"When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school....it's a wonder I can think at all. And though my lack of education hasn't hurt me none, I can read the writing on the wall"  Paul Simon

There's a saying that goes something like, "what's old is new again." There is, indeed, truth in this statement, though with each incarnation, each trend becomes sleeker, chic-er, and much cooler than it was the first time around, doesn't it? (Not to mention a whole lot pricier.) Many of these reincarnated beauties weren't considered cool in the first place, or were replaced with something much more advanced, and sort of scoffed at for some years before making their comeback to a new generation.

What has surprised me recently is how film is making a comeback, and in many cases, never left in the first place. Myself, being an admittedly poor photographer, was the first to embrace digital photography. No more black photographs. No more ruined negatives. My friends all flourished in our photography classes, while I was lucky to get two good negatives out of twenty-four. By the time I made it into the college photo lab, my skills had improved, but I was, quite honestly, the absolute worst student in the class. Thank God that I shot decent photographs at least, because I certainly couldn't develop them to save my life. I could print them, but spent most of my time printing other students' negatives.

I stopped using my old, inherited, manual Nikon camera about a decade ago, when the battery died and I was unable to find a replacement. I shot my sister's wedding in its last great "hurrah!", and put it away with the pile of other obsolete cameras, CB radios, and the like. I had an Advantix film camera for a while, then got my first digital, and like many, turned my back on film forever.

Recently it seems that all I can think about is cameras. I live, breathe, and talk nonstop about pixels, ISO's, groovy articulated LCD screens, and yes, even film. My beloved 5-megapixel Casio has seen better days, and is in the end of its illustrious, glorious life, about to make its way into that infamous resting place in my closet. On my quest for a new camera, my eyes have been opened once again to the tumultuous world of photography, putting me in the middle of this weird crusade that, until now, was completely unbeknownst to me. There are the die-hard film heathens on one side, clinging to their beliefs with all their might, and on the other side, a high-tech world aimed at making film obsolete and converting us all to the new ways. Neither can agree nor meet in the middle, and both are somewhat disgruntled and angry with the world. Yes, film is making a comeback, and for many hard-core, old-school photographers, it never left. What I find most fascinating about all this is the fact that a new generation, one that has only known digital, is embracing film. There are even reproduction cameras that take vintage looking photographs. There is a term called "lomography" (which was foreign to me, even though I practiced it for many years), which is basically bad photography. "Lomo" came from the old Russian cameras, but the term, or at least as I understand it, is to take creative analog photographs for the sake of taking them, no photo-snobbery, just see what happens. In lomography, oversaturated colors, distortions, and the like are all embraced as art. This all sounds like fun, right? Wrong. A friend of mine bought one of these vintage-y cameras, and went onto a Flickr message board for some advice. She was shooting through vintage lenses, which creates this cool effect on photos, and wanted some info on her new, overpriced camera that takes bad photographs. She quickly found out that this world is just as snooty and elite as the rest of the art and photography world, and was left a little stunned. On my recent quest, I can say that I agree. This whole "geek is chic" thing sounds great for those of us who were never cool to begin with, and now, I'm finding, that I still ain't cool enough to be in the groovy photo club, and am standing alone at the door in my "Members Only" jacket. What's funnier is that most of these '70's hairstyle wearin', low-rise jeans-clad, geeky-cool photographic geniuses* are kids, and they will tear you down in an instant! I chuckle a bit, though I want to slap 'em and go get their mama, tell 'em that they "weren't even born in the age of film, take off the Led Zeppelin shirt", and so forth. Even at all these gadget stores, these little know-it-all twerps are so rude and have no problem telling you to your face how old and stupid you are, and all I wanna do is buy a camera. When it comes to film and "lomography", I find that, finally, after all these years, I'm actually a "good" photographer! My photos are not "bad" enough to join the lomo club. Cool, right? No, not really. They're not good enough to join the elite photo world, either.

So, in all of this angst of film and digital, argumentative message boards and whiny kids who want the newest, better gadget, (whiny, seasoned pros whining about the kids' whininess), and this whole, "my camera is better than your camera" sort of thang, my eyes have been opened to a whole new world of endless photographic possibilities that I was completely unaware of in my little comfortable bubble. Now is a fabulous time to take photographs. There is anything and everything that anyone ever dreamt possible in the world of photography. I walk around camera stores ("Kodachrome" by Simon and Garfunkel playing in the background of this scenario, running like an old 8mm film), holding these big, bad DSLR cameras, and yes, feeling a bit nostalgic for a "real" camera. As much as the practical side of me wants that new waterproof Sony with the Carl Zeiss lens (ya know, that fun little camera that fits in your pocket, has a panorama setting and probably takes pretty damn good pictures?), there is something stirring in my soul when I embrace that big lens with f-stops engraved in a perfect circumference. All around me are camera wars and snippety attitudes, and I just want to hold a camera again. Sure, I was a lousy photographer, and yeah, I love digital. So why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't one have high-res and an articulated screen? What about taking pictures for the sake of taking pictures? Why can't we all just get along, and take pictures together? Naked? No? Just a thought.

