Experimenting with Expired Film [Rf Photo of the Day]

August 25, 2016

By Laura Brauer

Photo © Oli Sansom

Photo © Oli Sansom

After finding a roll of expired film on eBay (from the 1960s) and discovering all the beautiful textures and tonal ranges it had retained, Melbourne, Australia-based photographer Oli Sansom says he bought up “every last roll I could from the seller.”

Sansom (an Rf 30 Rising Star from 2015) took this image using that expired film, and the slight imperfections in the quality are what he says make the photo so unique. It’s also one of his favorites. “The textures and grit are all caused from subtle degradation over the years, and some literal cosmic rays slowly penetrating over that time,” he notes.

Aside from the technical aspects, Sansom says, “I love that I was able to snap a couple of pals and artists that I admire in an interesting and classical way.”

(Shot with a Pentax 67II medium format film camera, using natural light.)

Check out more Photos of the Day, and email rangefinder@emeraldexpo.com for submissions.