Is Film Photography Pretentious?

Indie music, craft beer, band tees, and so on. There are a number of common threads that seem to run through the strange mix of people that are now shooting film. What do all of these things have in common. For a start, they could all be considered pretentious.
To be pretentious is, "attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed."
For many, there can be no question that film photography probably is a pretentious endeavor. However, I think instead of being a negative, pejorative word, being pretentious is actually OK. I talk little about the Dan Fox book, "Pretentiousness And Why It Matters." His idea that being pretentious is largely aspirational.
Whether you are shooting 35mm, 120 medium format, or large format - shooting analog is a little pretentious - and that's OK.
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#FilmPhotography #AnalogPhotography

[@Overexposed1]

Because many won’t watch to the end, the point of the video is that even if film is pretentious, that’s okay - because being pretentious is okay.

[@jms3082]

You’d make a good defense attorney!!

[@BillLovesFilm]

I’m a Gen X-er. My love for film goes back to my twenties when high-end medium format and 35mm gear was coveted and waaay out of reach for me or almost anyone who wasn’t using it to make a living. I got back into film around 2014 when I noticed that Hasselblad and even Leica were selling for peanuts (yes peanuts in 2014) and at this life stage were suddenly very affordable. My enjoyment, pride of ownership and sheer joy I experience using these tools I could only dream about previously-it’s a dream come true. Not caring what other people think is one of the true human superpowers.

[@JPWineberg]

This is so interesting! I'm 57 and started shooting film in the 70's. I love that film photography is making a comeback. This allows me to return to what I love. Am I pretentious by dusting off my old film cameras, lenses and knowledge? I even went a step further and bought an M6 two years ago. I love the new resources out there. I love that there is a new generation carrying on old methods. I can still shoot TriX and load my old Nikon FE2 and my new M6 with 36 exposures!

[@bbox2haejo]

right on, i needed a change from digital and started shooting film. its so different and therefore fun!

[@bondgabebond4907]

How old are you? When were you born? According to your age, you were born in 1966, making you very young in the 70s. I was born in 1949 and started shooting in 1972. I shot with Pentax Spotmatic F, Canon FTB, Nikon FE2 and F2. Did own a 6x6 and 6x7 cameras for a while. Today, no more film, no more processing. No more toxic chemicals. Just fun shooting lots of things, learning some of the crazy features of my Sony A7CR.

[@JPWineberg]

@@bondgabebond4907 my 3rd grade teacher introduced us to pinhole cameras and after that I was hooked! I was born in 66 and used a Canon TX during middle school and used one of our bathrooms as a dark room. I still have my Nikon FE2 that I purchased in 84.

[@robwhite461]

⁠@@bondgabebond4907 You have a valid point, but if you were given the opportunity to drive a 70’s Ferrari or Porsche, would you say no, because your 2024 car is better. You lived and experienced the 70s, some didn’t but would like to, regardless of whether now is better or not. Enjoy your A7CR you have earned it.

[@goatman7362]

I shoot film not because I’m good at it, but because im addicted to it. I simply love using old, mechanical devices and I love the resulting imperfect photos!

[@MrVash2482]

As a 36 year old who started out on a point and shoot film camera. I enjoy film because the threshold has already been met, there’s no bigger and better camera comings out year after year like there is with digital. it’s exhausting. And I really love the look of film and the entire process from start to finish.

[@UnconventionalReasoning]

Last month, I used my first roll of film in years, using a bigger and better camera that just came out... 28 years ago! 😂

[@paulmakesvideos]

First, the last minute of your video nailed it. Nice job. All I'd add is that I'm 61 and I've been shooting film since the early 70's. My cabinet is filled with old 35mm Nikons & Canons, in addition to old Mamiyas and movie cameras. I also have a modern mirrorless digital that I also enjoy. It took me too long to learn not to care what anyone thinks of my creative process. What speaks to you as a creative person? Not a "creative" looking for clicks. But, as a creative human with the heart of an artist. If it's charcoal and paper, oils and canvas, or grand dad's old Kodak, you do you. Give no f***ks to anyone's opinion about how your creativity manifests itself. Pretentiousness is a problem for the beholder. No artist needs own that.

