Bloody Cheek!

Here's one American student's view when he signed up for what he thought was a digital photography course only to discover it was film-based:

"I thought it was a downer, I thought, 'What is this old people stuff?'" Arden Coleman said. The story appeared in a US newspaper, the Hartford Courant, that had a similar opinion about our craft.

The writer of the article, describing the students' reactions, said, "...those classes in what is considered archaic, obsolete technology instead inspired a new appreciation for photography for the students."

Give Arden his dues, though, because he overcame the shock to find out what we already know: there's nothing like film..

Arden is a pupil at Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut and this was his introduction to analogue photography. He said, "When you first see a photo developing it's magic, it just appears."

You can read the whole story here. It's interesting because it confirms two things. The first is that film is seen by younger people as archaic, bizarre though that may seem to those of us who knew nothing else for many a decade. And secondly, once people get to try film and darkroom work they usually love it.

So our mission is clear: make it seem exciting and encourage as many young people as possible to give it a go.