120 LOVE - FILM BACK SERIES

One of the fun things about shooting with 120 film is the tactile nature of the process.  From start to finish, there's this connection between the photographer and the roll of film that's raw or almost primitive. 

Tearing the wrapper to reveal the fresh roll of film.  Peeling off the small holding band with your finger nails to ready the film for camera insertion.  Lining up the arrows on the film and the marker on the camera.  And when done shooting, there's the drum roll licking of the holding flap (like licking a stamp) to encase the exposed film.  For those unfamiliar with medium-format film photography, seeing this tongue-action in itself might be a bit of a surprise.

And for those who process their own film, there's the peeling off that stamp-like flap, rolling the film onto the film reel all while fighting back the curl of backing paper that's wrapping itself over your hands like a snake would do to a small furry animal.

Alas!  The film is safely in the tank and all that's left of the entire process is the lifeless film back.  Is that it?  Nope. This is where FUN PART DEUX begins.

When you inspect film backs carefully, you see the uneven numbers of 1 ~ 16, the dots, the lines, the coded language.  This might be trivial for some, but for those who are passionate about 120 film, the patterns are meaningful and just downright cool which is why 120 LOVE has put out a series of t-shirts to continue the dialogue of this visual language.

We even produced some skateboards from these patterns.

120 LOVE's latest addition, AGFA RESPEKT, is a collaboration with film guy, Dan Schneider who shot the old roll of Agfa Isopan FF ASA 16 for Expired Film Day

120 LOVE is excited about this tie-up with Dan, a full-time new media journalist with The Denver Post and a part-time photographer who loves working with film -- exclusively.  He's been writing about his journeys with film for about five years and is an active participant in a number of online communities centered on film photography. Dan's work is mostly documentary photography, and consists mainly of man-altered landscapes.  In sum, Dan loves film, film loves him, and 120 LOVE loves Dan.

You can find the film back series t-shirt on our online store, and the skateboards on our Zazzle store.  And if you want to talk film with Dan, you are welcome to connect with him on Twitter (@schneidan) or his website, http://schneidan.com

 

 

Paul del Rosario