The First Roll
The chaos we call creativity
I’m calling this irresponsible alchemy: expired Konica VX 200, a beaten-up Lomography Split-Cam, and the belief that accidents might know more than I do.
The film was over ten years past its expiration date, which in film years feels less like “expired” and more like “fermented.”
I loaded it anyway. We headed to the swamp. The Split-Cam clicked shut with the confidence of a toy that has never once promised reliability. Spoiler alert: the last film I loaded there was not rolling back. So, guess who started praying for the Patron Saint of Stuck Films? This girl, obviously… the one who trusts toy cameras and fermented film like a true alchemist. Voilà!
The place felt cinematic. I felt briefly like the girl before the chorus in a Lana Del Rey song. This was the first time I had used that Konica film stock. I stumbled upon a bunch of rolls in a random, non-photography-related shop back in my hometown. Gave a few away to friends, but kept a handful, and I didn’t really know what to expect.
The expired Konica is a mystery, for this one, streaks and colors potion-swirling-like, through purples, pinks, and greens. The light leaks of the lomo camera… a must!
I love double exposures and the freedom a point-and-shoot can give, when all you want is to relax and pause the busy life. I might cry after understanding the roll is a total waste, but that’s a confession I keep for the Patron of Lost Causes.
My favorite image of this roll is a double exposure: two different arms reaching skyward, stitched by branches, powered by the pink sunlight.
Sometimes it feels like experimenting is a waste of rolls, but is it really?
Photography is a way to make visible what we can’t see, to capture and trace shapes of thought and feeling.
Aren’t we all seekers of moments, hunters of landscapes, trying to make sense of our own puzzled mind?
All those little accidents: jammed film, streaked frames, blurry images, the fleeting oh no, God send help! moments… that’s quietly how the idea of the Saints of Photography was born, a playful way to honor the chaos and happy misfires we all make behind the camera. Maybe, just maybe, a few of these prayers and rituals deserve to be shared.
If you want to know which saints save your film next time, keep reading, subscribe!
Author: Vanessa V.
Originally published on January 12, 2006, on Expired Frequencies Substack (Part of House Of Disquiet)