[@Overexposed1]

Glad you made it to the end! I appreciate the comment.

[@fire_on_the_mountain]

You had me, and then you (admittedly) lost me, but I'm glad I stuck with it because you really had me by the end. Well done!

[@Overexposed1]

Thanks for taking the ride and sticking it out!

[@confrontingphotography4815]

I think there is a generational difference at work here. You speak of “Curating an aesthetic” I understand that to be a fairly new way of thinking. Yes, There have always been movements, styles, tastes but in the past these things often grew out of groups of people who lived in physical proximity to one another, there is a kind of molding that friends and colleagues do to each other that only comes from daily contact and actual interactions. Hipster culture seems to be an early example of a sub group that arises from the internet and lacks the kind of slow moving influence that friends exert upon each other. Also, your understanding of film as a hipster, nostalgic hobby certainly arises from how young you are and from when you started shooting film. (I think that description is correct, it’s just not universal.) For me, I was in graduate film school when the switch from film to digital started to gain momentum, myself and many others loathed the look and feel of early digital and were outraged that we were being asked to trade in the textures, the look, the emotions, the craft of the cinema for tools that made everything look like flat, lifeless shit. It was devastating, and we hated it, so we kept shooting film even though it was more expensive and difficult because it was what we knew, it was the tool we understood and believed in. We didn’t feel we could shoot digital because it lacked emotional credibility with us and with audiences. So for me and many of my peers we didn’t feel we had a choice. There is more to say but I’ll just end with the fact that I wear a Marmot fleece almost every day and in the majority of my videos, but I also live in the mountains.

[@lisajoseph5817]

I'm 65: Film was all we had for more of my life than digital. In a weird fit of nostalgia I hunted down the model of camera my mother first put in my hands, a pesky Kodak Duaflex that required a fair amount of hacking to get it to play nice with 120 film. Since then I acquired a nice little Yashica rangefinder, a friend recently gifted me with a beautiful Ansco folder that's just an Agfa Isolette made for the export market, and about a week ago I adopted a 1920s folding Kodak in unbelievably good condition. This morning I went out with my DSLR, the Kodak No.2 Folding Cartridge Hawkeye Model C - how's THAT for a mouthful - and the Yashica up to Point Reyes. I used the DSLR for wildlife and shot landscapes with the two film cameras. Why? Because (a) the Kodak needed a proper field test, (b) switching between three very different cameras is an excellent challenge in mindfulness, and (c) because it's FUN. The tactile feedback from these older cameras just feels good, you know? Thanks for the content. You are welcome to my lifetime allotment of IPA. It's just not my thing. ;)

[@matthewparriott]

I've gotten back into shooting film in the last two years, and I've really appreciated the process and the anticipation. The process of slowing down, being intentional, the muscle memory of memorizing F-stops and shutter speeds and manual focus and then the anticipation of getting my scans back a couple weeks after dropping a few rolls off. I also have small children which keeps me from shooting all the typical hipster subject matter 😂

[@themike97_58]

there is a certain level of impracticality to deep diving any hobby. people who deep dive coffee can spend thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) on grinders, beans, espresso machines, etc to pull the perfect shot. we film people are somewhat the same, spending thousands of dollars on cameras, lenses, sometimes even making our own darkrooms and refining development processes. I think the thing that is most important is to support others in the pursuit of their hobbies. Digital photography is a lot more practical and cost effective and its not useful to criticize a hobbyist for shooting digital just because we think film is better. I think thats where a lot of the pretentious stigma comes from.

[@imxg]

photography is art. as the artist, choose the tools required to fulfill your vision the best. if that is film, for reasons of the process, the tones, whatever really, that is not pretentious at all. I would also argue that digital trickery like filters hardly gets us close or even better results to film. get me a filter or something that truly looks like velvia 50, seriously, I'd be thankful! I tried getting the RVP look digitally for ages but eventually gave up and just bought the real thing as I deemed all editing unsatisfying...

