What a wonderful article over at The Economist’s Intelligent Life, The Tri-X Factor. One of the article’s featured photographers is Anton Corbijn, an artist whom I’ve admired for most of my life. He says:
“Grain is life,” Corbijn says, “there’s all this striving for perfection with digital stuff. Striving is fine, but getting there is not great. I want a sense of the human and that is what breathes life into a picture. For me, imperfection is perfection.”
I’m an even bigger fan after reading this than I was before! The article is worth a read even if you’re not a film photographer. If anything it’ll give you insight into some of my feelings on why I continue to shoot film in a time when pretty much everyone just shakes their head at me.
I’ve never been a huge shooter of Tri-X, I’ve mostly been a Fuji guy — their Neopan 400 and Acros 100 films are incredible — but I’ve been shooting much more of it now that my stock of Neopan 400 in 120 format has been all used up and Fuji no longer manufactures it in this film size. One of my favourite shots was taken with Tri-X and I plan on using it for those moments that need a faster film.
Happy 60th Birthday Tri-X!
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