Shooting on Film at a Festival
When it comes to shooting film, there is no such thing as too much hassle, you’ve already opted out of convenience, so you might as well be prepared to take your clunky camera and a box of film with you anywhere. In my case, Noisily festival! Set in the heart of Leicestershire, this British woodland festival is the love child of electronic dance music and Mother Nature. Over the course of a long weekend, our feet flirt with the dusty forest floor as the deep bass, pumped out from wooden stages, ignites the senses of people that have come from all over the world. I have been to this festival four years in a row now and I can honestly say I’ve never met such a creative and welcoming community. Having received my first medium format camera earlier in the week, I figured that this festival would be its perfect initiation.
My first hurdle would be how I was going to store my film, black and white film should to be stored under a 20°c, this is because when kept at higher temperatures the film can deteriorate and the quality of the pictures will be effected. Some people even keep their film in the fridge to protect its longevity. However, we all know how hot it can get inside a tent and I was not going to have access to a fridge. I had to be resourceful, what I did have access to was a couple packs of cold lager. So I wedged my box of expired FP4 in between the cans and put an old hippy blanket over the top to shield it from as much light and dust as possible, this did the trick quite nicely.
Photographing at a festival was going to challenge my normal minimalist style of shooting. With the combination of harsh shadows and highlights created from the dappled shade of the forest and the crazy festival – goer outfits, there was going to be nothing minimal about these shots. I often find comfort in photographing landscapes and architecture, street style photography has never really been something that called for me. One of the reasons being that when I photograph strangers I feel as if I’m intruding and I’m not very good at being inconspicuous so I always get caught in the act of taking their shot and it always ends up in a bit of an awkward to and fro. However, at a festival, no one gives a damn. They’re all too busy dancing with their faces to the sunshine, completely absorbed by the energy radiating from the speakers. I wanted to capture people that seemed to be lost in a different consciousness, below are two of the people I photographed. One had dance moves that seemed to transcend from a higher being and the other had dancers hypnotized with his perfected poi skills.
After taking photos at the front of one of the stages I weaved my way back through the crowd, in doing so I received a rather firm tap on the shoulder. Spinning around I was greeted by a gentleman who I at once assumed was one of the professional photographers hired by the festival. He had two digital cameras with enormous lenses strapped across his body like a suit of armor. I thought maybe he was there to tell me that only authorized members with press passes were allowed to photograph the festival, but of course he wasn’t. He pointed down at my 1980’s analogue camera and with a furrowed brow looked back at me and planted a solid thumbs up in the space between us, “That’s old-school, keep it up!” For a brief moment, the two worlds of photography, digital and analogue, had met for a pit-stop of appreciation amongst the dancers, we exchanged pleasantries before weaving off in separate directions back into the crowd.
Heading back out into the, ever so slightly, calmer areas of the festival I reverted back to picking out smaller details of the environment. I’m convinced that you can’t find better clothes than the ones within festival markets and I always enjoy daydreaming my way around the stalls flicking my hands through a plethora of fabrics. Another small envelope of peace in such an intense environment can be tucking yourself away somewhere quiet and people watching, an idea this lady and I had in common.
Whilst getting used to a new camera you will always make mistakes, but just because they weren’t intended doesn’t mean they won’t be happy accidents. There were numerous accounts when I had forgotten to roll onto my next shot before taking another photograph, this meant I had exposed the same square of film twice, resulting in a double exposure. Below is one of my favourite accidents. Every year I meet up with the same group of friends that I met the first time I went to this festival and every year since this wonderful group of kind-hearted and hilarious people have expanded in quantity. This year the growth of our Noisily family was most evident as we had expanded our HQ from one gazebo to two, this was a big deal! As I tiptoed around guide ropes towards our camping base I saw the ever so familiar scene of friends chatting and catching up on a year’s worth of stories. I stopped and quickly snapped a shot unnoticed, hoping to immortalise the memory. Little did I know, that I had forgotten to roll onto a new shot and I had taken a photo over a self-portrait I had taken in a mirror by the clothing stalls moments before. Resulting in a beautiful photographic paradox, both the subject and the photographer captured in the same frame. I love this shot so much, my friends framed within the photo by the frame of the mirror I had taken my own picture in. The silver details of the camera cutting through that second exposure to reveal the source of the photograph. A photo of the photographer, photographing her friends. It’s soft, warm and slightly confusing which perfectly encapsulates the Noisily experience.
Combining two of my passions in life, was such a fulfilling experience. I took my time to watch and study the details and people that belong to this alternate universe that makes up just one weekend of the year. I was able to teach and share with my friends a love for traditional methods and I embraced the slower pace.
As I’ve mentioned before in previous blogs, I always meet new people when I have this camera with me. This time, the most note-worthy character was a fellow photographer, Barney de la Cloche. He’s a travel and surf photographer from Jersey. If I were you, I’d go check out his work on his Instagram @apexiso or on his website apexiso.photo because he’s going to be cropping up in my next few blog posts.
Next stop, Jersey!
Eleanor x
P.s. Here are a few more snaps
