Nowadays, taking a picture is as easy as whipping out a phone. But Niagara Film Co., a film processing lab, wants people to rediscover the value of old-fashioned photography.
That’s why they’re organizing a film photography workshop on April 22 at the CNCPT Room in Thorold.
“With restrictions lifting and becoming a little more relaxed, I wanted to find a way to get the film community together,” says Niagara Film Co.’s owner JR Kingdon, while showing off his pictures to ThoroldToday. “I want to bring all those people together, have them learn from one another, as well as teach them about the process of film.”
Kingdon, who lives in Niagara Falls, started Niagara Film Co. because he felt that the local photography community was underserved when developing film.
“I actually used to work at a camera store,” Kingdon says. “We sent it out to Toronto and Montreal to get it done. The turnaround time was eight to twelve weeks and I’m very impatient—I hate waiting—so I started developing my own film. Then I figured, a lot of other people don’t like to wait so I thought I’d offer it at a quicker turnaround time. With Brock University nearby, a lot of university and college kids will buy a disposable camera, take photos of them going out with friends, and then my job is to get those photos to them.”
Kingdon thinks shooting on film feels more authentic.
“I remember when I was a kid going through the photo albums that my parents would make,” he says. “It was just a very distinctive look and it was very nostalgic. When you shoot a digital photo, what you see is what you get. Everything is very sharp, just too perfect almost. With film you can pick different film styles for different looks and then you can get all the imperfections of it.”
Shooting on film has a calming effect, according to Kingdon.
“With shooting film it’s a lot more of a process,” says Kingdon. “You don’t get to see the photo right away, you don’t know what you’re taking. It makes you slow down and think a little bit more throughout the process.”
Kingdon hopes that the film photography workshop will get more people in Niagara interested in film.
“The workshop is three hours,” he explains. “The first hour will be a talking workshop, teaching about film, and the following two hours everyone that comes can roll a film and they can shoot in the studio space. Then I develop it for them in the end. The whole thing with Niagara Film Co. is other than being a business and trying to develop film, I want to build the film community around Niagara.”
If you want to know more about the Niagara Film Co., head over to their website. Tickets for the workshop can be bought here.
