I had the desire to shoot film- some classic black and white gritty film.

But I left my 35mm film cameras behind when I moved for my final year of university, and black and white APS film proved difficult to find.

Another reason for wanting to shoot film was the unpredictability and tactile chemical effects that can occur with it. I wanted the potential light leaks, or water damage, or unexpected colours from an expired roll.

In addition to this vision of classic greyscale imagery, I also wanted to try an idea I’ve had for a little while now.

Stencil filters. These may already be a thing and they may be called something else, but I haven’t yet researched it- I wanted to do this myself.

The idea being that I apply a cover to the lens that blocks out most of the frame, except a strip, circle, or star of view- within which I can frame my subject.

I thought this would be a very fun challenge and could help me explore and understand composition and story more. I also think if there were two windows in a frame, and I were to focus on framing a subject in one- then whatever is in the other window would therefore be important, despite not being targeting to begin with.

By doing this and giving the filter a chance to pick its own subject, there’s a spontaneity and freedom to let go of a rigid idea of right vs wrong, that I think would be refreshing.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attach my handmade paper filters to my lens without obstructing the manual focus and zoom functions. So as with my 35mm film camera, I must wait to retrieve my cokin lens filter holder, which will hopefully mean I can use a thicker card to create my stencil filters and take these out and about.

As a result, the following framing was created instinctually and somewhat at random using photoshop, after the event.