Show Me What You Love!
A Group Photography Project
4 min read by Kent, with image(s) by Dmitri.Published on . Updated on .
Early in 2018, I had an idea to send a few point-and-shoot cameras to random photographers or persons around the world. The point of the project was for the subject to shoot what they loved, liked or anything that meant a lot.
I wanted to have a look at the world through someone else’s life; this is the way I went.
A Redditor in the Analog Community posted a question about film projects. I suggested my idea. A few people seemed interested, which gave me the inspiration to pursue it further.
The Reddit OP, Nate, got an expired 2017 Kodak Sport 400 that I sent over to him personally. Another person from Instagram got my Fuji 400 point-and-shoot camera. Unfortunately, he never returned the camera. These things do happen.
Nate’s photos came back along with his message:
Taking photos with a disposable camera was new to me. I’ve shot plenty of film before, but giving up complete control of all of the settings was a challenge. It’s severely limiting creatively, but it’s also somewhat freeing as it forces me to focus completely on the composition… It was definitely a ton of fun though. Very interesting to see how it all turned out in the end when I felt like it was mostly out of my control. If you’ve got the chance to shoot one of these cameras for fun, definitely do it! — Nate.
I later reached out to Dmitri with the same request: “Show me what you love!”
This time he shot his father’s old FED 5 camera with Fuji C200 film. He shipped the film to Lago Vista Film Lab, which I had processed for him and added to the project.
I live in Vancouver, which could be an incredibly beautiful place to be at on a good day. On a bad day, it could be very grim. ‘Suppose I cheated a bit here with my dad’s Soviet optics over what Nate had at his disposal, but I’m not sorry. FED could be a pain in the ass at times but it can also produce fantastic colours and its fun remembering the joy my father had with this little tool a few decades ago. Pictured are, first, a view of Mt. Baker, across the border in Washington. Some say it has the heaviest snow cover on the planet. Next photo is the red maple as seen in the fall. This type of tree isn’t very common in Ontario, where I spent most of my Canadian life, its colours are quite something. The last photo is from my kitchen where some of the best food I am lucky enough to devour is made. As my wife’s sous-chef, my duties are to wash dishes and chop stuff once in a while, which is a sweet deal, really. — Dmitri.