[@bisaillion]

"How many of those film photographers are wearing beanies or band t's?" * looks down. looks up. hits like * I feel attacked personally, but also seen lol

[@Overexposed1]

I only know because most of them are me too. Lol

[@phil_aesthetics]

I am learning something new with film photography and it's been changing the way I shoot digital and how I edit my pictures. I think everyone should learn film at some point. I did back in college so now I am just doing a return to it.

[@123moe]

for me it's less about aesthetic, and more about wanting an escape from the digital world. It's often overwhelming, and increasingly impossible to tell if a photo is real, AI generated, or somewhere in between and film is something of an antidote to that. I don't do it to share it online, I do it to ground myself with something I (silly or not) view as "real".

[@thomas_dries]

Photography is photography. If you’re making images that’s all that matters. I personally prefer to make my images on my large format camera and I don’t think my choice of camera makes me any better or any less than other photographers.

[@Bonsees]

Let’s be pretentious together 😌✨✨

[@Overexposed1]

All day, every day!

[@digicalanalogital-fz3jp]

I've only recently gotten into film after 2 decades of pure digital. Still use digital for wildlife and wouldn't think of attempting that on film. The reason I got into film was two fold, one, simply wanted to give it a try and make life more difficult for myself because apparently I'm a masochist, second, and most important, I realised my digital shots of my kid were simply going into a hard drive or phone, thousands of shots being ignored and just sitting there, never to be looked at again. That made me remember my old albums from when I was a kid, how you look at those photos and they bring a memory and a conversation about that holiday, that birthday, that Xmas. . . . I simply wanted my kid to have that when she grows up. To reach for the albums and have a tactile experience instead of projecting them on her holographic tablet or whatever the technology will be in 20 years. Don't get me wrong, film photography doesnt make any practical sense, but again, few hobbies do IMO, I don't think photography is either/or between digital and film. I very much enjoy both but from completely different perspectives. To me film captures memories, while digital captures facts and reality. Each to their own I suppose. Now Kodak please chill out with the prices my dude!

[@Overexposed1]

Hope you enjoy the ride! Thanks for stopping in,

[@olivierdujardin8426]

If photography is a hobby for many, film photography has become a hobby's hobby for a few. I used to shoot 120 film, I miss slowing down, sometimes. I certainly do not miss waiting days for slides back from the lab and paying for them to find out half of them did not cut the mustard.

[@Olvlmathscience]

I am a millenial and i found piles of dusty black and white photos in drawer at home. I also found a broken mechanical camera in the same drawer. I realised that i didn't appreciate my digital photos in my phone or digital camera much because they came so easily so I send the camera for repairs and it came back great. The photo taking process with a mechanical camera is relatively slower and more deliberate. Definitely slows me down and allow me the chance to tell people why i took the photo ( instead of mindlessly snapping photos without knowing why).

[@akseljohnson6146]

I shoot film because it’s a much more satisfying and meaningful experience and best of all it’s real. It can’t vanish when my phone breaks or my memory gets corrupted.

[@tobinsphotovideo]

I shoot film because I have a 4K equivalent hard copy of the photo or movie that will outlive me by 100 years plus. The other reasons are bonuses.

[@normapadro420]

I use digital cameras, because I couldn't find a place to develope my films. It was out of hardship that I made the change. I'm not into anything special in photography. I just enjoy what happens behind a lens. I like what I see when I download the image on to the computer. 😊

[@doozledumbler5393]

I shoot film because I like film photography.😊

[@theangrymarmot8336]

I am from a small town on the other side of Kentucky (Benton) and somehow I escaped without the accent. It is amazing that because of that, many people where I have lived the last two decades (Phoenix, AZ) don't believe I came from that part of the country. One the topic of the video, I am deep into three main hobbies/lifestyles and they all have strong stereotypes (Photography, Firearms, and Technology/Maker.) It is absolutely hilarious when I meet someone, through someone who knows me - which is usually because I have been recommended to do something for that person and they say something along the lines of "Oh, you aren't what I thought you would be." I politely suggest they ignore stereotypes as the amount of people that fit into societies little pre-made classification boxes are small. I think the main reason people do these things are to somehow mask or justify their own insecurities, failures, ignorance, or missed opportunities. And I don't say that as an insult - we all have them - it is just some people handle things differently than others. Some people can't handle not justifying/knowing/understanding/or being skilled at something so their defense mechanism is to apply a negative or dismissive aura to it. Society has spent centuries (and still is actively doing so) trying to divide and typecast people and it is really hard for some people to acknowledge why that isn't a good practice and move past the behavior. We all do it to some extent - the skill is to realize it is happening, intercept, and change your thinking on the fly. I have also learned that when I am enjoying the things I love to do - to ignore those who try to cast it in a negative way. Once you gain the skill of not caring what others think - it is like a huge burden has been lifted.

