a couple of the books over the Christmas period (amongst them,Find Me by Andre Aciman, the sequel to Call Me By Your Name which I really disappointingly disliked) but have been digging deeper into the huge pile during the first month of 2020, before my university reading really kicks in.
I’ve also been watching A LOT of TV. I’m not sure if I watched more than one single TV show in its entirety from September-December. Partly because of the aforementioned busyness but also because I just couldn’t find anything that I liked enough to commit to. But January has brought lots of new releases and, to be honest, I’ve more or less been watching the same thing as the rest of my Instagram feed, but I thought I’d touch on them anyway, in case you’ve somehow missed them.
I found that I was consuming a lot of media recommended to me via social media this month, meaning I’ve been watching TV shows and reading books I might not have otherwise. In some ways, this has really paid off (see the TV category) but in others, specifically when it comes to books, I think I’d like to trust my own taste more in the future. Not that I disliked any of the books I read, but that there are other books on my shelves I might have enjoyed more, even if they’re not currently as popular/trendy.
Anyway, now the obligatory preamble is over, onto the reviews…
Books
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo | ★★★★★
How nice to start the year off with a 5 star review! Three Women has been on my to-read list since its release and it was one of the most difficult books to resist in my attempt to buy fewer books over the past year. Luckily, this anticipation paid off. Taddeo’s book follows the lives of three women, Maggie, Sloane and Lina. Specifically, it follows their sex lives, exploring their desires, emotions, and instincts in depth. Taddeo spent around 8 years looking for and spending time with these women in order to write such a book and the fact that the book reads like a novel is a huge credit to her as a journalist and a writer. It’s beautifully written and I found every detail fascinating. What I think is so special about this book is that Taddeo dedicates so much importance to female desire as its own entity, a privilege, unlike male desire which is often explored in fiction and non-fiction through the male gaze, it is rarely given.
I’ve seen this book criticised because firstly, “not much happens”, but this is baffling to me, because I thought so much happened! No, there isn’t much of a plotline but it’s non-fiction and real-life doesn’t have a plotline, and authentic female desire is not programmed the way we’ve seen it in books and other forms of media, which is perhaps why people are uncomfortable or bored with the book. Secondly, because it isn’t representative. However I think it’s important to remember that Taddeo is not trying to represent all women, just three women. But I do hope that many writers take inspiration from this book and write texts of this kind about different kinds of women. I hope to read many, many stories like these ones about thousands of diverse women in my lifetime, and I can only hope that, as a society, we begin to value them enough to allow this to hapen.
Calypso by David Sedaris | ★★★★
David Sedaris’ essay collections have been doing the rounds on social media, having been plauded for their humour and wit. I decided to read his most recent collection of essays and I enjoyed them a great deal. I didn’t find them laugh-out-loud funny but they largely put a smile on my face, especially the stories set in the UK. I’m currently taking a Non-Fiction Creative Writing Class and I definitely found them useful in that respect, although I can’t see myself being desperate to pick up more of his writing in the near future. 3.5 stars.
Educated by Tara Westover | ★★★
Another book I was influenced by social media to read, specifically by Sunbeamsjess, who is one of my favourite bloggers and chose it for her January book club. Westover’s memoir follows her life from her unorthodox Mormon childhood to leaving her family to study at Cambridge University and Harvard. I love the concept of this book and the parts in which the book was true to its title and Westover explored receiving an education for the first time in her late teens were fascinating. But I found that it focussed slightly too much on her childhood and it was particularly gratuitous in describing the violence she experienced, which, although I’m sure was traumatizing and I am not trying to diminish it, lost its impact after so much repetition, for me, especially because specific acts of violence were described over and over again. At times, I was gripped to the book’s storyline but at others, I wanted to put it down. It’s definitely worth a read if you’re willing to sit through the frequent scenes of violence because Westover’s story and her writing generally is great.
