Is Film Photography Bad For The Environment?

In this video I will discuss the 4 main ways film photography affects the environment, and give tips on how you can counteract and improve your carbon footprint.

Things To Check Out
The Northern Sustainable Darkroom:
The Ecology of Grain:
Stare Into The Caffenol To Reveal Your Future: A Sustainable Vision for Analogue Photography:
35 Ways to decrease your carbon footprint:
The brilliant coffee connoisseur @jameshoffmann developing photos with coffee and vitamin c:
The very talented @ribsy home developing with Caffenol:

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[KarinMajoka]

Thanks so much for this video, this was much needed in the community! I am facing the same struggles regarding gelatine vs. being a vegetarian for many years, so I can really feel you on this one. I think living an environmental-friendly life is something global, where shooting film is only one minor part of. And as you said by trying to live sustainable, producing less waste, walking or using public transport, being careful with what we consume, we can have an impact. I think it’s also interesting to see that digital photography (unlike one might think) is also not „clean“ at all, since a lot of fossile fuels are used and the amount of waste during the production is insane.

[stuartbaines]

Labs have always recovered the silver which is recycled back to silver etc.
Some film chemistry IS nasty but can be avoided.
The use / reuse of old cameras is quite sustainable with care they can last a lifetime.
Comparatively speaking digital cameras and phones Are Very wasteful in production and
Less easily repaired or made obsolete. CO2 emissions from these devices are ongoing
as we store files more online on massive servers!
It might be interesting to workout how much CO2 is generated per file over 75 years in the cloud?.

[AdamOnAnalogue]

I work at the Natural History Museum and we consult widely with the government on environmental policy.

E-waste is one of biggest ecological issues currently.

When broken or unwanted electronics are dumped in landfill, toxic substances like lead and mercury can leach into soil and water.

Current e-waste recycling solutions are just exporting the problem.

Recycling is a preferable option to sending valuable componentry to landfill, but it comes with its own ethical considerations.

Processes are slow and inefficient, and nations are exporting the challenge to countries where labour laws and safety don't protect those doing the meticulous and dangerous work of processing e-waste for metal and mineral extraction.

Digital cameras, like all electronic devices just add this ever growing problem.

Typically a digital camera/device will have a life span of 4-5 years before it is superseded by a new variant. Some manufacturers this will be significantly shorter. Some devices will even have planned obsolescence built-in, and the devices will never be able to be repaired economically.

The embedded carbon of these devices are considerable. Made from various composites that are hard to recycle. Further more they rely on rare earth minerals, which as the name suggests are scarce. The mining of these minerals are carried out in countries with loose moral standards. The mining of lithium and cobalt is carried out in places like Congo Republic, often by child labour.

Analogue photography has various sustainability issues to contend with in relation to medium it is captured on and the process of developing - as you've mentioned.

The longevity of manual cameras is not one of them. The community survives specifically on the reuse and recycle mantra with a large amount of our equipment and accessories.

Sadly any hobbies that contain a physical asset/consumable will always suffer with the same issues. We just need to be aware and reduce our impact as much as practicably possible. It's a very hard issues to resolve but it starts with education and that's why videos like this are important.

[brandonjernigan]

Thank you for not avoiding this topic and coming at it head on. It’s def a personal decision on whether or not to shoot film, but I really appreciate the legwork you did to help explain its impact on the environment and how you might offset that impact. Great as always :)

[JamieMPhoto]

Great topic! Digital has a pretty awful footprint, as well. I believe making the right decisions to help reduce impacts is the way to go. Ilford and actually Cinestill have great pages on these topics, too! Changing factory farming would improve the ethics of the meat/gelatin industry, and would be a great way for us to go in general. Also, sad that a lot of these industry giants don't realize how big of a financial prize awaits anyone who actually does create a gelatin alternative. Small scale industry is the future of not only photography, but all of production. Anyway, I'm all over the place now ... ha

[TheFilmFellow]

Cool video Madison! As a vegetarian I’m also more than a bit troubled with the gelatin aspect. Unfortunately, it’s pick your evil. Our digital brothers and sisters aren’t any better off I’m afraid. The process of mining for quartz and then smelting to make the silicone for digital image sensors is incredibly destructive to the planet. Not to mention all the plastics involved to make new digital cameras. Us film photographers can take solace in the fact that we recycle cameras. You could also bulk load film to exclude your personal consumption of film canisters and its consequential wrapping products. I think in the end it comes down to all of us making better decisions to minimize our carbon footprint.

[Ibibiogal]

As a proud vegan, I feel so guilty to find out how much cows have to die for me to shoot film! But it's good to hear that the film community cares about the planet, and is finding new ways to save it whilst keep film alive. Great video as always.

[Ohyehah]

I've had a really mixed relation to these issues, and have to admit that it was a bit difficult clicking on this video. I'm really glad I did however, as you're presenting this with a really nice mix of harsh facts and optimism.

I work in a digital camera store and experience first hand the insane pace things are moving at in that world. People coming in to swap out a 6-7 year old model for the new one, only to be told by our service department that the old one's basically worthless. I'm also really active on my country's main used market app, and it's really sad to see old digital cameras continually dropping in price until they disappear from the site. The many models remaining are guaranteed to end up in dumps.

