5840 Days

January 2, 2017 by Phil Kneen Photography

I can’t believe our daughter is Sixteen! Jess can now join the armed forces, invest in a cash ISA, move out of the family home (but if under 17, social services may apply for a care order), give consent to medical, dental and surgical treatment, be detained in police custody and get married. Jess, fortunately, has inherited most of her good points off her Mum, Helen, so she’s already pretty well sorted for life, although she did inherit my poor […]

Categories: film photography, Photography • Tags: 35mm, analogue, film, fuji, fuji instax mini, isle of man, japan, kodak, Olympus mju II, pentax 67, portrait

1997-2015

July 18, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

It’s a sad day – my favourite camera, the Olympus MjuII died last week. I should have seen it coming really, all the signs were there – overlapping frames, light leaks, strange noises… but I just ignored it, pretended everything was okay. Photographers should never outlive their cameras, should they? Why is technology so fragile? So, in between bouts of sobbing, I choke back the tears and go onto eBay to find a replacement… this shouldn’t be too traumatic, or […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: 35mm, 35mm film, compact, fuji, japan, japanese, Olympus mju II, superia 400

Spanish Retro

July 16, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

These images are an homage to my love of family run, independent, budget hotels, B&Bs, motels and guest houses. I’ve been staying in such establishments for years, for both business and pleasure. Years ago, I had a few commissions with The Times Newspaper – they’d give me £100 a day (which was a lot for a daily hotel allowance – even 15 years ago), I’d always find somewhere really cheap, never more than £30 a night, and spend the rest […]

Categories: Photography, photojournalism • Tags: 35mm, 6x9cm, Ainsa, camera, colour, film, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji, fuji film, fuji GW690III, I shoot film, inventive, kodak, kodak portra 400, negative, Olympus mju II, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait, Pyrenees, spain, superia 400

The Celluloid Closet

November 9, 2014 by Phil Kneen Photography

“Why do you shoot film?” – I get asked that question at least once a week, it’s never easy to explain. I shoot differently when I have a film camera in my hand, everything flows differently, there’s no distraction with looking what you’ve shot, so the whole thing seems to flow better. I think subjects react differently too, I shoot mainly with a Minolta Hi-Matic and a tiny Olympus MjuII, neither of which look in the slightest bit professional, I’m […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: Agfa Vista, art, colour, Epson v700, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji, fuji film, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, inventive, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 400, minolta Hi-Matic GF, negative, Olympus mju II, Peak imaging, peel, personal project, phil kneen, portrait

Back to the future

November 11, 2012 by Phil Kneen Photography

For the first time in over ten years, I don’t own a digital camera (apart from the one on my iPhone). I sold the last of my Canon 5D mk2/7D based kit about three weeks ago, and thus far, I haven’t missed it. I’m not anti-digital, I will eventually buy into a digital medium format system, probably Mamiya or Hasselblad, but I don’t need to for the time being. A few months ago I took the conscious decision to not […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: digital, film, fuji, kodak, mamiya 7II

Multiple Holga

July 17, 2012 by Phil Kneen Photography

I made the shot above by exposing 3 6x6cm frames over one section of Fuji NP400 120 film. This is a process that is very easy with a £20 Chinese Holga, impossible with a £5000 Canon digital. I scanned the image at a relatively low 800 dpi, but this is fine for web use. I did a few small adjustments in Aperture 3 – increased the contrast slightly, darkened the blacks and added a green tint. These are all things […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: 120, black and white, camera, film, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji, fuji film, fuji neopan 400, holga, I shoot film, inventive, isle of man, negative, Peak imaging, personal project, phil kneen