TV
Unreal (Amazon Prime) | ★★★★
I found this series in Pandora Sykes’ essay The Authentic Lie and I was so glad I did because it brought to an end the excruciating few months in which I had nothing to watch on TV. It’s a fictional series that looks at the production of a reality show that is similar to The Bachelor and Love Island. It’s a fascinating look at how real reality TV is and how producers manipulate contestants but it’s also an exciting and gripping watch, full of cliffhangers and great characters, whose emotional lives you become invested in. The first series was by far the best but I think it’s worth watching them all.
You, Season 2 (Netflix) | ★★★
I binge-watched the first season of You this time last year so I was looking forward, as was the rest of social media, to the second season. I enjoyed it a lot although I wasn’t able to watch it as quickly as I did the first season. Whilst it is bingeable and an easy watch, it’s also a great exploration of white male privilege. I’ve only given it three stars because I didn’t mourn it being over and I often forgot that I had even been watching it when I was doing other things.
Sex Education, Season 2 (Netflix) | ★★★★
I think I might have liked Season 2 of Sex Education even more than the first one. It’s genuinely educational as well as heartbreaking, engaging and funny. I loved Aimee’s plotline as well as Jackson and Viv’s and especially Maureens <3
Cheer (Netflix) | ★★★★★
I’d seen people raving about this on social media and I was tempted to watch it, but I’m not a huge fan of documentaries and I know nothing about cheerleading so I put off doing so. However, when my friend recommended it to me and I’d finished all the other series I’d been watching, I finally caved in. Thank god I did because it is incredible! The stories it tells about the people it depicts are unbelievable and it warmed my heart to see how their team sport brought them altogether despite (and because) of their backgrounds. I also love how it showed the stamina and fitness cheerleading requires. Having grown up dancing, people were quick to dismiss it and declare that it ‘wasn’t a real sport’, but this series proves that to be undoubtedly incorrect.
I actually adore Jerry, he’s probably the best person I’ve ever encountered and Morgan’s admiration of Monica was beautiful (I feel you though, Morgan, Monica is incredible). Also, the scene when La’Darius’ brother cries watching them compete. I CAN’T. I’m already rewatching the series.
Films
Little Women | ★★★★★
Okay, so I first watched Little Women in December but I went to see it again in January, which is convenient because it means I get to talk about it here, even though I’ve already discussed it on every other platform, online and offline.
Little Women is one of my favourite novels ever because it has so much sentimental value and also, it’s a genuinely brilliant story of sisterhood (you can read my full review in this blog post). I watched the 90s film so much growing up with my Nan so when I heared that Greta Gerwig was directing a new adaptation for 2020, and with a cast of some of my favourite actors, I was hysterical.
Now some may say I was biased going into the movie, and that I would have loved it even if it was terrible. But actually, my expectations were very high. Being such a big Little Women fan means that I know all the details and I think about the characters a lot and so I’m very pedantic. But Gerwig did such an incredible job at depicting them and making a story that has been told so many times refreshing and new. I can’t think of a film that I like more than this one and I hope the fact that it’s about women and is by women doesn’t deter people from going to watch it. If it does, it’s their loss.
Podcasts
The PanDolly Podcast | ★★★★
If you, like me, are missing The High Low whilst it’s on maternity leave, I’d definitely reccomend The PanDolly Podcast. This podcast preceded The High Low, and it’s a lot more of the low than the high, but it gave me my fix of Dolly and Pandora (I actually listened to every episode in the space of about 2 weeks so really, it gave me even more than my fix.) I’m now re-listening to The High Low and I’m really enjoying doing so. It’s interesting to hear them discuss past events as it gives you a reminder of the what has been going on in the world (always useful) and it’s also entertaining to hear them discuss, for example ‘Prince Harry’s new girlfriend, Meghan Markle’, when we are so used to this being the case now and so much has changed.
Literary Friction | ★★★★
I’ve been a long time Literary Friction fan but I’d got out of the habit of listening to the podcast. But discovering their ‘minisodes’ has got me right back onto it. I particularly enjoyed Minisode One on the books they hated (what does this say about me?) and Minisode Eight on the books they read because they were assigned them, but they actually loved.
