Rediscovering film photography after playing with PsdFilm
© Ana Novi / PsdFilm:
We had the pleasure to interview artist Ana Novi (São Paulo, Brasil) on her career has a professional photographer, her very personal style and how she moved from film photography to digital and back again to film after playing with our film emulations for Photoshop.
PsdFilm: How long have you been in photography?
Ana: I’ve always liked photography, played around with it as a kid, mostly polaroids and cheap little film cameras.
In 2010, I decided I wanted to actually start photographing in a more serious tone, so I bought my first semi-pro digital camera and went about creating every kind of picture possible.
It was only in 2014 that I started photographing professionally.
P: Why did you decide to use PsdFilm?
A: There’s something of a poetic visual quality to film that seems to be lost in the digital world, digital pictures look less “tactile” I guess. I looked to PsdFilm to try to get some of that quality back.
PsdFilm: How long have you been in photography?
Ana: I’ve always liked photography, played around with it as a kid, mostly polaroids and cheap little film cameras.
In 2010, I decided I wanted to actually start photographing in a more serious tone, so I bought my first semi-pro digital camera and went about creating every kind of picture possible.
It was only in 2014 that I started photographing professionally.
P: Why did you decide to use PsdFilm?
A: There’s something of a poetic visual quality to film that seems to be lost in the digital world, digital pictures look less “tactile” I guess. I looked to PsdFilm to try to get some of that quality back.
© Ana Novi
P: Why do you like the look of vintage films?
A: I wouldn’t say they are vintage, due to the fact that analog photography is not something constricted to the past. But it’s all about that poetic quality, which is something quite subjective… it relates to my childhood experiences with my toy cameras, with old family photos, as if film were in a sense more historical.
"There’s something of a poetic visual quality to film that seems to be lost in the digital world, I looked to PsdFilm to try to get some of that quality back."
P: Why did you get back to film photography?
A: I started again with film in 2012 for no specific reason. I just picked up my dad’s old pentax and started using it. The practical side of it is that these old cameras attract less attention so walking around São Paulo with them is way less dangerous.
As time passed, I found myself enjoying a lot more my analog results than my digital ones. For work, of course, I still shoot digital, but almost all my personal work is now done on film. The feel of the camera is different, the sound it makes, the whole thing has something of a ritualistic aura around it, and I guess that influences my state of mind and, thus, my results.
A: I wouldn’t say they are vintage, due to the fact that analog photography is not something constricted to the past. But it’s all about that poetic quality, which is something quite subjective… it relates to my childhood experiences with my toy cameras, with old family photos, as if film were in a sense more historical.
"There’s something of a poetic visual quality to film that seems to be lost in the digital world, I looked to PsdFilm to try to get some of that quality back."
A: I started again with film in 2012 for no specific reason. I just picked up my dad’s old pentax and started using it. The practical side of it is that these old cameras attract less attention so walking around São Paulo with them is way less dangerous.
As time passed, I found myself enjoying a lot more my analog results than my digital ones. For work, of course, I still shoot digital, but almost all my personal work is now done on film. The feel of the camera is different, the sound it makes, the whole thing has something of a ritualistic aura around it, and I guess that influences my state of mind and, thus, my results.
© Ana Novi / PsdFilm:
P: How do you think PsdFilm helped you in this step in your career?
A: I can’t really say… it was a pretty organic process. Although it did help in the sense that I knew better what to expect of certain films I had never worked with.
P: To end, please tell us anything about your upcoming projects.
A: I’ve been mostly working as a designer, so I only shoot professionally for design clients now ( product photography and portraits mainly).
On the personal side, I have an ongoing project of investigating the beauty and interest of mundane and profoundly common things; it’s a kind of subjectless photography in which the focus is on atmosphere, color and light.
A: I can’t really say… it was a pretty organic process. Although it did help in the sense that I knew better what to expect of certain films I had never worked with.
P: To end, please tell us anything about your upcoming projects.
A: I’ve been mostly working as a designer, so I only shoot professionally for design clients now ( product photography and portraits mainly).
On the personal side, I have an ongoing project of investigating the beauty and interest of mundane and profoundly common things; it’s a kind of subjectless photography in which the focus is on atmosphere, color and light.
© Ana Novi
You can find more of Ana Novi's work at @ananovifotografia
