Lost and Found

September 16, 2016 by Phil Kneen Photography

I found a bundle of photographs yesterday, Fuji Instax Mini photographs, using a camera I’d bought in Tokyo on my last day of a recent visit to Japan with my fifteen-year-old daughter, Jess. We had a load of cash left at the end of the trip, so we went shopping at a huge camera store in the Shibuya district. I love finding photos I’d forgotten about, and I miss Tokyo, a lot. All the images here were made within about […]

Categories: film photography, Photography, travel • Tags: analogue, film, fuji instax mini, instant film, japan, Narita Airport, polaroid, tokyo

Shake it…

September 10, 2016 by Phil Kneen Photography

Contrary to fond belief, shaking a Polaroid picture, or any variety of instant film, does not make it develop any quicker… All the images here were made using an Instax Wide 300 and a Mini 90.

Categories: film photography, Photography • Tags: fuji instax mini, fuji instax wide, instant film, polaroid

In an Instant

February 14, 2016 by Phil Kneen Photography

Anyone who follows my blog regularly will know that I’m a huge fan of the acute gratification derived from instant film, whatever its form. I like Impossible Project’s reincarnation of Polaroid, but it’s expensive for what it is: troublesome and unpredictable. I do like the slight element of surprise inherent in any type of analogue film, but the least I expect is a vaguely well exposed image from most lighting conditions – and this isn’t always the case when shooting […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: analogue, fuji instax wide, I shoot film, instant film, instax, isle of man, model, polaroid, shoot film not megapixels, wide 300, woman

Instax Gratification

December 8, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

Although my adoration for instant film comes in waves, my love for it will never die. At the moment I’m surfing a tsunami of infatuation for Fuji Instax, the only truly instant film still available. Obviously, I’m aware of the existence of other ‘instant’ emulsions – but peel apart is hardly accessible to the masses, and the glacial rate at which Impossible Project’s Polaroid replacement develops can hardly place any of its films in the ‘instant’ category. I’ve been using […]

Categories: fashion, Photography • Tags: fuji instax, fuji instax wide, girls, instant film, instant gratification, lucky13, polaroid, The Caff

“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

Shake it like a Polaroid picture…

June 5, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

I sent a batch of films off to be developed in Germany about three weeks ago – they were supposed to be developed and scanned, the negatives hermetically stored and the high-resolution files emailed back to me, all within 10 working days. This has not been the case. This isn’t the kind of tardy, lacklustre performance I’d expect from our super-efficient Euro-neighbours, but then I realised that half the population of Germany are here on the Isle of Man, watching […]

Categories: Music, Photography • Tags: art, BAAD ACID, bands, camera, colour, Epson v700, film, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji film, fuji instax, fuji instax 200, fuji instax wide, I shoot film, instant, instant film, instant gratification, isle of man, Jeff Jepson, montage, personal project, phil kneen, polaroid, The Jeff Jepson Band, VSCO, VSCO FILM

Instant Gratification #2

May 30, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

A new toy arrived yesterday – the Fuji Instax Wide 300. I’ve used an older incarnation of this camera over the last few years, the 210. I think the underwear in both models is basically the same, however the outer garments are quite different. Fuji have given the 300 a retro, rangefinder look, which is actually quite pleasing to the eye. I find the 300 slightly easier to use too, the mechanism to change the two focus distances is on […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: art, camera, Epson v700, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji film, fuji instax, fuji instax 200, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, instant film, instant gratification, isle of man, Istax 300, personal project, phil kneen, polaroid, 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

Face. Off.

February 26, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

“What makes a photograph of a person a portrait?” – a question I have been asked on more than three occasions… If the truth be known, I’ve never really fully understood the definition of ‘portrait photography’. Is a portrait a photograph of a person, or is it a photograph about a person? If it’s an image of a person, then is every single photograph that has a human in a portrait? I run photography workshops for beginners, one of the […]

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

36x24mm

February 8, 2015 by Phil Kneen Photography

My latest return to shooting film is lasting a bit longer than expected, I normally shoot a few rolls then slip back into the sterile convenience of digital, but not this time! I always have a film compact in my camera bag, either an Olympus MjuII (which all the images here were made with) or a treasured Minolta Hi-Matic that a good friend bought for me last autumn. One unpleasant thing I have noticed is that the price of film […]

Categories: Photography • Tags: 160nc, Agfa Vista, art, camera, colour, digital, Epson v700, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji film, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, instant film, inventive, isle of man, kodak, kodak portra 400, naked, negative, nude, Olympus mju II, Peak imaging, peel, personal project, phil kneen, portra 160, portrait, tattoo