Honourable mentions:
Sometimes, I listen to a podcast episode because there’s a guest on it who I admire or they’re discussing a topic I’m interested in, but I don’t necesarilly listen to any of the other episodes or subscribe to the podcast. Here are some of those:
Soundtracking with Edith Bowman - Episode 174: Greta Gerwig on the Music of Little Women
Awards Chatter - 314. Florence Pugh - ‘Little Women,’ ‘Midsommar’ & ‘Fighting with My Family’
Ctrl Alt Delete - #68 with Lena Dunham: Dealing with Life Online and Offline
Corfu on 35mm Film (2019)
all photos taken on the Olympus MJU II
What I’m Wearing (affiliate links marked with a *):
Black V-Neck Mini Dress - ASOS* (now on sale!)
Yellow Floral Bikini - H&M (bottoms* & top* - now on sale!)
Blue Bikini - H&M (bottoms* & top* - now on sale!)
Red Gingham Midi Dress - & Other Stories
Daisy Wrap Mini Dress - Realisation Par
you might also like…
Creating Content For Yourself vs. Conforming to 'the Algorithm' | Being Creative Online
‘The algorithm’ is something that is ominously referred to by pretty much everyone who uses social media for creative or commercial purposes. It is basically what Instagram uses to determine whose photos will be placed at the top of people’s feeds and will be allowed the most engagement, which Instagram gained the power to do after it got rid of chronological feeds (this article is much better at explaining it than I am). No one really knows how it works although there are many theories and assumptions surrounding it, for example, that ‘the algorithm’ prefers iPhone photos to photos taken on digital/professional cameras. But who knows if it really is the algorithm that prefers that or just users of Instagram? Either way, it is true that some posts do better than others based on many things that are often different for everyone.
Because certain posts tend to do ‘well’ (i.e. receive good engagement), it can be tempting to only create the kind of content that performs well. But what if that’s not your favourite kind of content to create? I’ve been blogging for almost a year now and the lines can sometimes become a little blurry when it comes to thinking about what the content I like to create is, because I think I can become subconsciously influenced by the likes and the shares to think the content I enjoy producing is the content that performs well, when that isn’t necessarily the case.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently because I really want my blog and social media to remain as a creative, fun and positive space for me to be in. As soon as I started going through my blog and Instagram and picking out the images and posts that were my favourites, it became clear that my favourite imagery is always film photography based. Creating imagery using film photography is, annoyingly, the most expensive and time-consuming way to do so, which is why I haven’t done it consistently, but it’s undoubtedly my favourite.
Despite this, not one of my top 9 images on Instagram are film based. 2 of them (including my post with the highest engagement) are mirror selfies, 2 of them are photos in which I’m wearing outfits I threw on quickly, that I didn’t like very much, and then asked my boyfriend to quickly take a photo of me in outside a train station. The others, minus one, were all taken on my iPhone during day-to-day life. Clearly then, my photos that receive the most engagement are actually the ones that require very little effort to create. This sounds good right? Quick outfit shots are easy enough for me! This is definitely what I thought for a little while.
But I started to feel so creatively stifled in creating this kind of easy content. This wasn’t so much with my blog, as this content largely stayed the same other than the imagery, but very much so with Instagram where the content is purely visual. Just because it was easy, and maybe purely because it was easy, it doesn’t mean it was fulfilling. So I’ve recently decided to shoot more and more of my imagery using my film camera, like with this post! I’m not currently making any money from my blog or my Instagram and I’m trying to look at this as an opportunity to create content that I personally love and creatively fulfils me because there is no real gain to my content performing well other than that it feeds my ego!
Sam, my boyfriend, very kindly spent a day in Liverpool with me last weekend shooting lots of photos on my film camera, some of which I included in this post. I love how all of the photos have turned out, especially these ones! I originally wore this outfit to London Fashion Week but didn’t get any photos of me wearing it, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to re-wear it and capture some images in one of my favourite parts of Liverpool, the beautiful Georgian Quarter.
