Tales of the unexpected

October 6, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

I viewed the collapsible lens on the Leica with suspicion; how could something that you just pull out like that, with no positive ‘click stop’, be in any way accurate? So I just put my faith in one-hundred-odd years of precision German engineering and fired two rolls of film through the vintage rangefinder without so much as a glance at a YouTube tutorial. A week later, I got the scans back – pretty much all the images were out of […]

Categories: film photography, Photography • Tags: analog, analogue, leica

Navy Leather, Eng size 3C

September 20, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

A few weeks ago, my friend Ed Oldham contacted me; his dad, John Oldham, had sadly died, Ed was going through his things and asked if I’d be interested in some camera equipment… Sometime in October 1942, Tom Oldham went into J.J. Rothwell Photographic Dealers in Stockport, England and purchased a Leica model II with a 5cm Elmar 3.5 lens. I like to think that Tom had a specific reason for his purchase, because only a few months later, in […]

Categories: film photography, Photography • Tags: 35mm, analog, analogue, leica

Sophie

August 4, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

Model – Sophie Makeup – Jessica Coole and Kimberley Berridge Clothes – Claire Christian Couture and models own Sunglasses available from – Holmes & Davidson and Claire Christian Couture Assistant and logistics – Hannah Yeowell Agent – Bev Lawley Images shot on Pentax 67 and Nikon F100. Filmstock  – Fuji Pro 400H and Kodak Portra 400

Categories: fashion, film photography, woman • Tags: analog, analogue, film photography, fuji pro 400H, pentax 67

Positive Buoyancy

June 30, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

My recent exploration into underwater photography has rekindled a passion and interest in the medium that has been somewhat lacking over the past few months; thrown me out of the rut and into the sea. There’s a system, a ritual, almost, that goes with the process – methodically checking the cameras before entering the water, knowing that you only have 36 goes at getting it right before you need to get out, rinsing the cameras in fresh water… even the […]

Categories: film photography, Photography • Tags: 35mm, analog, analogue, isle of man, kodak, Nikonos III, nikons V, sea swimming

The things i saw (South Africa) #3

April 5, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

More visual meanderings from my analogue notebook and a passage from my journal. All images here were made using an Olympus MjuII compact loaded with Kodak Ektar 100 film. ‘Sunday 18th March – I’ve spent the last four days photographing people, old people, children. Families of five and six, living in sheds, surrounded by poverty and filth. I can’t give them anything, except a few packets of cookies and the odd cigarette to anyone who smokes. Every day I come […]

Categories: film photography, photojournalism • Tags: analogue, Johannesburg, pretoria, south africa, white squatter camps

The things I saw (South Africa) #1

April 2, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

‘The things I saw’ – my visual notetaking and mental meanderings with a 35mm compact camera – I’d like to say it’s a regular thing. However, I just checked, and the last one I did was nearly 18 months ago, documenting a weekend drinking session in Liverpool with a good friend. Before I departed for a weeks work in South Africa, to document white squatter camps, I was reunited with my favourite 35mm compact – the Olympus MjuII, which had […]

Categories: film photography, photojournalism • Tags: analogue, I shoot film, Johannesburg, kodak ektar 100, Olympus mju II, pretoria, south africa, white squatter camps

Mae Challis

February 20, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

I had a bit of a change last week, photography wise. Well, a total change, to be honest; photographing Singer Songwriter, Mae Challis, is probably the opposite end of the spectrum to gnarly scallop fishermen. I photographed Mae in what turned out to be, thanks to its full-length, south-facing windows, an excellent natural daylight studio – Noa Bake House cafe. At the time of writing this, I’m waiting for the medium format, 6x7cm scans to land in my inbox. The […]

Categories: film photography, Music, Photography • Tags: analogue, film photography, fuji superia 400, Mae Challis, portrait

Holmtown

February 1, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

A few people have asked why I’ve titled my latest project, ‘Holmtown’? Well, for this longterm photo-essay, I’m documenting the lives of fishermen from my hometown of Peel, on the Isle of Man – Peel, which until the 17th century was called Holmtown. I was going to call it ‘Holmtown Boys’, however, a very good friend of mine pointed out that it sounds like a 90’s boy band – and it does. This leads me to another common question regarding […]

Categories: film photography, photojournalism • Tags: 35mm, analogue, fishermen, I shoot film, isle of man, kodak ektar 100, peel, trawlermen

Coffee, Cigarette, Repeat…

January 11, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

I was talking to a good friend last week, over a few beers we got onto the subject of my fishing boat project. He told me that only two types of fishermen exist – some men are born to it and have never done anything differently, and there are men that do it because they can’t do anything else. I had to disagree. There’s a working rhythm on a scallop dredger that appeals to my sense of order; it’s an […]

Categories: photojournalism • Tags: 35mm, analogue, isle of man, scallops, trawlermen

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