Stephanie Marihan delves into the imperfections of film

One thing that seems to be a common thread among alt progressive photographers is the appreciation of imperfection and the excitement that comes with the unpredictability of film. Stephanie Marihan feels this way and has tried many different processes. Here is a series shot on a Lomo toy camera.

See more of Stephanie's work on instagram at @stemarihan

ALTER/ANALOG: How were these photos created?

SM: These photos were taken last winter at the beach in The Hague - The Netherlands. I used a Lomography supersampler - fixed focus -  4 lenses.

The camera looks like a toy and you can't control exactly what you are doing, is pretty much instinctive and I love it! You have 2 seconds to move the camera and Voilá. The bluish colors were a good surprise, I used an expired film from 2001.

ALTER/ANALOG: What got you interested in alternative photography?

SM: For my entire life, I've been working with art and design, so I'm kind of always been around this world.  Suddenly my eyes were taking more attention to this kind of work ... I felt like I wanted to do what was in my head and I wanted to do without judgment or rules, to do what I was feeling, with all the weirdness and imperfection. Shooting with film is unpredictable, instinctive.. we never know how the colors will look like, each analog camera has its particularity and I really love the waiting, not knowing exactly how things will be. Sometimes is good to give a break after an inspiration flow and the analog photography gives me that, I don't get tired of what I'm doing and I have to wait to see the results. Nevertheless, each roll is expensive, so, I really have to wait for the right time to take the photo, also, only one single shot, I can't waste film with the same thing 10 times. For me is 100% intuition!

ALTER/ANALOG:  How long have you been shooting film?

SM: Not so long ago actually - (2 years maximum), but it turned out like an obsession.

ALTER/ANALOG:  What inspires you?

SM: Well, for sure bucolic moments, seasons, femininity, the silver line between beauty and weirdness, that feeling that you just woke up from a dream, things out of perspective, color combinations, imperfection