Analogue Photography: A Personal Journey – Part 2 – Embracing Colours

This is the second part of my article, Analogue Photography – A Personal Journey. If you haven’t read the first part yet, I recommend doing so — it provides useful background, here’s the link. In that article and video, I explained how my journey in photography began, and how certain challenges — along with the mindset of the time — led me to focus on black-and-white photography. This time on embracing colour.

Embracing Colours

A few years passed, and by then, colour photography was gaining ground. Colour films were becoming more accessible and technically refined, and more and more well-known photographers were embracing them. Among them — in addition to the previously mentioned William Eggleston — were Saul Leiter, Stephen Shore, Joel Meyerowitz, and especially Ernst Haas.

While I was impressed, it remained a mystery how they pulled it off. Not only had I not been able to make colour images like theirs — I hadn’t even seen “normal” people around me doing it.

Still, the temptation of colour had always bubbled inside me. Yet colour negatives always left me disappointed — plagued by variables beyond my control, and by the difficulty of finding any lab that delivered consistent quality. Developing and printing colour negatives myself would have required an investment far beyond my means. But I felt it was time to expand my vision—from the land of shades of grey to the world of Red, Green, and Blue.

I was still in my teens when, one evening, my uncle — some 20 years older than me — invited me over while one of his friends was visiting. His friend, also a photography enthusiast, had just returned from a holiday trip and brought along a slide projector. He showed us slides from three or four rolls of reversal film.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. The colours were out of this world — vivid, more beautiful than reality, and far beyond anything I’d seen in colour photography before.

As a teenager with no money, I remember the first thing I asked: How much does the projector cost?
The second: What slide film did you use?

I became increasingly drawn to colour reversal film — and National Geographic played no small part in that. Their rich, vibrant photographs set a standard I couldn’t ignore. I tried to find out what their photographers used to create those stunning images.

Guess what? The answer to both my second question to my uncle’s friend — and to this new question — was the same: Kodachrome reversal film. That’s when I started testing colour reversal films.

Then something even more decisive happened: I moved. This meant losing access to our black-and-white darkroom. After that, I shifted my focus completely to colour reversal film.

Shooting slides demanded a higher level of precision. They were far less forgiving than negatives, due to their limited exposure latitude and the fact that exposure errors couldn’t be corrected during printing.
But by then, I felt I had developed my skills enough to take on the challenge.

On the other hand, slides would eliminate many of the issues I had experienced with lab-printed colour negatives — provided you could find a lab that developed them consistently. Kodachrome, the preferred colour reversal film among National Geographic photographers, had a major advantage in this regard: the cost of development was included in the price of the film, and I could send my rolls to any Kodak lab in the world.

However, Kodak didn’t have labs in every country, and Kodachrome’s processing was notoriously complex. It required the specialized K-14 chemistry — proprietary to Kodak and available only at a few licensed facilities. I remember using it a couple of times, sending my rolls to Stuttgart, Germany, for development. But it wasn’t easy — or cheap.

So, I mostly used Agfachrome, Fujichrome, or different variations of Kodak Ektachrome reversal films, which used the more common E-6 process and were far more widely supported.

Slides became my primary medium for non-family photography for many years. I tested various brands and types, but when Velvia 50 was released — offering stunning saturation, contrast, and fine grain ideal for landscapes — I made the switch. Velvia became my go-to film.

The exception was when I expected to photograph mostly people, as Velvia’s intense colours could sometimes feel too harsh. In those cases, I used various negative films like Kodak Gold or Fuji Superia — and occasionally even Kodak Elite Chrome slides.

That balance remained until digital photography eventually took over.

For me, colour is like sugar. If I go without it for a while, the craving builds — as if a vacuum starts forming inside me. The longer I stay away, the stronger the urge becomes, until I give in and start shooting colour again. Then I indulge — vivid, saturated colours everywhere, and sometimes, though more rarely, muted and subdued tones. But if I go too far, it’s like eating too many sweets: that heavenly taste begins to lose its charm. I start to long for the simplicity and quiet of black and white again.

That’s how colour works for me — if I avoid it, the desire builds; but when I immerse myself too deeply, I feel the need to step away.

Although the last time I developed a roll of film was some 30 to 40 years ago, I’ve occasionally taken black and white pictures with my digital cameras — or more accurately, I’ve captured images I envisioned in black and white and later converted them during post-processing. But to be honest, it now feels like I’ve become addicted to colour. I want to take a break from it, but I haven’t been able to. Like any drug, it’s hard to abandon — especially when it’s so easily accessible in our digital cameras.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the growing interest in film photography has inspired me to return to my roots and shoot a few rolls of film again. It’s also a way to limit my access to colour — at least when there’s black and white film loaded in the camera.

Since Bastian has set the tone for this blog, I’ll follow his format and dedicate one article per film, starting with the next post — whenever I’ve exposed and developed the rolls. If there’s a specific film you’d like to see images from — black and white or colour — feel free to leave a comment. I’ll do my best to get hold of a roll and give it a try. Bastian has also built up a respectable stock of film, so you might even see photos from the same film taken by both of us.

Otherwise, I’ll simply pick whatever piques my interest. I’m thinking of starting with a couple of black and white films to kick things off.

Additionally, if you have thoughts on how you’d like these articles to be structured — whether you’d prefer more in-depth technical breakdowns, casual reflections, or something else entirely — I’d love to hear from you. Your input could help shape the direction of future posts. I’m also open to writing about gear for film photography: whether it’s affordable, feature-rich, advanced, or just plain quirky.

I’m genuinely excited to dive back into film after all these years, and I hope you’ll join me on this journey. Whether you’re a long-time film enthusiast or just beginning to explore analogue photography, I look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions.

Let’s rediscover what makes film so special — one roll at a time.

Follow me on Youtube, our blog site, or Instagram!

Share this post: