004 - My love affair with film (Part 2)

6 reasons why I believe you should give shooting Medium Format film a try + read until the end to find a little gift from me!

Mar 05, 2025

2 weeks ago, I reflected on my personal journey into working with analogue film. This time, as promised, I'm taking a deep dive into what makes Medium Format film in particular so special to me, and I'll try to convince you to try it yourself.

But before I'll do that, let's first get everyone on the same page with some basic photo school talk.

On that note, I still have a couple of last seats available for my next Story-telling Masterclass in Amsterdam on Sunday April 6, where I'll be sharing all my secrets about photographic storytelling. Book your seat here.

You all know 35mm film, right? The most common type of film being used. It comes in small, easy-to-load canisters with a frame size of 36x24mm, making it historically ideal for everyday usage. If you're willing to spend EUR 20-25 per roll, you’ll get 36 images in return. I'm pretty sure you ever heard of a Canon AE-1 or a Leica M6, two known camera's that operate with 35mm film.

Now, Medium Format analogue photography uses film larger than 35mm wide but smaller than large format camera's, offering more detail, different dynamic range and a unique look. It typically uses 120 or 220 roll film with frame sizes like 6x6cm or 6x7cm. You're still with me? Camera's you might have heard of that shoot medium format film are Hasselblad, Pentax, Rolleiflex, Mamiya and a bunch more.

Generally, those cameras are heavier and bulkier, and the film is a whole lot more expensive than 35mm film, so why would you even try and break the bank? Let me explain.

6 reasons why I'm obsessed with shooting medium format film

Working on my next book, which explores the rich gaucho culture of Chilean Patagonia.

1. It's a slower, more intimate & more deliberate approach

The process of shooting film, especially with larger, bulkier medium format or large format camera's, in inherently slower than digital photography. This slower pace allows me to prioritize the encounter over the final photograph, and intentionally invest in the relationship I am having with the person in front of my lens.

Consequently, because of the slower process, people in front of the lens tent to relax and open up, delivering more candid and authentic portraits. Each roll of film contains only 10 frames (or 16, depending on the format).

This limited number of exposures is forcing me to be more selective, intentional and patient. and I love it.

2. It prioritises the encounter over the photograph, at all times

Whether it's a fleeting 1-minute encounter on the streets, or a 2-hour long portrait session with a friend, I always push myself to prioritize the actual engagement with my subject (sorry I hate the word) over the end result. It became the number 1 foundational element in my way of working. It's also the reason I work exclusively from a tripod when shooting Medium Format film. Deliberately adding a cumbersome and unnecessary step to what could be a quick and easy handheld process, does make you look like a clumsy lunatic, hauling a 3-legged studio set-up around in the field, but people will appreciate your focus on the actual engagement, your commitment to the craft, and of course the long and fancy shutter release cord.

3. I'm addicted to the waist level viewfinder

The moment I stare down in my waist level ground glass, I enter a different world. It feels walking into a 3D painting, with my tripod as the easel, and my focusing bellows as my pencils. The way space is rendered within that viewfinder is unmatched anywhere else and it creates a visual experience of composing and framing an image that became integral to my workflow.

Last year shooting in Mozambique for *Voyageurs du Monde* at Sussurro.

4. It pushes you into a whole different mindset

Shooting medium format film is more than just a technical choice, it's a mindset shift, a methodology that prioritizes craftsmanship over convenience, or as I described previously, it's learning to dance with mistakes. The process demands intention, and over time, rewards you with results that possess more depth, richness and emotion. Consequently, your relationship to the art of photographic story-telling will change.

5. It teaches you to embrace failure and imperfection

Film is unpredictable, and medium format is no exception to that. From subtle light leaks, dusty or scratched end results, barely any clue to what you're doing and unique film stocks. Unlike the pixel-perfect clarity of the digital process, film's imperfections add authenticity and rawness to the learning curve fostering an emotive quality that enhances your story-telling. I even dare to say that, some of my best work came as result of doing something else, figuring out the craft without actually knowing what I was doing.

6. It renders colour and space in a beautiful way

The way Medium Format film renders colours, highlights, and shadows results in an organic almost painterly look. The fine grain structure, the rich tonal range and the way light hits the film emulsion creates a photographic quality that feels alive with a visceral and nostalgic feel. And then there's the depth of field, I have always been a sucker for it. The larger negative allows for a shallower depth of field at equivalent apertures to 35mm film or digital sensors, creating an immersive 3D effect, which makes this format very interesting for environmental portraiture, which I happen to like a lot.

But now comes the most important thing I have to say.

It seems an often-made mistake to imagine that colour, artistic quality or aesthetics in general derive from equipment or post production. In my early days as young photographer, I spent countless hours studying and attempting to replicate other photographers' aesthetics, only to find out years later that it was pointless, a waste of time in fact.

Instead, I learned that investing your time wisely in training your eye to see better, and to see different, has a significantly higher return on your journey to finding your own style. The power of observation, your ability to have a profound sensitivity to light, your understanding of the meaning of certain moments and your intuitive emotional response to them, as well as the cultivation of your cognitive reflex to recognising form and composition will all lead the way towards defining your own style.

This whole intellectual pursuit is what will give you better images, better edits, better stories. Any form of technology is secondary to that.

Please meet my Film Lab + Discount code!

Working with a lab that understands your way of working and desired end results, is crucial in defining your unique voice and style. I found that partnership in Film Verweij, a development and scanning lab in Nijmegen who have been leading in the Dutch photography space for more than 85 years. You can look at their website here.

PRO TIP: Don't hesitate to look for a lab that is located away from where you live. By adding a cheap $35 Apple Airtag to your package, you can ship your film around the world with confidence and ease. Your lab will use that same Airtag to ship the negatives back to you. Safe and easy.

To convince you to give it a try yourself, I have a unique promotion for my Substack readers only. If you get your film developed at Film Verweij, you will get a free upgrade to high-res TIFF’s, which will save you €10 per roll!

By applying the code PIE2025 at check-out, you can claim this €10 discount on each and every roll you have developed and scanned in their lab. Promotion runs until May 5, 2025.

I hope you’ll take advantage of this special gift for you!

In 2 weeks from now:

All right, all right, enough nerdy gear talk. Next time, I will show you some fresh new work! I will be taking you on a journey to Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering of humans on earth, which I visited for a month in January this year. I will share the story how 2 of my most important camera's broke down on day 1, and how I turned that tragic event into an opportunity that lead to some of my best work ever shot in India.