Stephanie Brim

I've spent a lot of time lately reflecting on my rather different philosophy when it comes to photography. I haven't had enough time to shoot lately, what with the SO working overtime and the baby needing my attention, so I've been thinking more and more about why I shoot the way I do.

I can't really put most of my photography into one set genre. I don't try to classify it. I shoot what I see, when I see it, sometimes for many reasons and sometimes for no reason at all. I use expired film most of the time, I prefer cameras older than myself by a good many years, and I tend not to listen to what the people around me are trying to teach me about photography. A lot of what I shoot wouldn't be classified by others as interesting, but I find it so and can't really explain why.

I think the main draw to film for me is that there is the ability to actively experiment with different variables. Expired film, beat-up lenses, cross processing, different formats, different chemicals... It's an experimental person's dream.

Of course, none of these experiments I'm doing are scientific. Most are creative.

I think of it this way, I think.

Photography is supposed to be fun. It is about using what you have to make images your proud of. Being a mom full time, without a job, money is tight and I use what I have. Cheap plastic cameras, the borrowed Crown Graphic, a 'cheap' SLR, homemade pinhole monstrosities garbled together from other cameras, Ebay bargains, Salvation army finds...

I'm not bitter about this, either. What makes a good photograph isn't about what you use, but about the person behind the camera. It's about how you use what you have to create what you want. For me, it's about the freedom to experiment as I please, to fly by the seat of my trousers, and to screw up five thousand times to get one good image. I don't mind. The journey is just as important to me as the destination. Generally, the destination at least proves interesting if not exactly what I wanted in the first place.