analogue romance: why i travel with a film camera
3,2,1... cheese!
I overpacked in every way possible for my first long trip.
Having never been away for more than 3 weeks I foolishly thought I’d need everything from Imodium to microphones on my epic 6-month Asian adventure. Unsurprisingly, spare pairs of shoes, white clothing, and tripods ended up being binned less than four weeks in.
But the one thing I never regretted bringing with me?
My second-hand 35mm camera and 8 rolls of Portra 400.
People overcomplicate photography. I fell victim to it. Thinking I needed the fanciest film, a big medium format camera, or that overpriced celebrity-certified Contax T2.
But I’m here to tell you that you should forget all that pretentious bullshit, grab whatever ever camera is within your budget, and hit the road. The images I captured during that backpacking trip are honestly the best damn photos I’ve ever taken.
Why? Instead of planning and curating, I just experienced and shot.
The backstory
I first fell in love with film photography as a teenager. In my first A-level lesson, my class was tasked with shooting and developing a black and white 35mm roll on the school’s ancient Pentax k1000 cameras.
I was instantly captivated by the magic of the process, from setting up the image through the viewfinder, to its slow reveal on the photosensitive paper beneath the red-glow of the dark room lights. Over the years I’ve continually played with the medium; from shooting campaigns at work to carrying disposable cameras at music festivals.
So when the time came, it only felt natural to take a point-and-shoot with me on my travels.
The camera
I wanted something hardy and reliable but not expensive or precious in case I lost or broke it along the way (spoiler alert: I did, it got left in a Malaysian bus station). The camera I landed on was the Samsung AF Zoom 1050.
Fully automatic, big fat zoom, 35mm, and only £15 on eBay. Don’t get stuck thinking you also have to buy this exact one, honestly just look online or in your local camera shop for anything automatic and try it out.
What’s the harm?
Getting film developed
I anticipated bringing all my film home with me to develop here in the UK, but, as my travels continued I became increasingly concerned about the amount of times my exposed film was passing through airport X-rays. Although I’m not sure if this is mythical, some people report their film being fried by hand luggage scanners. This isn’t ideal if that roll is full of onece-in-a-lifetime photographs of you hiking up a mountain or watching sunsets on a tropical island.
To combat this issue I started seeking photo labs in each major city I visited. Here are a few of the best I found: 📸
Chaing Mai, Thailand - POINT AND SHOOT
Bangkok, Thailand - Brotherhood Film Lab
Hanoi, Vietnam - Chiu Lab
HCM, Vietnam - LLAB
Not only were they all more affordable than film development here in the UK, they were all better quality with a quicker turnaround. Win win.
The best things come to those who wait
Everything is so instant to us in modern life but this doesn’t apply when you’re travelling. You spend hours in buses, sleeper trains, and airports. You live fine without the internet or the common-place conveniences of your home.
I slowed down both mentally and physically on this trip and film photography leaned into that. I soaked up moments, snapping and praying that the finite grainy images would capture the magic of being on the back of a motorbike in Vietnam or enjoying breakfast views from our cabin in the middle of the Thai jungle.
Safe to say they did. Those 100 or less film shots each carry so much sentimentality to them in comparison to the thousands of videos and photos that fill my iPhone.
Even the process of waiting to get them developed is exciting. Eager to drop off the exposed roll at the lab and watching my emails had me feeling like a kid on Christmas morning.
Enough said, I hope this inspires you enough to swap out your iPhone for a camera on your next trip, even if it’s just a disposable from snappy snaps.
Stay broke, shoot film.
By becca mae x
Obsessed with this post, you've inspired me!! I have a trip to Portugal coming up in April and I will for SURE be snagging a second-hand camera prior. Gorgeous photos, and always in search of slowing down on vacation, ie, not getting bogged down taking 9000 iPhone photos of the same thing, trying to get the "perfect shot" 🙄. I love your approach!
amazing photos ❤️