Returning to Black and White Photography

This weekend I took part in a Photography Workshop at Belfast Exposed, a contemporary photography gallery and workspace. The workshop involved learning about SLR cameras, composition, documentary photography and photographing people. Taken by Sean McKernan, a photographer who documented the troubles in Northern Ireland through its most turbulent years, the workshop really opened up new avenues for my photography. Usually I'm used to photographing buildings or landscapes so getting involved in photographing people was something new- if not quite nerve wracking. Although after a while you soon gain confidence, asking people to be photographed and eyeing the perfect moment to shoot.

We spent most of the day in St. George's Market, a big market in Belfast City Centre, shooting away on Pentax K1000s. Post shooting, we came back to develop our film then went on a printing frenzy in the darkroom. I worked out that it's about 7 years since I've stepped foot in a darkroom at school! There is nothing quite like watching your pictures emerge from a swamp of chemicals, filling a blank canvas. I came away with a sequence of shots that I'm very pleased with. It was super to be back to shooting on 35mm B&W. It is definitely something worth preserving. There is just something about its honesty, knowing that as soon as you press the shutter that moment is permanently recorded. There's no room on film for going trigger-happy as there is with digital, its immutability forcing the photographer to be more measured and contemplative.

Here are a sequence of shots I particularly liked from the workshop taken with a phone camera. The first one is my favourite in the series. Hope you enjoy them:

P.S. I really recommend checking out the Belfast Exposed Photography Workshops and their online Photography archive. Some of Sean McKernan's work is on there and he has taken some stunning shots. Here's just one example. If you're Belfast based be sure to check out the upcoming exhibition Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography at the MAC and Belfast Exposed, opening this Thursday at 7pm.