Personally, I think the photography is the flawless way for expressing the inner feelings. For me, there is hardly any other technique for describing the mood I felt at a particular place. Obviously, it is not the subject, yet the atmosphere I capture. It is a kind of dialogue. At once, there are just two things on the world: the subject surrounded by its remarkable ambiance and my mind communicating through the camera. Suddenly, I start seeing the whole scene with my mind's eye, just like Ansel Adams used to say.
Those are very precious moments for me.
Those are very precious moments for me.
As an amateur photographer, I decided to use the best from today's possibilities. I take my photos with Hasselblad medium format cameras, develop the film (I develop the bw negative on my own), then scan the frames and adjust them on computer in the end. Virtually, there are no limits. I am able to produce huge prints, absolutely unachievable by any digital camera, and control the minor imperfections or improve some fine details at the same time. Nevertheless, it should be said that I am not a fan of massive Photoshop manipulations.
Mostly, I prefer black and white film to the colour one. Not a strict decision, though. Black and white photo has a particular mood, it is sorcerous and magical, and with an analogue film grain, it is a world on its own.
Obviously, there are domains where digtal beats analogue, especially medium or even large format, such as dynamic wildlife photography. But it is the 100% manual analogue camera which gives me the feeling of the freedom. I can concentrate on composition, enjoy the factual process or moment of taking the picture, have everything under control. This starts with the particular film selection. Also during the bw development process, I am able to control the gradation, contrast, grain and other characteristics of the final photo. I do believe it is much easier to do all this analogue rather than digital. And first and foremost, the result looks more natural. Besides, it is fun.
Currently living in Prague, Czech Republic
Pavel Horák on Flickr