I, for one, embrace technology. (And, on occasion, tasteful nudity, but I digress.) However, there is this part of me that pines for film and sorta wants to mend fences with my old nemesis. Sure, film often broke my heart. Yeah, she was a b*tch goddess who would slap me whenever given the chance, but a part of me knew I earned it for not giving her the respect she deserved. Ah, film...you beautiful, evil temptress. I committed many film sins, and often paid the price. Still, I find myself seeking redemption. One film, however, broke my heart above them all. My one true love. Sure, she wasn't the fanciest, and no, she wasn't the prettiest. Soft, pure, mysterious.....my love lost....Polaroid. I LOVE Polaroid. I miss Polaroid. I could never ruin a Polaroid. The perfectly marvelous, wondrous, instant gratification of one moment in time, captured in a flash, appearing like magic before my very eyes in sixty seconds. Oh, how I love you, you heartbreaker.....Polaroid.

Though instant film was never considered "serious" photography, anyone old enough to remember it has absolutely gotta admit that it was awesome. Everyone had a Polaroid camera, but it only came out of the fridge for special occasions, as the film was pricey and a bit hard to come by if you lived out in the sticks. About 10 years ago, just after we got married, my husband bought me a Polaroid I-Zone, which took mini, postage stamp-sized instant photographs, some of which came with a peel and stick back. That was my favorite thing in the world, and I would blast right through that film and have to drop another wad of cash on another meager 8 shots. The film became more and more scarce, until it was but a faded dream, lost in the night, leaving me sad, broken-hearted, with a bunch of sweet little photographic memories that I will forever cherish.

I thought my beloved world of instant film was lost forever, that is, until I saw the movie "Yes Man" about six weeks ago for the first time. The film stars the amazing Jim Carrey (Carl Allen), and the adorable Zooey Deschanel (Allison), and is one of the best films I've seen in a while, mainly due to the camera that Allison (Zooey's character), uses in the film. (And Jim Carrey's hysterical comedic genius, as well as Zooey Deschanel's dreamy voice and completely all-around loveableness, of course.) In the film, Allison takes a Polaroid photograph of Carl pumping gas! I jumped up, shouted for my husband to rewind it, and said, "What kind of camera is that?" I zoomed it in. I watched and rewound fifty times. "But Polaroid is dead?" I said. I immediately googled it, and there we were, a whole little club of our own, all asking the same question. "What kind of camera did Allison use in Yes Man?" There it was, a few weeks later, wrapped in a pretty box, given to me for my birthday early, by my beloved family, a Fuji Instax camera. I opened it, and a ray of light beamed down upon it from God himself. (No joke, there was chanting and everything.) My very own beautiful piece of Japanese genius... a camera that takes credit card-sized instant photographs! Not a word of it was written in English, but it's all good... I know the drill. Pop open the back, slam the cartridge in, and "voila!" 10 shots of instant goodness! (Allison, by the way, has a gallery exhibition of these photographs at the end of the movie. The sheer awesometude.)

Though I am still on my quest to find the ultimate digital camera, (which will be too cool for some and not cool enough for others, I'm certain), having instant film back in my life has brought me so much joy, and in some way, makes me feel like a "photographer" again. It's chunky, has a viewfinder, no LCD screen, and totally satiates the part of me that missed the romance of film. In an age where cameras are often more of a status symbol that an artistic tool, I believe that mine is the winner, even among the big boys. There is such reflective joy among folks when they see my camera do its magic. "What is that?", people say. "Where did you get it?" "I thought they stopped making this film?" What was once laughed at is now cool, in a world where there are few actual printed photographs, let alone film. I self-dub this visionary art form, "Instantgratiphotography", and it's open to all, cool and uncool, who utilize, remember, or just plain love, instant photography, as well as the instant gratification that comes with it. I bow humbly at its benevolent omnipotence.

To many, photography is a religion. For me, it has its own kind of spiritual connection, and has always been a joyous, positive expression of who I am and the people in my life. Instant film, like me, is beautiful in its own way. Unique, soft, imperfect, a bit out of focus with a quirky story of its own, but it still makes people smile, even when they're rolling their eyes or raising an eyebrow. I give more away than I keep, and there is a Zen to the entire process, a deep, sacred relationship with the world as well as the elation that exists within each piece of film. "J5", as I call him (named after Johnny number 5 from the 1980's Short Circuit films), is my absolute favorite thing in the entire world. I'm enjoying him immensely, until he is inevitably replaced by a newer, sleeker gizmo. Until that fateful day, he will continue to make me, and all whom I encounter, smile for a while, as we experience enlightenment together, in the form of an instant photograph.

* I did meet a couple awesome lomo twerps who I simply adore. Yes, they are geeky geniuses, who have shared their knowledge willingly, and I love them.

"They give us those nice, bright colors... they give us the greens of summers...makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah. I got a Nikon camera... I love to take a photograph...so mama, don't take my kodachrome away...."  Paul Simon

By Sarah Costanzo

Enchanted Childe

Sarah's favourite saying - Life's a garden, dig it!

“As far as living in the magic, Be, there is great beauty in all of life's small things, which are really what's most important. Embrace each precious moment, as it's all magic. Watching a ladybug with my girls, jumping in leaf piles, building a snowman... things like that. The silly stuff, that's what I love, and that's magic to me.”

Once upon a time, there lived a small toad named Sarah, in a wooded swamp in northeastern Pennsylvania.

At age sixteen, she was kissed by a handsome prince, who promised to turn her into a human girl, so long as she agreed to cook, sing, and paint for him. This she did, and they lived quite happily.

She attributes her artistic talents to being born with unusually short thumbs, and to this day still has slimy feet and smells funny.

Sarah has been a member of Enchanted Folk since September 2007

members.enchantedfolk.com/enchantedchilde

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