Silver Gelatin Prints on Vinyl

I’m excited to share with you a project I’ve been working on, which I’ve dubbed “Analog.” I’m not finished, so as such, that’s just a working title. It’s been hard keeping this a secret; I can no longer keep it to myself. Here’s a sneak peek of my silver gelatin prints on vinyl records.

If you know me, you know I’ve been dragging my feet, kicking and screaming, into the digital world, especially where photography is concerned. (Although, I have fallen pretty hard for gifs… but that’s mainly because they make me feel like a modern day Eadweard Muybridge. Check out some of my gifs on IG!) I grew up in the 80s and 90s. All we had was film. Okay yeah, digital cameras had been around since the 70s and were available for consumer purchase in the 90s, but I didn’t grow up with a lot of money. When I started to get serious about taking photos in high school, my dad gave me his old Pentax Spotmatic. To me, film was king. My high school had a teeny, tiny darkroom that our photography teacher put together with salvaged equipment, in an old broom closet. I lived in that darkroom. I cut class on the regular to be in there, processing and printing away. To this day, I’m still not sure how I graduated high school since I never went to class, but I do know this: it was in that makeshift darkroom that I fell head over heels in love with film photography.

I still see film as something magical. I didn’t start shooting digital until 2011, and music photography is the only reason I crossed over to the dark side. Have you tried shooting a concert with only film? Oye! I’ve grown to appreciate digital photography, but film will always have my heart. That’s why the last two years I decided to shoot as many festivals, concerts, and portraits on film as I could. I’ve built up quite the collection of negatives. While printing on paper is nice and all, I wanted to do something more; something that would connect everything I love: film photography, music and music photography, and of course analog. How better to do that than printing on records? Now vinyl lovers, relax. I got these records from the thrift store. They are scratched, warped, and/or consist of music/recordings that most people probably wouldn’t listen to. I’m giving them new life.

I hope you appreciate these… I’ve got plenty more to come, including some 8-track goodies!

XO- Sarah