It was a few years ago that I received the last Freestyle Photo catalogue in the mail and was advised there would be no more. Surely this was a bad sign for analog photography I thought. Thankfully Freestyle remained in business and I continue to purchase supplies from them, most notably paper (I have been a customer for a long time – years ago on a business trip to Los Angeles I found the time to make a pilgrimage to their Hollywood store on Sunset Boulevard).  Nevertheless I was sad not to receive the catalogue that came out a once or twice a year. Another sign of the times I guess. Sort of like my continuously shrinking newspaper and what remains of the great magazines.

So you can’t believe how excited I was about a month ago when I went out to get the mail.  There in the box was a Freestyle Photo catalogue!  On the cover in bold lettering it said NEW AGAIN … REDISCOVER THE WORLD OF ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY.  Damn! Now if I hadn’t just spent $300 with them for three more boxes of Variant III I would have placed an order for something just to feel good!

For those of us that prefer using film cameras and making prints in our darkrooms, the catalogue serves as a reconfirmation that what we love so much is NOT DEAD OR DYING as some would have us believe. Want more evidence?  Take a look at the price of topflight film cameras. Take medium format. After nose-diving, prices for used Hasselblad, Pentax 67, Mamiya 7 and Fuji/Bessa folding rangefinders have skyrocketed.  Digital is not going away, but neither is film. Instant film and new cameras that use it are back too. And I don’t think paper is saying goodbye either.

So for those sitting on the fence over getting into, or back into analog photography, feel free to jump off and have a nice soft landing. There is plenty of fantastic high quality gear that is cheap, and of course you can still spend the money if you want a new or used Leica or Hassy, etc.

Anyway, I just spent a good part of the weekend in my darkroom. The world may be going crazy all around us, but it’s still a great time to be alive if you like using film and making prints!