[@beardbandwidth8821]

I shoot film. Having a tangible negative is a huge bonus over lost or corrupt storage drives. I have the choice of storing digitally if i wish. On another note, imagine if there was an emp attack. Only mechanical cameras would be able to record the aftermath...

[@shang-hsienyang1284]

I don't think shooting film is pretentious, but shooting a digital camera styled like a film camera and pretending that their photography would magically becomes better could be somewhat pretentious. My main film cameras including EOS1V, F6, a7, F80, EOS 300X all look like digital cameras. I don't care if people think that I am shooting digital or film.

[@asamcqueen3513]

Getting the "film" look isn't just about film (though I'm absolutely guilty of shooting a lot of film, I'm not saying don't shoot film, no no no, please go shoot more film), optics play a role. And it's going to be easier to introduce digital grain than it is spherical aberration, or a particular rendering characteristic digitally. Also with you on the craft beer, just not the IPAs... stouts and porters forever. I've also definitely taken polaroids of my beer at a craft brewery before.

[@henryrogan2771]

I drink my coffee black and prefer film to digital. Digital has it's advantages, but it has one major Achilles' heel. It is technology dependent. What will technology be 20 years hence? Will your digital photos suffer the same fate as 8 track tapes and VCRs ? Film, in particular black and white photographs can last for 100 years or more. I will soon be traveling to the Philippines and will have the once in a lifetime opportunity to photograph 4 generations in one picture. I want my grand daughter to be able to show her grand daughter those that came before her. You can bet I will be shooting black and white film. Because you know what? digital would be irresponsible.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

You were so articulate in the video. I hope we all learn the right lessons.

[@Overexposed1]

Thank you! This one was a really fun one to make.

[@UnconventionalReasoning]

As a professional pretentious person, the aspect of film photography that seems silly is using color negative film and then editing the scanned image in LR. Especially Kodak Gold 200, the most boring film in the world, at the time it was released.

[@spookisghostly4619]

I definitely grew up in a rural area. I can get how some people might look at us photographing and think we're a little off. it's definite ly a niche that's not well understood, especially if you dress in a strange way like I tend to lol

[@CalumetVideo]

Great video and some interesting insight. As for me, it never concerned me with what people think. If I am running around with my Leica M3, M5, Hasselblad 500 C/M, or Toyo 45A, some think I am pretentious, but I have worked up to those brands, and I actually see why some prefer the Leica’s and Hasselblads. I enjoy film photography, it gives me two advantages a hard copy negative and a digital file. I enjoy printing black and white in the darkroom and color on the large format inkjet printer. Maybe it makes me sound pretentious or look pretentious but I am anything but pretentious! To be honest some of my best photographs were also taken on Nikon F3, F5 and the Bronica SQ-B. I say use what you have and work up to what you want! If you can afford a Leica or Hasselblad, go straight for it, otherwise you will be muddling through cameras until you get the tools you want! Cheers to good light!!!!!!

[@The_Truck_Photo_Agency]

I shoot large format because all my competitors in my space (trucking media) shoot digital. Gotta stand out somehow. Signed, A recovering videographer.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Technically speaking, I did grow up with film photography for a while. Getting that Kodak Album at the Photo Studio was an event.

[@RudolfWolph]

Digital will get me usable images more reliably than film, but film will motivate me to actually take some pictures more reliably than digital. I just have more fun with it, and I can think of nothing less pretentious than just following your gut instinct to do things that make you happy.