So I do believe as others have mentioned that analog actually comes out cleaner in the end.
For me one of the most beautiful aspects of film photography is the amount of power it gives each individual. You get to say no to the tech race, you get to say no to the camera store campaigns (I know, I know), and if you want, you can take control over pretty much every aspect of your own work. This process thus being much more local in nature than the global digital industry, it stands to reason that it's easier for us to get a more complete picture of our impact on the environment. I think this is a good thing, because as you said, there are lots of things we can do about this!

For us there is the option of shooting more eco-friendly, for exclusively digital shooters there's only the option to become outdated.

[mdawg]

One thought on trying to get the most out of your fixer is to consider two bath fixing perhaps. The idea is to use the first fixer to do "most of the work" and let the second fixer finish it off. This helps add a bit of a safety net to avoid under-fixing film or paper, but also lets you really use up the first bath. Once it's saturated, dispose normally (in my case I put them in the screw-cap jugs my distilled water comes in and save them for eventual collection by the local hazardous waste company). Then your 2nd fixer now becomes the new first fixer and you mix a new batch of 2nd fixer. Since I've done this I've never had milky negatives and, likewise, in the darkroom, I find I use the 1st fixer bath for quick fixing of test prints and things which helps keep my 2nd fixer strong for final prints.

This might make a marginal difference but if it helps you fully use your fixer, that's less fixer you're having to collect (as well as less fixer you need to buy).

[sunaryna]

i struggle a lot with this topic as i am not consuming any animal products apart from film. i just love film photography so much! like you, i started shooting very early on and i grew in a more sustainable lifestyle throughout the years.. it makes me soo happy to see that there is a small business out there which is fighting for a more sustainable way in this industry!
so much respect & love 😊❤️

[mangoandsaltvideos]

This was very interesting, thank you for sharing! I’m a vegetarian too so the fact that the whole film process is based on gelatin is certainly a weird one for me too. I can’t wait to see plant based alternatives arrive to the market, hopefully soon –and probably sooner if we spread the word like you do!

[CalvinSavesThePlanet]

Thanks for producing this video! This is a question that I have had since I started shooting film. It is a personal decision but this video equips viewers to make their own decisions on the topic.

[romainp]

And in comparison to digital photography, rare earth minerals, people buying always the new camera as opposed to film shooters often using old camera?

[LucaEandi]

Really enjoyed your video, thanks for sharing your research and personal feelings on the matter. I was just discussing this last week with a colleague as we were talking about Fujifilm discontinuing Pro 400H. Along with the environmental impact, I also wonder about the socio-economic impact on developing nations, where most of the chemicals used in the manufacturing of film and its byproducts are harvested. There's often exploitative practices that go along within those industries, from the labor side of things to illicit trade and corruption that props up authoritative governments. It would be interesting to see a dedicated study looking into this.

[SophiaCarey]

This was a really good video! Probably one of the best that I've seen in a while. I'll be honest, I hadn't before considered the environmental impact that film photography would have. I'm similarly conflicted, as a vegetarian, to learn that film also uses gelatin, which is something I was definitely naive to. I think that, as you say, it's often about balancing things out and finding a way to do your best with what you can, so I'll be continuing to shoot film too, but definitely making more of an effort to make sure that my practice is environmentally conscious. Thanks for plugging The Northern Sustainable Darkroom too! Definitely excited to see what they have planned and to hopefully see a plant-based film emulsion coming sooner rather than later.

[martin]

I understand that this was in reply to a question and found it interesting, but I have to wonder how much impact film photography actually has, given that the vast majority of “photographers” have turned to digital. There are nations, and we all know who they are, who care little or nothing about the environment and who ignore all efforts to persuade them to reduce their carbon footprint. I also get very tired of so called “celebrities” who lecture us all on how we should live whilst travelling here there and everywhere in their private jets. I honestly don’t think that shooting film has that much impact frankly

[knowyourguitar]

this video It’s a big eye opener and will defo change the way I shoot film and reserve my film stocks in future videos with only analogue thank you and keep up the good work

[KNURKonesur]

Caffenol is amazing, cheap and easy to use! I've been using it for years now so if anyone has any questions, I'm happy to help! Just working on a video where I test 10 different film stocks and compare the end results. Not very environmentally friendly to be honest, but I've been wondering for years and never saw a direct comparison between black and white stocks.

AFAIK there are NO film stocks by any manufacturer that don't use gelatin as a base, also a lot of home printers if I recall correctly. The way to skip gelatin would be to make a leap into wet plate photography, where every bit of the chemistry is hand made. I don't know what the state of research for plant based substitutes of gelatin is, but I'm not very hopeful there's a breakthrough around the corner.

[celestialmonochord]

Great video! Thank you! I'm just now switching to caffenol and B&W almost exclusively, but as Strauf & Becker pointed out on Sunny 16 Presents, caffenol uses cheap coffee usually made with poor labor practices. Still, on balance, I suspect the switch back from digital to analog is, all by itself, a great leap forward in ethics and responsibility. The digital stage of civilization is kind of a mess.

[kameramann]

Thank you so much for sharing! I've heard about this topic before, but alsways was too lazy to research it, so thanks for gathering all this information :)