We sat down with artist & model, Caleb Fechtor to learn more about his art of shooting in film.  

What is Super 8?

"Super 8" is a film format released in 1965 by Kodak. The "8" refers to 8mm film width. It's tiny.  Although it's definitely hard to come by these days, back in the day it was the go-to for home video recording. If your parents or grandparents shot home videos, this may have been how they did it. That may be why we all collectively feel a longing for "old days" when we see film like this, because it's so representative of a bygone era.

Why do you choose to shoot in this style of film?

I shoot only film. That applies to video and stills.  I work with film for a few reasons.   It's an entirely different process than shooting digitally, a much slower one. Sometimes a more reckless one. Every shot matters, because film is limited (and expensive).  Using film, you must work within the limitations of the film stock, and when you push those boundaries you get interesting, often spectacularly-imperfect, results. Since I can't see or review what I'm shooting in real time,  as you could with digital, I must have confidence in my eye, and a respect and patience for light and movement of the subject. This forces me to really connect with my subject, because there's nothing to save me. All I have is that dinky little super 8. I like the challenge.  On film, what you get is what you get. Very little of my process occurs post-production; shooting film keeps me active and away from late night photo-editing on the computer.

What inspired you to shoot in Super 8?

I'm an old soul. And a sucker for nostalgia. Shooting film helps me engage in the process, and capture life's precious moments unpretentiously, without preconditions or pre assumptions about what results I might get.

"Great photography is always on the edge of failure." - Gary Winogrand

 Learn more about Caleb Fechtor and his art here.