Interview with NATTAPHON KAKATOOM, THAILAND

For me, I think, film photography is here to stay.

Hi, Denson! Tell us a brief story about yourself and how you got into film photography?

Denson: My name is Nattaphon Kakatoom, but my friends call me Denson. I was born in Thailand in 1985, and moved to Nuuk, Greenland in 2013. I am living here with my sweet Danish fiancé, and I’m working in a four star hotel called Hotel Hans Egede as a bartender in a cocktail bar. My dad was the one who introduced me to the world of photography because he has a great passion for photography and was therefore always with his cameras when I was young. He gave me my first SLR camera when I was 21 years old. I actually didn’t like it that much, because at that time, I thought it was more cool to use digital cameras. I shot mostly with digital cameras and used only film once in a while.

It was about four years ago, when I went to visit my parents in Thailand, that my passion for film photography really started growing. My dad had a lot of old film cameras lying around and I started to clean and use them. I found out how to use them and I really liked the unique pictures that I saw after developing the film. My passion for film photography has only grown bigger and bigger ever since then.

What type of film do you use and what camera do you use it with? Why do you prefer these?

Denson: I use black and white film and color negative film, but I prefer black and white film, because you can do some more about the contrast in the picture when you develop.

I use many different cameras. I want to try out the different ones with different film to see how it works, and keep learning more. But the one that I use the most is Hasselblad, because I love the quality of medium format film.

What do you think film has that digital doesn't have?


Denson: I think that film photography shows a lot about the photographers skills in taking pictures. You go to be sure that you are setting everything correctly, and that is what I think is the fun part in film photography. I think that the value of the picture from film is bigger than digital, because you cannot just delete the picture and take a new one like you can with digital, which also makes the picture more unique. 


Do you print your own photographs or are you comfortable having them printed in a lab?

Denson: I’m not printing the pictures myself, but I would very much like to do that in the future. But I develop both black and white film and color film myself.

What motivates you to continue making photographs with film?


Denson: I love to learn new things, and to try out how different film cameras work. I want to keep learning, and develop my skills in photography.

Are there any photographers that influenced your way of making pictures?

Denson: I wouldn’t really say that. I mostly get my inspiration from other photos and from just walking around the city and in my every day.

Do you see any value or merit shooting with film? 

Denson: Yeah, I think you say, shooting with film gives the picture more value because there are more work into shooting with film.

What do you think is the future of film photography?


Denson: I can see that a lot of people are turning to film cameras. I don’t know if it’s a matter of fashion. But I do think that film photography is something that's never going to stop.

What’s your dream photography project?


Denson: My dream is to see my pictures in art magazines, and to be able to live from my passion of taking photos.

Would you like to offer some good words to those who want to try film photography for the first time? What must they learn before venturing into this format?


Denson: I would say that they must try it out. Just go out and shoot. They can learn a lot from the internet but they need to have a film camera on hand. There will be times that they'll set their camera wrongly but get unique results out of that mistake. They will learn from that, and they will eventually get better and better. So my advice is just do it!

Brilliant insights, Denson!

A film photographer shouldn’t fear mistakes. Learning to accept this is a part of the journey and it's inevitable. So, welcome them and learn as much as possible from each one.

Follow Denson and his impressive photographs on Facebook and Instagram.

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Be considerate. All photographs shown on this page are the sole property of Nattaphon Kakatoom. He devoted his time and worked hard on these photographs. You are not allowed to copy, download, reproduce, reprint, modify, distribute, publicly display, license, transfer or sell content retrieved from this page in any way, for any public or commercial use or to any commercial source, including other websites, without prior written permission of Nattaphon Kakatoom. You don’t want to go to jail, do you?

Well now, if you are a passionate film photographer and would like to be interviewed? I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email at mapamelvin@gmail.com with the subject, "Interview me", and share your story, thoughts, and work related to film photography. I’ll get back to you as soon as I receive your request for an interview.

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Cheers!

Mel