The Joy of Multiplicity – Using the Nikon FM10 for The In-Between

There’s a quiet honesty in working with the Nikon FM10. It’s not an expensive camera nor a collector’s prize, but its simplicity makes it indispensable to my process. The FM10 offers no illusions of sophistication; just a sturdy mechanical frame, a fully manual interface, and one humble advantage: the ability to make multiple exposures with ease. By pressing the film rewind release button, I can re-cock the shutter without advancing the film. This allows separate moments to merge into a single, layered image. That simple mechanical action opens a vast space for experimentation and chance.

In my series The In-Between, shot on 35mm black-and-white film, I use the FM10 to explore the quiet tension of liminal spaces within nature. Each photograph is composed through in-camera multiple exposures of trees, branches, and organic forms; images that dissolve the boundary between reality and memory. Using classic 50mm and 135mm Nikkor lenses, I navigate between intimacy and distance. Together, they let me shift between observation and abstraction, revealing the subtle transitions that exist between growth and decay, stillness and change.

Working with this camera demands patience and a willingness to let go. Without the safety net of a digital preview, I rely on intuition and an openness to imperfection. Each exposure becomes a collaboration between intent and accident, a dialogue with light, shadow, and time. The process itself mirrors the subject: the thresholds in nature where one state quietly merges into another.

The joy of multiple exposure photography lies in that surrender. It invites me to see beyond the singular image, to consider how moments coexist and overlap. Within those layered frames, something ineffable emerges, something that cannot be planned or replicated.

In the end, The In-Between is not about capturing what I see, but about embracing what I don’t fully understand. The modest Nikon FM10, with its unassuming mechanics and old Nikkor glass, becomes a vessel for that exploration; a reminder that beauty often reveals itself not through perfection, but through the quiet mysteries that lie in between.

Technical Note

The In-Between was photographed on 35mm black-and-white film with the Nikon FM10 using Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 and 135mm f/2.8 lenses. Film stocks include Fujifilm Acros, Ilford HP5, Ferrania P30, and Cinestill Double-X, all shot at box speed and developed traditionally.

About the Artist

Renato Ghio is a photographer whose work explores the intersection of nature, memory, and transition. Through analog processes and in-camera experimentation, he creates layered images that reflect the liminal beauty of impermanence. His ongoing series The In-Between continues this exploration through multiple-exposure photography on 35mm film. You can find me on Instagram.

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