A Film Photography Love Story, featuring Molly Fletcher - ISSUE 57
How a roll of 35mm film led to a match made in analog heaven...
Housekeeping
We are now in October and it’s warming up here in Australia so I am feeling like my best self and so inspired!
It’s my birthday soon and I will be turning 31! I have to say I love my 30’s so far and really feel like becoming a mum and following my passion has been the best thing for my mental health and creativity.
Speaking of creative mums - I want to share with you that issue 2 of Girls To The Front zine is now available for preorder and it’s only $12! It’s jam packed with more featured artists than the first issue and the design is absolutely killer.
I was lucky enough to photograph my fav muse and new mum Charlotte Rose Beers on tri-x in her home. Founder of GTTF zine Jessie Dinan developed and scanned the images herself and Charlotte wrote a little piece on being a creative and a parent. This was such a cool collaborative project and I can’t wait to see what issue 3 has in store.
Pick up a copy to support the work of the women inside and also because it’s fucking awesome.
GTTF also takes submissions so head over to the website to read more, grab a copy and get in touch!
I have become kind of obsessed with street photography lately, which is very surprising for me but hey, you never know where your practice will take you. I recently took this course by Andre Wagner on Skillshare and LOVED it. If you wanna try it for free you can by using this link.
Expect to see more on the channel about street photography soon! If you want a little peek at the shots I got on the streets of Sydney CBD then check out my video below.
Now let’s get into our featured artist Molly Fletcher who stopped by for a chat and shared her beautiful work with us. Enjoy!
Hey Molly, thanks for joining us! Can you give us the who, what and where of Molly Fletcher please!?!
Hey Lucy! Thanks so much for having me! Super excited to join you.
Who, what and where… that’s a long story. I’m Scottish, but I’ve been in Canada for the last 2 years. I’ve actually spent 5 of the last 8 years living away from home. My first passion long before photography was languages, and when I was 19 I was given the opportunity to study in France as part of my degree. After a year there, I moved to Spain for 2 years, where I taught English as a second language.
Even though I’d been taking photos using various cameras since I was 12, I’d never taken it seriously or done it consistently. But when I moved away from home, because I was in new places surrounded by new things and constantly living new experiences, I wanted to document all of that with photos. I did have an old DSLR, but it was more convenient to just use my phone. I took a lot of photos during that time, although I still didn’t take photography at all seriously. I was just having fun taking silly little photos and posting them on Instagram.
I was scrolling one day and happened to come across a girl shooting film on my explore feed, and I loved how natural it looked. So naturally, instead of actually shooting film, I just started editing my phone photos to look like film. I did that for probably a year (omg) before I finally got my first film camera in May 2019. My original plan had been to go back to live in Spain ASAP after I graduated but I decided to do a Masters in translation first instead, so I just went back for a celebratory visit instead…and bought an Olympus Trip 35 for the occasion. I fell completely in love with film and the whole process. I didn’t do much research before I bought it though, so I got frustrated with its limitations quite quickly and ended up buying a Canon AE-1 program a few months later. The camera I still use today!
Fast forward to the very start of 2020, and a guy from Canada sent me a message on IG asking if I wanted to be part of a film photography project he was planning. I had only been shooting film for about 6 months, and I was soooo excited that someone liked my photos enough to be part of a project. So of course I agreed, and he sent me a roll of film. Then COVID happened, and everything came to a halt. I also finished my masters during the first lockdown, when I couldn’t go literally anywhere let alone move back to Spain, and nobody wanted to hire anyone for anything in Scotland, and what I thought was my life plan at that point had to change.
But it was actually a huge blessing in disguise. I became great friends with film project guy during that time…turns out we’re soulmates! I came to Canada to meet him in October 2021 when international travel restrictions were lifted, and we got married 4 months later. I became a Canadian permanent resident in May this year :-) so nothing went at all as originally planned, I’m not even working with my degrees — I mainly work as an editor/retoucher, which I love — and I couldn’t be happier with how life turned out. All thanks to film!
What kind of things do you like to photograph and how do you describe your style?
Most of all, I like shooting memories or moments that made me feel something; I love using photography as a way of documenting life. When I look back on photos, it feels like a visual diary. There are so many things tied to each photo that I can remember so vividly because I chose to document the moment that way. It means I take a lot of photos of ordinary/everyday/even mundane things, but they hold a lot of significance for me. So a photo of a cup of coffee isn’t just a photo of a cup of coffee — it’s who I was (or wasn’t) with, what was going on that day, what was going on in life as a whole at that time, the things I was thinking, feeling, etc. It sounds stupid when I say it but that’s the way it is haha.
As for describing my style, I’m not always entirely sure…but maybe cinematic, despite the usually very ordinary subject matter.
Are you working on any projects, creative things or themes at the moment Molly?
I started taking videos as another way of documenting life last year and a few months ago made a YouTube channel, but then life got really busy and that ended up taking a back seat. I want to start making more time for it now. I still love film more than anything, but videos are a lot of fun, and just kind of like moving versions of photos I would take. Editing/colour grading is one of my favourite parts of photography, maybe just after the actual shooting itself, but it’s my absolute favourite part of videography. It’s a bit more challenging and requires a lot more work, but it’s so satisfying seeing memories come to life with colour, especially since the footage starts out so washed out — it feels a bit like painting them.
I’m also going to join my husband in making music-related videos which will be a lot of fun! Music is another huge creative interest for both of us and something we really bonded over in the first place. I think it will also keep us entertained over winter when it’s -40C and we can’t leave the house haha
How do you feel about social media right now when it comes to sharing your work and connecting with other photographers?
Honestly, social media has been an incredible way for me to connect with other photographers, and I’ve made some amazing connections through it that I’m really grateful for. The film community on Instagram is full of a lot of wonderful people. I do think IG is digging its own grave right now though, especially for photographers.
It’s much harder to connect with people when the algorithm doesn’t even show them on your feed anymore and vice versa, and I find myself spending much less time on it now than I used to. I know other apps have tried to be the answer to IG's failings but I'm not sure it's realistic to think something's going to replace it any time soon.
I’m hopeful about Threads though! My eyes rolled so far into the back of my head when I first heard they were launching it, but it’s actually nice. At the very least, you don’t have to crop your photos and you can post landscape and portrait photos together… groundbreaking ;-)
What are the things that inspire you the most to pick up your camera?
Moments I know I want to remember forever, moments that make me feel something, people I love, nice colours, sunsets, cups of coffee, hands, rain on windows…lots of little things.
What are your current goals and aspirations for the future?
I want to commit to making videos consistently! I’ve also been saying for a long time that I’d make a book of some sort, and maybe I’ll actually do that next year. For shorter term goals, I’m going home to Scotland and to Paris next month, and I reeeeeeally want some bangers.
Finally, where can people come say hello and enjoy your beautiful work Molly?
On Instagram/Threads (@mollyfletchr), YouTube (also @mollyfletchr), and my website www.mollyfletchr.com (I’m redoing it right now though).
A huge thank you to Molly for stopping by for a chat. I loved hearing her back story and how she met her husband, so cool! Be sure to check out her channel and go say hello on socials.
If you have an interesting photography story, a project you want to share and talk about or a hot take on something then email me via lucylumenanalog@gmail.com
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happy birthday in advance!