I’m feeling super excited about more of my content being film photography based! Although it is expensive, it’s an investment I’m willing to make because there’s nothing I love more than sharing my film photography (as well as my writing) and photos taken on my film camera are ALWAYS my favourites.
My content isn’t going to change too much though, especially over here on my blog as I’ve never really felt the creative restrictions I sometimes experience on Instagram through blogging, probably because there aren’t any algorithms trying to dictate what I should post over here! Just expect lots more film photography and maybe some more style/fashion content on the blog.
I’d love to hear about your experiences with the Instagram ‘algorithm’ and being creative online. I am also interested, despite my ramblings about my creative freedom, to hear what content of mine, or generally, you like to read/see online, so please let me know in the comments!
you might also like…
My Life on 35mm Film #2 | A Valentines Staycation, Sunny February Days and London Fashion Week
It’s been too long since I’ve shared a blog post dedicated to film photography but I’ve finally got round to it today! I love shooting film but I sometimes fall out of the habit, mostly because it’s expensive and sometimes, usually in the winter, my life just isn’t that interesting. But I am going to try and make these posts a monthly thing, at least, if my budget allows!
The photos in this post were mostly taken throughout February, which was intense in terms of university work but also a really good month. The sun appeared out of nowhere and although it was undoubtedly bad for the planet, it improved my mental wellbeing so much and I’ve been feeling so positive ever since. Sam and I also stayed at the Lock & Key Hotel in Liverpool for a Valentines staycation night and ordered burgers off Deliveroo, which was really nice and relaxing. On top of this, most excitingly, I attended fashion week for the first time ever! I was invited to help out backstage at the Nabil Nayal show and, as you’ll be able to see in these photos, the collection was beautiful and it was such a cool experience. So, on top of a whole lot of university work, I managed to pack a fair bit into February! Here’s some photos to prove it…
What I’m usually wearing when I work from home. I know, those socks are chic.
Half of these books are yet to be read (by me)- that’s my task for this year.
Didn’t take us long to mess up the room (note: the sheer amount of food)
City of Light Display @ Sefton Park
The flash on my camera ruins all mirror photos :/
And the flash ruins another mirror selfie. Take my word for it, this charity shop blazer is great.
you might also like…
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Bath on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Fuerteventura on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
Barcelona on 35mm Film
m
Why I Love Film Photography
Why I Love Film Photography
Film photography is something I got into a couple of years ago and I absolutely adore it. There's nothing quite like dropping a roll of film off somewhere and feeling the excitement (and the fear that the camera shop will mess it up) of getting it back to see all these photos and memories. In a digital age where you can get most things with the click of your finger and make everything look perfect, there's something so refreshing about having to wait for your photos and not being able to agonise over them during and after taking them.
People often find the fact I use a film camera very strange, with questions on it ranging from 'who still uses film?' and 'what's the point?' I'm hoping this blog post will show those of you who are little skeptical about film how great it is and maybe even convince you to give it a go yourself. After going through multiple disposable cameras and loving the photos I took from them (and the novelty of having printed out photos) I decided it might be time to move on to a film camera because, not only is it cheaper than buying multiple disposable cameras but the photo quality is obviously better too. I asked for any old film camera for Christmas from my parents, after my researching came to no avail, and ended up with one that, looking back on it now, was actually pretty good- good job Mum! If you're wondering it was the Olympus Superzoom 700XB- it lasted me about a year and I got some great photos with it, but it unfortunately broke after that just as I arrived in Rome, which I was absolutely gutted about as I was so excited for the photos I was going to take on that trip. That is probably the worse thing about film photography, how unreliable it can be. Film cameras are no longer being made so you're always going to be using a second-hand camera which means they are prone to breakages. This is something that comes part and parcel with all the good things about film photography and I still think it's worth it. After all (most of) the cameras aren't expensive, (I've spent as little as £10 on one and as much as £40 on another) this one in particular cost around £25 I think. And these little mishaps make getting amazing photos even more exciting.
