Great article Ari, skiing is such a good subject for slide film, you have to look closely to realise the equipment is modern otherwise it transports me straight back to the 1970’s. And it’s good to see that I can still spot a Velvia image without the need to read the caption. 👏
Thanks Dave. It’s funny how the look and rendering of a film can totally transport you to a time in history. And as you say, the only giveaways are the modern ski gear.
Wow! Simply stunning! It's just so different of what we are used to now with digital imagery. The colors and, I reckon particularly the shadows and contrast, make the image so livid! Amazing work, I imagine you're quite pleased with the results! I enjoyed them all
Hey Eduardo, thank you for this kind feedback. Yeah, it's super different from what you get digitally. I've tried to recreate it, but never got the full look.
Ari, these are fantastic, even on a screen, even on a phone (which I wouldn't normally have used, but was waiting for somebody in a restaurant). In some contrast to your point about beige, a great deal of digital photography, especially in the commercial advertising space that suffuses urban life, is oversaturated, lurid, "punched up" post capture. What I don't quite understand is why the slides come off differently. I suspect the colors are somehow simpler, cleaner, but I'm not sure. Those red shutters! I too am old enough to remember slides, so that's part of it, but there is a certain mid-century "feel" to this stuff that seems independent of that. Yesterday I was in the GM Building -- overlooking central park, and buildings both older (the Plaza, for example) and newer (various "pencil" supertalls on billionaire's row) and I had this overwhelming 20th century-ness. Another world. And then I should vacation in your slides. Again, fantastic work, great essay, bravo.
David, I love this! Thank you. Apologies for not responding sooner, I wanted to write a proper response, so here it is. The idea of “vacationing in my slides” is probably the highest compliment I could ask for. You’re absolutely right about the oversaturation in digital advertising imagery... there’s a kind of synthetic vibrancy that feels like it’s been focus-grouped to death. With slide film, the colours do hit differently, and I think you’re onto something with “simpler, cleaner.” There’s less manipulation baked in; the film just is what it is. Velvia, for instance, renders reds and greens in a way that feels vivid without being garish, to me it's like it has a built-in taste filter.
And about that “mid-century feel”, what you said is really interesting. I think it’s partly down to the limited dynamic range and the slightly denser shadows, which mimic the aesthetic of older travel books, Kodachrome-era National Geographic spreads, and vintage postcards. It creates a kind of emotional shorthand for memory, even if you weren’t there.
And yes, to that overwhelming 20th century-ness. Maybe we’re all a bit haunted by it right now.
Thanks again for reading, and for taking the time, even in a restaurant queue. Means a lot.
A beautiful set of images Ari - slide films give such gorgeous colours. I shot slide back in the 80's and 90's for a while, it was so unforgiving and I seem to remember that cibachrome prints were so expensive. I have one image of my dad in his garden shot on Velvia that stands out for me - in fact ,whenever I remember him, it's that image I think of and I'm sure that's partly due to the vivid colours imprinted on my memory.
Thank you Lin! And thank you also for sharing that lovely memory you have of your father. I think I connect with the colours and look of Velvia and Provia because that’s the memories I have of my childhood and the pictures my mum took of our holidays.
Thanks Søren. I saw that Leica ones are going for 70 euros on eBay, but I haven't done any research and I'm pretty clueless about what to look for. But that's another rabbit hole to look forward to.
You have opened the door…. now you need to walk through it! Looking forward to hearing how you do! Wouldn’t it be great to sit in a dark room with an old fashioned slide projector with the fan running loudly in the background and a great story teller explaining what we are looking at!?
That was my childhood when my mum had just come back from Madagascar or Brazil and was narrting the trip, slide by slide, to her friends over for dinner, whole I sat on the floor and watched in marvel.
Great shots! I tried slide film once years ago and had no idea how hard it was too expose... But these images make me want to try it again. Totally agree on the 'beige-ification' of our culture and the craving to embrace some colour. But maybe you're a bit harsh on Kodak.. it's a beautiful film!
Thank you Sophie! Yeah slide film is a beast that’s difficult tame, and I only included the shots that turned out well. Exposing for snow in bright sunny conditions is no joke. Perhaps I am being a bit harsh on Portra, but the sake of writing I liked the cheeky analogy. I’ve never been able make it work well for myself, but I’m impressed with what I see others posting from it.
Yeah I know how hard it is to expose for sunny & snowy conditions, I have messed that up even with the latitude of colour film. Brave to attempt it with slide but the ones that worked are brilliant.
There's so much drama in these. Brilliant choice to take skiing. I recently shot a few rolls while skiing and noticed it can be quite difficult to make an interesting image but the way you've used this film nails it.
Thanks Liam, I really appreciate that. I think it can certainly be hard to take great photos when everything is so beautiful. My first ever Substack post was exactly about that, vis-a-vis Iceland. I'm gonna check out your Alps photos.
Great article Ari, skiing is such a good subject for slide film, you have to look closely to realise the equipment is modern otherwise it transports me straight back to the 1970’s. And it’s good to see that I can still spot a Velvia image without the need to read the caption. 👏
Thanks Dave. It’s funny how the look and rendering of a film can totally transport you to a time in history. And as you say, the only giveaways are the modern ski gear.
