A talk with my neighbor made me see expired film differently

I always tossed any expired film I found, thinking it was just junk. My neighbor, an old teacher, gave me a roll from 1998 he found in a drawer and said, 'The flaws tell a story too.' I shot it on a cloudy day in my backyard, expecting nothing. When I got the prints back, the weird color shifts and grain made the ordinary fence and garden look like a faded memory. It completely changed how I view 'mistakes' in a photo. Has anyone else gotten a cool result from film that was way past its date?

2 comments

2 Comments

michael8801mo ago

My uncle used to shoot expired slide film on purpose for his weird art projects. He'd keep it in his hot garage for years first. The results looked like photos from a dream you only half remember, all washed out and weird. It taught me that sometimes the broken stuff has more character than the perfect new thing.

parkerb751mo ago

Wait, film from 1998? That's older than some of the computers I fix at work! Honestly, I can't believe it even developed at all. I would've bet money it was just a blank roll. The fact you got these spooky, cool colors out of something that old is wild. Makes me wanna dig through my own junk drawer.