You know how you get a new-to-you film camera, then you read the manual (if there is one and that’s something you do), then you play around with the settings (what’s this knob for?), then you figure out how to load and advance the film (after watching an online tutorial and asking your friend who sold it to you to show you how…again), then you put it on the shelf and go back to using your favorite camera? Maybe it’s just me, but this is a very familiar pattern for me. These photographs are from a single camera, one that once belonged to my friend, and even though I’d seen the lovely photos he’d taken with it, I let it sit on my shelf for many months, intimidated by it. Every time I’d pick it up, I couldn’t seem to remember how to use it. Wait, how do I advance the film again? (Sigh)

But then, I finally decided to commit to it, resisting the urge to always pick up my go-to cameras.

And then I went for a walk…

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Yep – I think I’ll keep it.

-Eyes wide open, Chinwe

**All images shot on Skyflex TLR, on Kodak Portra 400 film.