Interview with OMARES, ECUADOR
Film photography is a cool experience.
Hi, Omares! Tell us a brief story about yourself and how you got into film photography?
Omares: Who am I? I don't know! Definition is limitation. I started traveling around the world in the mid 90's, I always carry a small 35mm film camera with me and take pictures of whatever see that catch my attention.
What type of film do you use and what camera do you use it with? Why do you prefer these?
Omares: I like trying different sorts of film formats. I quite like the point and shoot 35mm cameras. I enjoy shooting with peel apart film on polaroids land cameras as well, that's really an experience!
What do you think film has that digital doesn't have?
Omares: A chance of accident. When you shoot digital, you always try to fix everything as soon as you see what you've shot. For me, I think, that's cheating.
Do you print your own photographs or are you comfortable having them printed in a lab?
Omares: I used to do a lot of darkroom but now, in my city, it's kind of hard to get developers and stuff. So I take all film to the lab.
What motivates you to continue making photographs with film?
Omares: Amaze myself, enjoy, and learn from the experience.
Are there any photographers that influenced your way of making pictures?
Omares: There are some painters that have influenced me more than photographers, really.
Do you see any value or merit shooting with film?
Omares: The value of keeping the intention intact.
What do you think your future is like with film photography?
Omares: I want to try very old formats and rare ways of making pictures.
What’s your dream photography project?
Omares: Learn how to make pictures with the Zabian wet plate process.
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?
Omares: Film photography is a cool experience—the process, buying a roll, loading it in a camera, smelling chemicals, and the final print. The feelings. And, what I always say to my friends is that you must know first what to shoot, then later how to shoot. I think photography is all content over form, really.
Cheers, Omares! We enjoyed your body of work and we'll definitely enjoy shooting with film after this.
Omares is currently working on a book together with one of the best graffiti artists in Ecuador. They will throw in together nude photos and graffiti in this book project. Stay tuned for details.
Catch more of Omares' work on Instagram.
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Be considerate. All photographs shown on this page are the sole property of Omares. He devoted his time, and worked seriously 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 Omares . Don't do something stupid. 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