Adam Finken - An Interview

Adam Finken is a southern Californian who has just moved to L.A after 7 years in San Francisco. Finken has been shooting on film for 2 years. See his instagram here: @FINKENFOTO

When did you first encounter film?

I went to a film photography class in high school and my father used to shoot film.

What was your first camera?

In highschool i had a Canon AE-1 but i was terrible at it, 2 years ago i bought a Pentax K-1000 at a thrift store so let's consider that my first.

What camera/film do you use now?

let's see, my go-to camera is my canon A-1 that my father handed down to me.

For film I generally shop in the expired bin at glass key photo in san francisco. I'm not even sure what I'm using I think it's expired Fujicolor Pro160s and I'm kind of nervous about the results. I shoot a lot of AGFA 400 and Fuji Superia 800 because I like the grain.

I have 5 cameras, Canon A-1, Pentax k-1000, Pentax Honeywell (aka Spotmatic), Olympus Stylus 105, and a green Holga 120GCFN.

I think my favorite is the Pentax Honeywell Spotmatic, it doesn't have a light meter and although i have a vintage external meter for it, I generally like to just guess my exposure settings. The stock lens on it is excellent and the person who handed it down to me also included an amazing telephoto/macro lens for it too that when mounted on the camera it weighs about 8 pounds (4kg) but the results are usually my favorite. Weird light leaks or over-exposed shots but the focus is always real sharp.

Do you shoot on digital too?

I do not shoot any digital. When I first started shooting film "I was convinced I would stay a purist" and never shoot digital but if I could own one of those Fuji X100t cameras I would. I like how well modern digital cameras can handle low light. My cameras don't have ASA functions that can handle low light situations.

Why do you shoot on film?

Good question and it's a complicated answer but basically 2 years ago an internet friend posted about a Pentax K-100 being sold at a thrift store for $10 so I bought it and when I got the first roll developed I was hooked. The colors and the grain and the happy accidents changed me. Then my father dug out his old Canon and co-workers and friends started giving me their old cameras and I started looking for film cameras at every thrift store I went into and have been addicted to film since I bought that Pentax. Short answer: it makes me happy.

Do you think there is a future for film?

Sure I think there's a future in film. I compare it to fine art materials like oil or acrylic paint that will also never go away. Part of the magic in creating art is the material you're creating with and although digital cameras can do absolutely amazing things, it can never quite achieve what shooting on film can. with both the chemicals in the film and the ones used to develop and the fact light is literally bouncing off glass and mirrors and smacking this piece of film that then has to go through a development process before you can even see your results. I think is a wonderful thing.

What is your favourite thing to take photos of?

My favorite thing(s) to shoot photos of are nude women, sure it sounds cliche but I think every photographer views and shoots naked bodies differently and I think also it comes down to the photographer/model relationship. it's something I'm still very new at and still makes me very nervous but when it comes down to it who doesn't enjoy a great image of a naked body? But a close second is inanimate objects like buildings and landscapes. I don't think i'll ever stop shooting pictures of buildings.

What is your best tip/trick for photography?

I was just thinking about my style and approach the other day and a good tip/trick is to load shitty film in your good cameras and good film in your shitty cameras.

("This was my first nude shoot I ever did and she's a professional nude model. I was so nervous I brought 3 cameras, broke one on the way to the shoot, shot with the 2 remaining cameras in this very public beach/rock setting only to find out later there was only film in one camera. Once again shot with my Pentax Spotmatic at the Sutro Baths in San Francisco. I like this image because she was between poses looking for her next spot to adapt to but I love how candid it is and seems to tell a bigger story. ")

("This was a happy accidental double exposure. Shot with my Canon A-1 it has a rad double exposure feature on it that I clicked on by accident. I think it's still my most liked picture on instagram. It's shot at a BART station and Emmy's Spaghetti Shack in San Francisco.")

("Taking portraits of my friends is definitely one of my favorite things to do and this one of my friend John is one of my favorites. I think it was my first time shooting with expired color slide film that was cross processed. the noisy grain combined with his look really gives it a timeless quality. This is shot with my Pentax Spotmatic at the creek across from John's home in Cazadero CA, (population 354 it's a tiny town in the middle of nowhere look it up!) ")

("Not really sure how this happened still but my friends who like being naked in nature met other girls who like being naked in nature and actually asked me to take pictures and just pretended I wasn't there for hours. I love the candidness and how comfortable they were with just sunbathing and swimming on a beautiful day at the Yuba River in CA. None of them gawked at me or looked over when they heard the shutter click. Of course I ran out of film because I was never planning on shooting with 6 nude women. This is shot with my Canon A-1 with expired Kodak Ectachrome slide film cross processed. ")

("This is an early shot with my Pentax Spotmatic. I used it for the cover of my first zine. I love the gradient fade and overexposure and my friends look like they're out of another era. This was shot at Poplar Beach in Half-Moon Bay CA.")

("My recent favorite. Great light, great subject, shot with my Pentax K-1000 on expired Fuji Superia 800 which gives it the noise and grit. Shot in San Francisco.")

("Finally this is one of my first pictures of my own that I obsessed over. It's not great unless it's big but the colors and light and everything about it give me such joy. Shot in an antique store that had dozens of chandeliers. Shot on my Canon A-1 in San Francisco. One day I hope to have an enormous framed print of this one.")

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