Japan On Film with Matt Loves Cameras
A New Zine, Japan Travel Tips & Stunning Color Film Shots From Matt Murray...
Housekeeping
Hello my friends! Thanks for being here. Today I interview my film BFF Matt Murray of Matt Loves Cameras fame about his shooting film in Japan and his new zine. More on that below…
As I write this letter to you I am getting myself organised for a shoot later today which I will be both photographing and modelling in. I am refreshing my memory with Pinterest boards I made with the client and just feeling super excited and inspired.
I have new wallpaper packs available over on my shop there are lots of fun themes to choose from so head on over and check them out!
Matt and I have arranged a livestream for Saturday morning 8am GMT+10 time so keep an eye out for that and come join us in the chat, say hi and follow along with all our banter and laughs. It’s been a minute since our last livestream together so I am excited to catch up with him and the community. See you there!
Okay let’s get into today's interview!
Hey Matt, for the readers who aren’t aware of you can you give us the who, what and where of Matthew Murray?
G’day! I’m a photographer from Brisbane, Australia. I bought my first camera in 1994 for a 2-year working holiday in Europe. Travel was always my first passion, but photography took over.
I’ve used all sorts of cameras in the last 30 years, but these days I prefer compact 35mm point and shoots, Polaroid, and toy cameras.
You can find me on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Substack, Darkroom, Lomography, and Twitter. I have a podcast, website, and I write occasionally for Fstoppers.
I’m also a co-host of The Analog Hour: the world’s favourite film photography chat show hosted by Matt Murray and Lucy Lumen!
You just got back from a trip to Japan! What was the best and worst thing about it?
This was my third trip to Japan – I love it more every time I go! There were so many highlights from this trip. The kids loved seeing snow and building a snowman, but their overall highlight was Universal Studios Japan theme park.
I’m a man of more simple pleasures. I loved seeing the trains, the sakura (cherry blossoms), drinking Japanese beer and just wandering around the streets taking photos.
Ordinary everyday scenes fascinate me, and I’m drawn to colours and shapes and light. I like compact autofocus cameras as I mainly concentrate on composition. I was in heaven walking around the streets of Japan!
The worst thing was not finding much film for sale.
You shot a mix of film and digi on the trip, looking back how do you feel about your camera choices?
I have mixed feelings, as I knew I was taking too much gear. I figured that we wouldn’t have another holiday like this for a while, so I threw caution to the wind. I listed everything I took in this Colours of Hokkaido Substack post.
The post features images from my Ricoh GRiii. I loved using it on the trip, it’s my new everyday carry. I didn’t use my Fujifilm gear (X-T5 and X-T4) as much as I thought. This was a family holiday after all, not a photography trip.
About 10 days in I started getting sore shoulders from lugging the kit around. By the 14-day mark I dreaded wearing my backpack, so I only carried a film and a digital point and shoot in my pockets.
Next time I go I’ll take a smaller kit:
Ricoh GRiii – so fun it makes you want to shoot.
Contax T3 – effortless quality. Most of the photos in my new zine are from this camera.
Another film point and shoot – I love the Minolta TC-1 but I think I’d give another compact camera a run next time.
One SLR-style digital camera with a single lens. Perhaps the Fujifilm X-T5 with the 16-80, or maybe even the OMD OM-1 with the 12-40 or the 12-100. I shoot some stock and travel photography so I need versatility.
GoPro 11 for filming video.
You have made some killer zines in your time Matt and you have done a few really awesome community focused ones! I saw you have a new solo zine available, can you tell us a bit more about it!?
“35mm Japan” is a zine I put together with 40 of my favourite film photos from my latest trip. Making a zine is a nice way to round things off – I feel like the photos deserve more than being posted on Instagram and getting a handful of likes. Making the zine was a good creative exercise, and it ties them together as a collection.
You can find out more about the zine on my website. I ship them all over the world! The first 40 orders get a new limited-edition point and shoot sticker as well as some cool postcards.
You can download a digital copy of “35mm Japan” with any type of paid subscription to my Substack newsletter. I’m adding 6 more film photography zines from past projects in the coming weeks.
I’ve also been inspired by Lucy Lumen to set up my own print store on Darkroom! The first gallery is film images from Japan.
Finally, what are your top 3 recommendations for photographers visiting Japan?
Take your own film. Colour film was in limited supply in over 20 stores I visited. Black and white film was abundant and there was some slide film for sale. Even when colour negative was in stock, it was usually Kodak, it was expensive, and there was a 1 or 2 roll per person limit. The only film that was cheap and plentiful was Instax. I also found a mystery colour negative 35mm film in Tokyo – that video is the first in my Japan On Film video series.
Get up early and stay out late taking photos – Japan is very safe.
Visit smaller towns and less touristy cities to see the real Japan.
We are well overdue for a check in on our YT talk show Analog Hour so I’m wondering how you are feeling about this year so far and what's on the cards for the second half of 2023 in terms of projects/ content/ photography?
I can’t believe I’ve been back for 7 weeks – I still have another dozen or so Japan-related videos to publish! That will take up most of my time in coming months, as well as some reviews of my favourite point and shoots.
I have other film photography projects on the go at the moment, but there is no sense of urgency about them. I’ll keep working on them until I feel like I have enough shots to create a zine with. That’s why I love making zines about a trip – there’s a fixed start and end to the project.
I’m also trying to thin down my kit to what I really love shooting with. It’s hard because I keep hanging on to cameras in case I want to review them in the future.
We’ve been on hiatus with The Analog Hour but I’m hoping we can do it more regularly in the second half of 2023!
Thanks for stopping by and checking out this little chat with Matt. If you love this newsletter then share it with a friend and don’t forget to subscribe and go back through the other issues too!
Love Lucy xx
Thanks Lucy!
Great photos. I second the Ricoh recommendation. That's my go-to "look I just need a camera in my pocket that just works and I don't have to think about it" camera.