No undo button
The glorious mistake club
I’m an aware victim of the idea that on social media you should not show your mistakes. It seems they are very indecorous and can ruin your social-media status.
How many wrong assumptions in just one sentence! That’s why I’m aware.
The fashion-photography industry seems very keen on these aspects, where if you have a bit of attitude, a little sass in your way, it’s socially acceptable, even if your work is not that great, so long as the marketing around you is working (for reasons I still find a bit of a mystery). The pictures will become likable. Hello Terry Richardson, I’m looking at you.
Another wrong assumption in my first sentence is about the so-called “social-media status.” I’m old enough to have experienced the rise of Instagram and the fall of Myspace. Mega and small influencers appear and disappear in the time of a snap. Social media itself is cyclical and always evolving: we don’t know where it will lead.
As a photographer who predominantly works in the fashion industry, this tension to be always perfect is something I’ve experienced, especially at the beginning of my journey.
There are certain types of people, people I generally adore, who, when you don’t know something (because you simply haven’t had the occasion yet to encounter that problem), are very ready to point their finger and say that lovely phrase: How do you not know this?
Honestly, I would love to scream when I hear it.
It feels like a battle over who knows more and, psychologically, it’s a way to put you down. I hate it.
There is no empathy in that sentence. No questions like, Maybe they’ve never experienced this as I did, or Maybe their path isn’t the same as mine.
I have made TONS of errors in my career and I still make them, sometimes because I don’t focus enough on what I’m doing (like shooting pictures in JPEG rather than RAW on holiday), sometimes because I’m using new programs that are constantly adding features, and staying updated with everything is a job itself.
In general I’m happy with my level of knowledge in fashion, however, every time I’m in a new situation, I question myself about whether I actually know things.
But I’m always willing to learn.
Thanks to digital and Photoshop, many errors can be solved.
There’s a saying in Italy: If you don’t have a brain, use your legs.
I think it’s a pretty good analogy for life, when you don’t know something, find a way to learn, to compensate for your lack of knowledge.
That is what happened with me and film cameras. I want to use them so badly.
I have too many and would love to test them all and collect even more.
I like to use them in the studio and outside as well.
And with film photography, either you know it or you don’t. No games here.
That’s what I like, the unknown of what I’m doing.
Don’t get me wrong: I get very frustrated when I see an issue, but it’s such a valuable lesson.
It happened that I didn’t load the roll of film correctly (or even broke it) and sent an empty roll to the lab, this happened twice with the same camera and the same type of film: probably I’m cursed.
Or I shot with flash and had the wrong settings, so lovely black lines appeared covering half the image.
Or I forgot that I was shooting in manual during the night and should have adjusted the settings better (or used a tripod).
There is no forgiveness in film. It’s brutally honest in its raw results, and I love it.
It puts me in a position to question myself, to relearn something, to be more attentive to what I’m doing.
Unless you put yourself in a position to learn a new thing, I don’t think there are many other occasions where you can see your errors so clearly and know they cannot be fixed in post-production.
Film photography errors also remind me why I started in photography: curiosity. Each frame is a tiny leap of faith. The waiting, loading the film (hoping for the best), sending it off, anticipating the contact sheet. The surprise is part of the art.
In a world obsessed with perfect feeds and instant edits, those small, irreversible flaws are where the real growth lives. Film reminds me that imperfection isn’t failure: it’s proof of learning. Every missed shot carries a lesson you can’t ignore, and that honesty keeps me excited to pick up the camera again.
Post Scriptum
Some of the articles here on Substack are also on video (with even more images!). If you want to hear my Italian accent and follow my YouTube adventures, come join me there.
Lovely images indeed and sentiments I have certainly had also. I would think that much like myself, you may have plenty similar examples in your digital files. I have often forgot that I set my ISO super high last night and only when I'm editing, realize I spent the day shooting at ISO2000 in bright sun, or that I used +2 exposure a couple of days ago and didn't reset it. I almost never have my digital screen enabled or check while I'm shooting, 30 years has given me either a false ego or I just finally ran out of f*'s to give or I simply am not able to pay attention, in every scenario, I still get plenty of mistakes shooting digital or film and I love them both!! And let's be frank, sometimes they are the best images I made that day.