After this I gave up on film for a few months, not intentionally but because I never got round to buying a new camera. When I did, I bought one for £10 off Depop (the Praktica G8000 autofocus). I only managed to get one roll of film out of this camera because the second roll I took came back blank, which I was so sad about (I might have cried a little bit). I'm not sure if this was my fault or the fault of the camera but to avoid it happening again and because I wanted a better camera anyway, I bought the Olympus MJU II Zoom 170 (what a mouthful). I paid £40 for this camera off eBay, making it the most expensive one yet, but you can definitely see the price difference in the picture quality. For reference, you can see some photos I took on my Praktica camera in this blog post from my trip to Berlin and photos I took on the Olympus camera in this blog post from Corfu and this one with lots of random photos. I've been loving using my new camera and, since buying it 2 months ago, I've already gone through 2 rolls of 36 exposure film, which is a lot for me!
Why I Love Film Photography
Anyway enough about the quality and the cameras, I want to talk about why I go through all of the trauma involved with film (broken cameras, empty rolls etc.) and why I love it despite and because of these aspects. As I mentioned, shooting on film just feels so refreshing. Having printed out photos (and seeing them before you see them on a phone screen) is such a novelty and something that will always make me feel so happy. I actually started putting them all in scrapbooks last year which I know will be amazing to look back on- note to self: must continue with that soon. The spontaneity of taking photos with a film camera is another reason why I love it. Whether I'm taking a photo of a scenery, friends or someone else is taking a photo of me, it feels so good to take the photo and leave it at that, with no feelings of dissatisfaction because you have no idea what the photo looks like. By the time I get the photos developed I've usually forgot about most of the photos I took as well and they always come as such a nice surprise, both because of the memories and how the photos actually look. Which takes me to the main reason I love film, and the reason I think why most people shoot on film, how the photos look! A film photo is so distinguishable in my opinion and I can't even describe why I love the way it looks so much apart from saying that it looks real. I don't know if this makes any sense but photos taken using film always feel so authentic and that's what I probably love about them the most!
People are definitely starting to appreciate film photography more and more and if you're thinking about getting a film camera, I'd definitely recommend doing so! They're all easy to use and you could always start with a cheaper one if you're not sure if it's something you'll carry on with. One thing I will mention is the expenses involved in getting photos developed, which are steep. It ranges from about £10-£15 to get a roll of film developed (if you want them on a CD and the prints) which is why, up until now, I've only shot maximum of 5 rolls a year. But now I'm coming to realise just how much I love film photography, I'm hoping to start doing it more frequently. Because £10 a month doesn't seem like that much for photos I love and will (hopefully) cherish forever.
The photos here are ones that were on the same roll of film as my Corfu pictures and I thought this would be the perfect way to share them. All of these photos came out so well from the quality to the colours and they're some of my favourites because of that and the moments they capture. I hope this blog post has inspired you to order a film camera and I hope you're enjoying my film content as I'm hoping there's going to be a lot more of it! If you're looking for more film content definitely check out Lizzy's blog Shot From The Street. She is the queen of film photography and is consistently creating some incredible content with film, always inspiring me. Let me know in the comments or over on social media if you have any questions about shooting on film (although I'm definitely no expert) or if there's anything specific you'd like to see on my blog film-wise!
Why I Love Film Photography
Why I Love Film Photography
Why I Love Film Photography
Why I Love Film Photography
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
Corfu on 35mm Film
SaveSave
Berlin on 35mm Film
These photos are from quite some time ago now but I still want to share them on my my blog as there some of my favourite film photos I've taken. My boyfriend and I took a trip to Berlin as part of his birthday present in December for a few days. I took my brand new film camera with me after my old one broke during a trip to Rome in September. This post is completely inspired by the amazing Lizzy Hadfield's 'Weeks on 35mm' posts on her blog Shot From The Street. I really wanted to recreate something similar with my film photos from the trip and I'm hoping to share lots more film photos like this.