Why should film photography exist in the age of Instagram? Really. Why should it? In the digital era, where everything happens instantaneously, and a plethora of digital cameras exist, including on just about any phone, why should this archaic, image-capturing box still exist? When you can have a DSLR that gives results almost immediately and has a sensor that thinks for you and aids you in creating display-worthy pieces of art, why wait days or even weeks to see how your pictures turned out?

The answer, for me, lies in the romance. In my few weeks of working with film cameras, I have found this form of photography to have its own charm. With digital cameras, you can continue to click multiple photographs, in the hope that some will turn out decently. Film cameras, on the other hand, limit and discipline you into conceptualizing and taking the “perfect picture.” They challenge you repeatedly, and train the eyes to see beauty and capture it in all its rawness. The meticulous adjustment of the settings makes one develop a deep connection with one's surrounding, while the interplay of light and dark elicits certain emotions.

This may come across as superfluous and overly romanticized, but the whole process is magical. Developing film is not about sitting behind a computer, adding filters and a bit of color contrast (to me a very dull process) and pressing print, but rather about creating something magical all by yourself. There is something soothing behind the whole process; being in complete darkness, opening up the roll of film, and feeding it into the canister so it can be developed and then fixed. The mystery of not knowing how the roll will turn out until it has been developed and then the thrill of burning the image and seeing the details gradually appear onto the final print is very rewarding. The satisfaction of seeing an image come to life and knowing that you have made it with your own hands; for me, that cannot be accomplished from behind a computer.

Now that I have vented my strong opinion on the matter, I hope I have managed to convince you readers to consider supporting this fading market. It is unfortunate that the art of film photography is dying out, but my time with the subject has kindled in me a passionate fire for the art of film. The process is rewarding, and is way of expression that you can control. The market should exist, and it is with your help, dear reader, that we can bring this form of art back to life.