There is something special about the way a photograph feels when it is made on film. From the moment light reaches the frame to the final print, film photography brings a depth and character that can make an image feel beautifully alive.
Kodak Portra 400
As a fashion photographer, I love the care that shooting on film invites. Each frame asks you to slow down, notice the light and make a deliberate choice. I like to shoot on film whenever I can, especially for my one-to-one portraiture sessions, where there’s time to connect with someone and let the photographs unfold naturally.
Kodak Ultramax 400
The tones are a large part of that appeal. Film renders colour, light and shadow with a softness and richness that feels distinctive. Skin can look luminous; highlights roll off gently; shadows hold their atmosphere. Digital photography offers its own flexibility and precision, but film has a quality that can feel harder to reproduce. The result is not simply an image with a vintage look. It’s a photograph with texture, nuance and a sense of presence.
For a London based photographer, the city offers endless places to explore this quality. Changing skies, reflections in shop windows, soft light in a studio or the last warmth of an evening street all take on their own character on film. Those small variations are part of the pleasure: the finished image carries the feeling of the moment in which it was made.
Kodak Portra 400
That feeling belongs just as naturally in a personal project as it does in a commissioned fashion shoot. On a personal project, film gives you room to follow an instinct and see where it leads. For a client, it can bring a collection or campaign an individual visual language: tactile, intimate and considered. And in a one-to-one portraiture setting, the slower pace can help create space for a relaxed, personal experience.
There is also the practical side. Film and processing cost more, and each frame is a limited resource. But for me, that investment is part of what makes the work worthwhile. You are investing in a particular way of seeing, in the craft of the process and in images with a depth and character that feel enduring.
Ilford HP5 Plus (ISO 400)
The beauty of film photography is not only in how the photographs look. It is in how they are made: with attention, patience and trust in the moment. Whether I’m shooting for myself, working with a fashion client or photographing someone one to one, film continues to offer tones, texture and feeling that make every frame feel worth it.
