35 mm Slide Challenge & Festival -- Audience

RSVP "yes" to this if you want to be in the *audience* for the Slide Festival. (If you're a presenter, you're ok -- all the presenters get to be in the audience automatically.)

You can think of this event as parallel to the Digital Image Festival of April 23, but with analogue slides. At the same time, slide film presents unique challenges that make using it quite a different experience from shooting digitally – and even from shooting 35 mm negative (print) film.

First of all, with slide film, “what you see is what you get” – because there is no printing, as with negative film, you can’t adjust your density, or do any dodging or burning; nor can you crop your image. And you can’t post-process, as you can with digital (well, you could if you scanned your slide – but that’s not what this event is about). Of course, all of these things could be seen as limitations – but it may also encourage the photographer to think carefully about the image they’re trying to achieve at the moment of shooting.

On the plus side, a projected slide is automatically far bigger than any print you’re likely to produce – so all that rich detail can come to life. (Some people feel that a good projected slide achieves far more impact than any other presentation system.) Essentially, this event is about taking advantage of slide film “as slide film” – that is, using it and enjoying it for its unique properties.

Enjoy!