I agree with you. The slide film is so vibrant the colors practically jump off the images! - Beautiful work!
Thank you Alicia, I really appreciate this! I agree that the vibrancy is off the charts.
Wow! Simply stunning! It's just so different of what we are used to now with digital imagery. The colors and, I reckon particularly the shadows and contrast, make the image so livid! Amazing work, I imagine you're quite pleased with the results! I enjoyed them all
Hey Eduardo, thank you for this kind feedback. Yeah, it's super different from what you get digitally. I've tried to recreate it, but never got the full look.
Ari, these are fantastic, even on a screen, even on a phone (which I wouldn't normally have used, but was waiting for somebody in a restaurant). In some contrast to your point about beige, a great deal of digital photography, especially in the commercial advertising space that suffuses urban life, is oversaturated, lurid, "punched up" post capture. What I don't quite understand is why the slides come off differently. I suspect the colors are somehow simpler, cleaner, but I'm not sure. Those red shutters! I too am old enough to remember slides, so that's part of it, but there is a certain mid-century "feel" to this stuff that seems independent of that. Yesterday I was in the GM Building -- overlooking central park, and buildings both older (the Plaza, for example) and newer (various "pencil" supertalls on billionaire's row) and I had this overwhelming 20th century-ness. Another world. And then I should vacation in your slides. Again, fantastic work, great essay, bravo.
David, I love this! Thank you. Apologies for not responding sooner, I wanted to write a proper response, so here it is. The idea of “vacationing in my slides” is probably the highest compliment I could ask for. You’re absolutely right about the oversaturation in digital advertising imagery... there’s a kind of synthetic vibrancy that feels like it’s been focus-grouped to death. With slide film, the colours do hit differently, and I think you’re onto something with “simpler, cleaner.” There’s less manipulation baked in; the film just is what it is. Velvia, for instance, renders reds and greens in a way that feels vivid without being garish, to me it's like it has a built-in taste filter.
And about that “mid-century feel”, what you said is really interesting. I think it’s partly down to the limited dynamic range and the slightly denser shadows, which mimic the aesthetic of older travel books, Kodachrome-era National Geographic spreads, and vintage postcards. It creates a kind of emotional shorthand for memory, even if you weren’t there.
And yes, to that overwhelming 20th century-ness. Maybe we’re all a bit haunted by it right now.
Thanks again for reading, and for taking the time, even in a restaurant queue. Means a lot.
A beautiful set of images Ari - slide films give such gorgeous colours. I shot slide back in the 80's and 90's for a while, it was so unforgiving and I seem to remember that cibachrome prints were so expensive. I have one image of my dad in his garden shot on Velvia that stands out for me - in fact ,whenever I remember him, it's that image I think of and I'm sure that's partly due to the vivid colours imprinted on my memory.
Thank you Lin! And thank you also for sharing that lovely memory you have of your father. I think I connect with the colours and look of Velvia and Provia because that’s the memories I have of my childhood and the pictures my mum took of our holidays.
Lovely colours... Have you started exploring different projectors yet?
Thanks Søren. I saw that Leica ones are going for 70 euros on eBay, but I haven't done any research and I'm pretty clueless about what to look for. But that's another rabbit hole to look forward to.
You have opened the door…. now you need to walk through it! Looking forward to hearing how you do! Wouldn’t it be great to sit in a dark room with an old fashioned slide projector with the fan running loudly in the background and a great story teller explaining what we are looking at!?
That was my childhood when my mum had just come back from Madagascar or Brazil and was narrting the trip, slide by slide, to her friends over for dinner, whole I sat on the floor and watched in marvel.
Fabulous!!
Great shots! I tried slide film once years ago and had no idea how hard it was too expose... But these images make me want to try it again. Totally agree on the 'beige-ification' of our culture and the craving to embrace some colour. But maybe you're a bit harsh on Kodak.. it's a beautiful film!
Thank you Sophie! Yeah slide film is a beast that’s difficult tame, and I only included the shots that turned out well. Exposing for snow in bright sunny conditions is no joke. Perhaps I am being a bit harsh on Portra, but the sake of writing I liked the cheeky analogy. I’ve never been able make it work well for myself, but I’m impressed with what I see others posting from it.
Yeah I know how hard it is to expose for sunny & snowy conditions, I have messed that up even with the latitude of colour film. Brave to attempt it with slide but the ones that worked are brilliant.
Stunning photos as always, and great writing. 'Meat and potatoes landscape' - love it!
Thanks for reading Carol, and appreciate it. Glad you liked the metaphor :)
These are so nostalgic looking! I love it!
Thanks Rachel. I agree there's something deeply nostalgic about slide film.
There's so much drama in these. Brilliant choice to take skiing. I recently shot a few rolls while skiing and noticed it can be quite difficult to make an interesting image but the way you've used this film nails it.
Thanks Liam, I really appreciate that. I think it can certainly be hard to take great photos when everything is so beautiful. My first ever Substack post was exactly about that, vis-a-vis Iceland. I'm gonna check out your Alps photos.
These slides are phenomenal. Respect buddy!