It has been about five months since the 5ft.mag website opened. In that time, the film photos uploaded by readers have passed 5,000 frames. Here we pull out twelve of them.
First, how we chose. We did not pick by most viewed or best received. From the uploaded photos we took one frame each from twelve different photographers, and set the order by light, season and place. The twelve do not represent all 5,000 frames.
The film and camera listed under each photo were entered by the photographer when submitting. Submitted photos are also attached to the matching film's page in the film catalog, so these entries help other readers choose a film. In the photo descriptions, the editors wrote only what can be seen in the picture. Click a photographer's name to see all the photos they have uploaded.
Nights and Lights
We start with three night photos. A snowy street, long streaming lights and indoor lamps beyond glass come in turn.
The one at the top is by @seongbokchoi. On a snowy night, a person with an umbrella walks past a shop. Because the film is black and white, the shop lights remain only as brightness, without color. The photographer captioned it 「천둥번개를 동반한 폭설이 오던 날.」
A person in a black knit hat holds pink lilies close to their face and looks this way. Lights stream long behind. Cinestill 800T is balanced for tungsten light, so it is often used at night under artificial lighting like this.
Warm light fills the room beyond the glass, and one person sits inside. It was shot with Kodak UltraMax 400 in a Minolta X-700.
Moments in Motion
The next two catch bodies in motion. A football pitch and a skate park.
The goalkeeper dives, and in front of the keeper two players stretch a leg toward the ball. Shot from above, the white line in front of the goal cuts across the frame. Kodak Vision3 250D, a motion picture film, in its AHU version, was loaded into a Canon EOS 1.
A person hangs in the air together with a skateboard. According to the photographer's caption, it is a test ride at the skate park in Nohae Neighborhood Park. It was shot with Fujifilm 200 in a Minolta HI-MATIC AF2.
Blossoms, a Bridge and a Big Wall
Now, people within scenery. In these three, people appear small against the scenery.
Under a tree with pink blossoms, people have gathered in a park. It was shot on Kodak Gold 200, and the camera is not listed.
A bridge and small figures show through the branches. Fujifilm Neopan Acros II 100, a black-and-white film, was loaded into a Nikon FM2.
Two people walk along a huge building wall. It was shot with Kodak ColorPlus 200 in a Nikon F3 HP.
Facing a Wall, Facing the Sea
The next two are places where someone faces something. One is a gallery wall, the other is the sea.
People looking at a gallery wall remain as silhouettes. The Yashica 635 is a twin-lens reflex camera with two lenses, one above the other.
Two parasols stand before the blue sea. The film is CANDIDO 800 and the camera a Cosina CX-2.
Two Long Panoramas
The last two were shot in the 6x17 format. Both photographers listed the camera as a Fuji G617. A roll of 120 film holds only four frames, and each frame is about three times as wide as it is tall.
Among trees reaching upward, light comes through gaps in the leaves. Foma Ortho 400 is an orthochromatic black-and-white film that does not respond to red light.
Containers of many colors are stacked in layers. The photographer's caption is a single word, 「오쇠동」. The OptiColour 200 that 5ft.mag covered earlier came out first in 120 format.
Closing
Set side by side, the twelve differ in film, camera and format. No film appears twice, and the only camera that appears twice is the Fuji G617, used for the two 6x17 frames. There is a 1980s autofocus camera loaded with motion picture film, and a photo with no camera listed. So what does the film name in a caption tell us? It does not explain the scene, but it does tell us what tool was used to capture it. Next time you choose a film, it may be worth a look at the captions of these twelve.
Our thanks to the twelve who each shared a frame. The same goes to everyone whose photos we could not include this time. We look forward to your next photos. You can submit with the “Upload my photo” button on the home page.