[@JasonClarkRides]

I have shot film for over 40 years. If you look at some of the greatest movies ever shot buy some of the greatest cinematographers many would prefer to shoot film. Sometimes it does not make sense financially but it does make sense aesthetically one of my favorite shot on film movies is leaving Las Vegas all of the strip scenes were shot on a 16 mm camera enter visually stunning

[@acrummey85]

Excellent argument. Pretentious is okay.

[@Overexposed1]

Thank you!

[@janedoe678]

I have one of the cheap Kodak half frame cameras, and I don't find that pretentious. I try to shoot each pair of images as diptychs and it forces me to think out of the box and be more creative and selective because film and processing can get expensive. But I also have a RolleiFlex Automat 4. It's definitely pretentious! But every time I go out and shoot with it, people want to look at it, so it's a great way to talk to new people and get people excited about a camera that doesn't come attached to a phone.

[@sjones1017]

If film photography is pretentious (at least in the pejorative sense), then it would have to be through its inception. Or if not, then almost any artistic medium pre-digital could be called pretentious. And this, of course, would be ludicrous.

[@headwerkn]

Film photography isn’t pretentious. Humans are just easily annoyed by hipsters. Mostly for legitimate reasons, though the copycat mentality of particular aesthetics portrayed on KZbin definitely amplifies both the cliché and the subsequent attack against said cliché. Wearing a beanie in summer is definitely weird though. No two ways about it. 😂

[@ckhicks]

Right on man 📷

[@Overexposed1]

Thanks for watching!

[@lesberkley3821]

Aged Boomer here, taking a break from destroying the world to say that I like old film cameras because they aren't complicated. I mostly shoot digital, because I like the "clean" look a lot of the time, but every time the camera decides to pick the subject for me, or whatever, I loose the serenity of my 'wa'. I mean, sure, my cameras often start conversations, but no one has called me pretentious. (Should I try harder?) The film look is different from digital. Not better or worse, just different. Sure, film is expensive, but so is the digital "upgrade" treadmill (which I fall on sometimes). I bought a Nikon FM for $70.00, while friends are telling me I 'need' a Nikon Z8 (a great camera, btw) which costs $3,900 without any of the super-expensive S-line lenses I also 'need'. If the total cost is $5,000, that's between 300 and 500 rolls of film.

[@jacquesgude]

😂Just about spat out my coffee (which I’d made with my Bodum French press, measured on a scale at a ratio of 13:1, with Illy coffee I’d hand ground for the occasion) at 2:18, my Contax G2 within reach. Been looking at getting another M6, which was how I eventually landed on this video (after watching several others by various ‘tubers, including yours on your M6 Titanium/ Emu. If that makes me fake, I don’t ever want to be real. Maybe the thing that saves me is I shot film through the 70s, 80s and 90s, before switching to digital in 2003, so I’m returning to the medium, rather than coming from a generation raised in a digital world.

[@Overexposed1]

You missed the point

[@GTAYLOR1972]

I am 51 and think it’s funny now people think film photography is pretentious. I mean when I started film was the only medium available. I am just simply happy I was able to buy a Leica in a price range I could afford and can still shoot film. I guess if that makes me pretentious- Well. 🤷‍♂😂

[@gregwardecke]

I’m probably one of nine Boomers that follow your channel. Oddly, I don’t think film photographers are pretentious at all because they reaffirm ME!! 😁 Do people who sketch, draw, pen and ink, watercolor, oil on canvas, acrylic on substrate, ceramics or even wood turning defend their art from attack? Or do we assume people care more than they do? Monet painted his Water Lillies series late 1890s. Mass market domestic photography was making its entry about the same time. Was Monet a pretentious hipster with his dandy bow tie and robust full beard painting along the banks of a serene pond? He probably went home and drank a fruity red with a crusty piece of bread (torn not sliced) and some earthy Roquefort cheese.

