Developing memories

Travel Editor, Lily Lake, explains how film became her perfect slow-travel accessory

If you’re anything like me, the need to document your travels can be a surefire way to destroy your phone’s storage space. The knowledge of each moment being a snippet of a precious time to treasure makes it almost impossible not to feel the need to drag out your camera and snap every instant, even when you know that exact shot of the Ei el Tower already exists somewhere on the internet.

do a better job of reminding me of how much I forgot to appreciate than reminding me of how much I enjoyed.

Over the last few years, I’m sure we’ve all become familiar with the fast traveller. I’m sure many of us have been guilty of being one; following a packed itinerary, taking as many photos as possible for social media, forgetting to connect with the place you’re in. It makes sense. I’m sure we’d all love to be the slow traveller – spending months in remote communities as the media often portrays. But who has the time or money for that? Perhaps slow travel – making an e ort to connect with an area – has less to do with how long you spend in a place than it has to do with how you approach forming your memories there.

I’ve accumulated thousands of travel photos over the years. Thousands of photos that I never look at again, spare the odd few that made it to the monthly free prints sitting pride of place on the wall. The sad thing is, when you take thousands of photos, you rarely take a shot that means a whole lot to you. Even sadder is that when I have made the e ort to look back at all those photos, I have hardly any memory of the moments that made them special. It’s almost as if photographing the moment substituted the need to appreciate it. Don’t get me wrong, I have lovely memories of the places I’ve travelled, but the photos I refuse to let go of

Last year, I made a switch to how I document my travels which has changed my entire travel experience. That switch was the addition of a film camera to my suitcase – bear with me on this one. There’s something about having a finite number of photos to take which completely alters the process of taking them. Gone are the days where I would photograph something in an instant because it looked somewhat pretty, only to look back in confusion at a later date desperately trying to remember the significance of the photo. Every beautiful thing I see on a trip I now take time to examine, appreciate and evaluate before deciding if it is worthy of being one of my 36 photos. I then take time to find the perfect angle to take the photo from, altering the aperture and shutter speed to figure out exactly what I want from the photo. Believe me, I’m no photographer. I have taken many a blurry, underexposed photo since taking up this method. But somehow those imperfections only add to my fondness of the photos and my connection with the place I took them in.

Then there’s the practical element of film needing to be developed. Getting back from a trip knowing you can’t see your photos for a couple of weeks is slightly annoying, I agree. But the thrill when they do finally come back is so worth it. Your travel memories, which have just begun to haze, are brought back to life in a charming grain. Sure, it was only two weeks ago but something about it floods you with nostalgia. You’re reminded of all the feelings you felt in the place, understand why you took those photos and somehow, you’re back where you were when you took them.

Memories, which have just begun to haze, are brought back to life in a charming grain

Don’t get me wrong, using film photography for travel isn’t always practical. I’ve never taken it abroad for fear of my photos being destroyed by airport scanners, and it is definitely more expensive than digital photography. I am very aware of how pretentious it sounds to tell people a film camera is a ‘must have’ for travel, but I think the lessons of travelling with film are pretty applicable even when using a digital camera or phone. Making the e ort to actually consider a place in the moment, forming the attachment to it there, is so much more fulfilling than taking twenty pictures to admire at a later date. In my eyes, the way you choose to document a place completely alters how much you enjoy it, both in the moment and in your memory.