Refined Sugar by Adriana Beach

 I got my first film camera when I was 17, I was working at a little vintage shop in Fremantle, Australia. My boss told me I could pick just one thing from the shop as my Christmas present and I knew straight away my best friend for the summer was going to be the little red and black Canon AF-50 in the window.

If you ask anyone who shoots or has shot film, it is truly such a charming process. With only as many opportunities as the roll allows, you’re more selective with what you choose to capture. There’s this special little trickle of time before you take a photo where you’re kind of “eyeing up” the moment. Whether you’re appreciating a composition, being in absolute awe of the nature that encompasses you or admiring your friends and thinking how god damn lucky you are - either way you are often followed by a familiar thought - one along the lines of “this would make a sick photo” and then this is usually followed by the actual taking of said photo; shutter speed, aperture, focus and then the ever-satisfying CLICK of the shutter.

The moment has gone, so is the picture, onto the next frame - is it going to turn out? You’re not sure. You can’t look to critique it. You can't change settings and take a million others - but this is the part that makes it so beautiful, the mystery of how it will turn out along with a send of trust that it actually will!

After you’ve taken the photo, you just slip straight back into the present and almost inevitably, in a few days' time, when you get that roll developed, you’re going to absolutely love that frame. When you see it for the first time, it’s going to take you right back to that point in time. I guess you could say "it’s like gifting moments back to yourself.."

Pics taken on Pentax Asahi KM and Ricoh KR-5 Super II // Various places in Aus.