The Fix

  
Lake Locarno, Switzerland, August 2006 

Instant gratification is difficult to resist. The ease of a passing along photos from a digital camera … the print-ready document typed on a laptop… these are conveniences we take for granted.

Today as I was purchasing 120mm film for my Holga, I wondered for a moment why I should bother to do so. It’s possible to fake Holga-type effects with Photoshop in a fairly convincing way. Then I realized that for me choosing a ‘tool’ for creative projects is not about the  end result or the quality — it’s about the process. Grasping the big plastic Holga, or my the awkward box camera, puts me in a different frame of mind, fires different associations or creates a certain mood. It makes me feel different than my digital camera does, so I take different kinds of photos. Sometimes, it’s a simple photograph which I might think was boring if it were framed with my digital camera. But with only 10 or 12 frames per 120mm film, I choose my shots carefully– and sometimes that means choosing simply, or just differently.

It’s the same with writing with a pen in a small notebook– little notes, conversations overheard, or fragments of poems as they come to you. it’s a different experience than sitting down at the computer.

I don’t think I’ll ever go all-analogue again, but now and then, I still choose to take the slow train.

Another ’seat with a view’, this time on Charles street in downtown Toronto. It seems that one could assemble an apartment’s worth of furniture just by keeping an eye open, and collecting bits here and there.

See also: The most spectacularly situated piece of abandoned furniture which I’ve seen to date