On working slowly

I get asked fairly often why I still shoot personal projects on film when the digital files would be cleaner, faster, cheaper. The honest answer is that the slowness is the point.

A roll of thirty-six frames makes you refuse most of what you see. You stand in front of a scene and decide, before anything happens, whether it is worth one of your frames. That decision — made with your feet and your patience rather than your shutter — is most of the photograph already.

None of this is a rule for anyone else. It is just the pace that lets me pay attention.