Keep the Faith

February 9, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

I’ve been somewhat disillusioned with film photography, of late. It happens once every couple of years, this questioning of my faith in analogue. Sometimes it’s as shallow as finding out that yet another photographer, whose work I admire, has jumped onto the digital ship and sailed away. But most of the time, it’s down to one uncomplicated factor. Money. Every roll of film I shoot, whether 35mm or medium format, costs about £15 – £5 for the film and £10 […]

Categories: film photography, photojournalism • Tags: 6x7, film camera, film photography, fishing, I shoot film, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 800, negative, pentax 67, portra 160, scallops

Embrace the Shadows

October 14, 2017 by Phil Kneen Photography

They’re everywhere – peachy coloured, backlit portraits of redheads and brides, shot on Kodak Portra 400, over-exposed by 5 stops and metered for the shadows. These images have become, in analogue photography, what HDR is to digital… I don’t even know the word? What’s so hackneyed and worn-out that it goes beyond cliché? This method of shooting colour negative film has become so prevalent that it now seems to be the default, photographers ‘shooting at box speed’ has become the minority. […]

Categories: film photography • Tags: 6x7, analogue, colour, film, film camera, film photography, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, isle of man, kodak portra 400, negative, pentax 67, personal project, portrait

An early morning with Matt Creer

April 20, 2017 by Phil Kneen Photography

For the second time in about three years, I’ve been working with Matt Creer, shooting the artwork for his latest album. I liked the photographs we made in back then, which I shot on digital. However, we are both in agreement that these recent images, shot on film, unquestionably have a depth and an almost fourth dimension that the 2014 shots lacked. Photo sessions with Matt are always enjoyable, despite the odd 5am start; in a city, this wouldn’t represent […]

Categories: film photography, Music, Photography • Tags: 35mm, 6x7, canadian film lab, film photography, fuji superia 400, kodak portra 400, Matt Creer, portrait

Baggage Allowance

August 10, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

When I was a kid my parents never used to tell me I was going on holiday… I’d just become over-excited and unbearable for the days or weeks before departure. I remember, on several occasions, getting home from infant school and being asked if I’d had a wee and a poo – then being bundled into the back of the family VW Beetle, falling asleep almost immediately and waking-up, hours later, in a campsite in Scotland or North Wales, or […]

Categories: film photography, Photography, photojournalism • Tags: 160nc, 6x6, 6x7, 80mm, art, black and white, canada, colour, Epson v700, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji film, fuji pro 400H, Holga panoramic 6x12cm, I shoot film, isle of man, kodak portra 400, mamiya 7II, negative, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait, UK Film Lab, yellowknife

Look into my eyes…

July 10, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

Categories: eyes, fashion, Photography, woman • Tags: 6x6, 6x7, black and white, camera, colour, digital, film, film camera, film photography, fuji film, fuji instax 200, fuji pro 400H, fuji X-pro1, I shoot film, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 400, mamiya 645 pro tl, mamiya 7II, negative, nikkor 35mm 1.4, nikon D800E, Olympus mju II, Peak imaging, peel, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait, Simon Campbell, VSCO, VSCO FILM

“It’s not the camera…”

June 22, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

“It’s not the camera that makes the photograph, it’s the photographer” – or is it? I recently read an article in The British Journal of Photography… it was an interview with Magnum photojournalist, Raymond Depardon. The veteran French photographer – now in his early 70s – was asked, “What are your fears now?” His answer surprised me, considering he is rated as an A-lister in the world of photography… but, at the same time, I totally related to it. “As […]

Categories: model, Photography, photojournalism • Tags: 6x6, 6x7, 80mm, art, black and white, camera, colour, digital, Epson v700, film camera, film photography, fuji film, fuji GW690III, fuji instax 200, fuji pro 400H, fuji X-pro1, I shoot film, instant film, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 400, mamiya 645 pro tl, mamiya 7II, negative, nikkor 35mm 1.4, nikon D800E, Olympus mju II, peel, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait, VSCO, VSCO FILM

“Pourrais-je vous prendre en photo , s’il vous plaît ?”

June 11, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

I had a couple of short/medium-term projects planned for this year – however, due to a few personal issues I’ve been unable to concentrate on them. Consequently, they’ve been either put on hold, or cancelled altogether. Photography projects are no different to any other creative venture, such as filmmaking, writing a novel or making an album… some ideas take-off, others don’t. This September I’m going to be heading down to south-west France, to the coastline that runs almost dead-straight from […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: 6x7, 6x9cm, colour, film, film camera, film photography, fine art, france, fuji film, fuji GW690III, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 400, Lacanau Océan, mamiya 7II, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait, surf, surfers

Poles Apart

June 9, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

I believe that the genre of ‘people photography’ can be separated into three distinct categories  – neutral, negative and positive. Neutral photographs are the trivial and meaningless images we see everyday on the likes of Facebook – friends on a night out, snaps of your partner eating the meal you just prepared, selfies… these images neither give anything or take anything away, either artistically or emotionally. Next is the negative category. Here are the photographs that violate, make lives worse […]

Categories: Photography, photojournalism • Tags: 6x6, 6x7, black and white, camera, colour, film, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji film, fuji GW690III, fuji instax 200, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, inventive, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 400, mamiya 7II, negative, Peak imaging, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait

A Trip down Memory Lane

May 28, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

I began my professional photography career in 1987, the job was advertised as ‘Entertainment and Nightclub Photographer’ and it stated, quite clearly, that applicants must be over the age of 21 – I was 17 at the time, but applied anyway, lied about my age and experience and got the job. The Isle of Man was a very different place in 1987 – every other building on Douglas promenade was a hotel, guesthouse or pub, and in the summer the […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: 160nc, 6x6, 6x7, 80mm, art, black and white, camera, canada, colour, digital, Epson v700, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji film, fuji instax 200, fuji pro 400H, fuji X-pro1, I shoot film, instant film, inventive, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 400, mamiya 7II, negative, nikkor 35mm 1.4, nikon D800E, Olympus mju II, Peak imaging, peel, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait, VSCO, VSCO FILM

Please release me…

February 23, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

  One of the main reasons for shooting my Spain project on film was because I wanted honest, straightforward portraits of people, shots like these can often seem unflattering and harsh to the sitter. I didn’t want to shoot digital and have the constant distraction of people asking to see the shots as soon as I’d taken them, not liking them and asking me to take another…or not take another and leave as quickly as possible! But guess what I […]

Categories: Photography, photojournalism • Tags: 6x7, 80mm, art, camera, canada, colour, film, film camera, film photography, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, inventive, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 400, mamiya 7II, negative, Olympus mju II, Peak imaging, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait, yellowknife