Digital photography has in many ways changed me as a photographer. Many of those changes negative - 'cuse the pun. It's destroyed much of the magic of making, yes - making photographs. It's too clean, too colourful, too TV. That's why after 4 years of doing very little film photography I decided to take a weekend away from immediate gratification and only take medium format film cameras to Africa's biggest rock festival - Oppikoppi.

I took my Mamiya C330 6x6 twin lens reflex and the Fujifilm 6x4.5 and a cooler bag of 120mm film. I worried that I'd forgotten how to load, how to meter, how to shoot without the crutch of the LCD. But 10 years primarily as a film photographer doesn't leave you, emulsion gets under your skin. Making pictures took a little longer, much more care. 

The tool became a speaking point of Oppikoppi, a method of introduction. There were young adults who had no concept of a non-digital reality and thought perhaps I was rude when I said I couldn't show them the picture. A few were impatient that a portrait took a little longer than a snap with a cellphone camera. But most asked to hold it, to look in it's eye.

I made a new relationship with the only film lab left in Joburg, and suddenly photography was a team effort again. Then came the process of making it digital again. That was not as fun.

I think I became a better photographer this weekend.

Visit the Photography Feature section to view the new Oppikoppi pics.