[@michaelsherck5099]

I'm 66 and have been photographing with film for more than 30 years. The reason is simple: chick magnet. Better than a puppy. 😮

[@Overexposed1]

Can’t argue with that!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

‘Pretentious’ is a very misunderstood term at this point. (With exceptions of course)

[@MarcoRoepers]

Love the proces and the tangibilty of film. I don't see myself as someone who makes art.. Kind of hobby

[@pd1jdw630]

Ah yeah having a stack of dead hard drives with maybe the hope to get my kids photos from them. Beats the odds of stacks of envelopes with negatives which will only be gone with a house fire. 🤷🏻‍♂️ is it pretentious? Idc My dad showed me the magic of chemistry that can make a picture. I was a wee little kid. And grew up in the analog world. I embraced the digital world after. But I miss the analog. So, let me be old or pretentious. I love your videos , thanks for making them.

[@donjagoe]

Dang, that was great!

[@standupstraight9691]

I hate mumford and sons, hipsters in general and craft beer. I shoot film because I'm easily bored. And I don't talk about it with anyone so I'm not out to impress.

[@MichaelZieschang]

In Germany we are a car nation as you may know. If anyone asks me about film photography I explain that I just love to drive an old classy car to get to the grocery store. And I love Rammstein and Amon Amarth. Is this pretentious ? I don't care.

[@photography_jsk]

Contemplative, artistic, pretentious... film was none of those things back in its heyday. It was a means to an end. If you wanted to take pictures, you bought film, and it was available pretty much everywhere, both brand names and store brands. Hard to call Piggly Wiggly or ShopRite-branded film pretentious, know what I mean? Dropping off your film at the same supermarket where you bought it or a tiny Fotomat booth was just what you needed to do to see those pics of your vacation or that party you went to. I shoot film because it is the medium I grew up shooting, so I'm used to the mindset I have while using it. Yes, digital is great, but it's different, and requires a different mindset. Is that being pretentious? I don't know.

[@myoung48281]

I've never been able to make my digital shots look like film. Somebody show me how, I'll do it. Yea, I got Silver FX and all that , it's still not the same.

[@ToddDeSilva]

Is it pretentious…it can be for sure. I love your explanation though. Weeks and weeks to get your film developed!?! Dude you need a new lab lol. I’m assuming your some what joking. The lab I got develops and scans in a couple days. With the beer thing, totally guilty, but I find the usual name brand stuff pretty weak and watered down. Also the city where I live in Canada, we have like 10+ micro breweries lol total hipster.

[@c.augustin]

If Peter McKinnon is calling film photography pretentious - he might actually say something about himself in this statement. I'm not sure if he's aware of this.

[@dct124]

Pretentious? No. Sounds like it came from someone that either doesn't shoot film, or doesn't know how to take film to the next level. Shoot film, scan to digital, then reshoot digitally or vice versa. Shoot digitally, then convert to film, then scan to digital which what Christopher Nolan did for Oppenheimer, also done on The Batman and Dune I & II. Film has an organic feel whether emulation or digitally scanned. The way film plays with light is exceptional.

[@jamesbarnes3063]

Great video

[@Overexposed1]

Thanks James!

[@StanleyKubick1]

the yt film scene is definitely filled with pretentious people who are just milking it for content and driving up 2nd hand prices

[@stevenmeitner8477]

Film, like fedoras or anything else, only becomes pretentious when you start doing it to impress someone else.

[@Overexposed1]

And the point of the video, is that all of those things are OK. It’s okay to be aspirational with our hobbies, food, or whatever else.

[@craynotcreigh]

I dunno about all that, I just think it’s fun.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

5:03 Awwwwwwwwwww

[@bbg385]

I get called that all the time and you are so right

[@theblackandwhitefilmproject]

Photo stacking to get the perfect image; Lightroom slider full Left ( or Right - I don't know because I don't use LR!); adding a milky way to get the 'perfect' photo; moaning that AI is spoiling photography when most of the photo was created by AI anyway - now THAT is pretentious!

[@Overexposed1]

You did not get to the conclusion of the video it would seem

[@ShaggNasty-yk1ie]

I just don't understand why you want to shoot film. The expense, the effort of developing. Limited exposures, etc. Only to digitise the negative to display it on line. If you want the film look, software will take care of that. Is the aesthetic of the old cameras and lenses more important than the quality of the images? Not for me.