Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin “death.by.film” Campbell.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My story began when I started building and modifying cars, the real reason it evolved from that to me taking pictures was because I wanted to be able to document and take good pictures of the cars I was working on. When I got my first camera I only shot cars, I had no interest in taking pictures of people and didn’t think I would enjoy it so for the first six to eight months I was shooting I only took pictures of the things around me like cars, landscapes, and the city. To expand some more, the reason I choose the name death.by.film is because when I was originally looking at buying a camera I could not afford anything that was digital so I decided to buy a film camera because it was cheap. From there I eventually did buy a digital camera but I quickly switched back to film after shooting the digital for about a month or two and not being able to achieve the colors I liked from shooting film, and now all of my profession portrait work that I post on my Instagram is done in film.
Please tell us about your art.
I mostly shoot portraits, and I think the main characteristic that keeps me involved and the reason I enjoy it so much is because I only shoot film. There is something charismatic about film photography that really appeals to me as an artist and to be honest, it is just easier for me to shoot and get the results I want. To give an example of my workflow I can walk through my thought process as a photographer after I am approached by a client for a shoot. To start with the most important factor is light, so after a shooting date and the time is finalized I have to look at what the weather is going to be doing that day and decide what film stock I need to shoot to get a result that I want. If it’s bright and sunny, I will probably use something like Portra 160, if there is cloud coverage I will reach for Lomography 400 which is my go-to film for portraits. After that I need to choose what camera and lens I am going to be shooting, my main camera is a Mamiya RZ67 which shoot extremely high quality, but I only get ten shots per roll of film, so if it’s a quick or important shoot, I’ll definitely be taking that. If I know, I am going to be out for a while and am going to need more shots or multiple looks I will use my Nikon F5 which gets 36 shots a roll. After packing up my gear, I like to get to the area we are going to be shooting early to scout out some possible locations and vantage points I like to make the shoot go smoother. When each shoot is over I go home and develop the film myself, after that I scan in the negatives and do all of the color correction and any editing I need to, and another artist and I have recently acquired a photo printer, so I don’t even have to use a third party to get my images from film to print, everything is in house. Something I want anyone who reads this to take away is that you don’t need expensive gear to take good images, I bought film cameras because I was broke and now I can’t imagine shooting anything else for my work, but also it feels extremely rewarding as an artist to be able to have a physical catalog of images that you can scan, print, or look at any time you want, oh and SHOOT MORE FILM.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
The role of artists is always changing, that is why it is called art because the roll is whatever the artist dictates it to be if it is a picture of some model in a magazine or a poem about a war it’s serving a purpose as art. For me, in particular, the local scene throughout the metroplex has had a huge impact, mostly in the music industry. I am friends with many, and they have asked me to branch out from what I normally do which is just shooting analog portraits, and instead shoot and produce videos of them performing. Having to adapt and change as an artist is important though because every unknown challenge you take on is just another chance to learn something new.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The only place my work is posted is on my Instagram @death.by.film I post there daily, and you can see my past work and as a grew as a photographer, I rarely delete images off of my page so if you want to go way back they will be there, If someone wishes to support my work all they have to do is follow me on Instagram, the only reason I starting taking pictures was to shoot and share what was around me. But if they want to support me financially they can always book me for a shoot, I do pretty much any kind of portrait or still life work. I have also had clients who do not want to have a shoot done and just enjoy my images so now I also offer prints of all of my images from 4×6 ($5), 8×10 ($10), and 9×13 ($20) just shoot me a message and I can print whatever you want.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 817-805-2102
- Email: death.by.film.photography@gmail.com
- Instagram: @death.by.film
Image Credit:
Lucas Marina, Alejandro Torres, Cade Baker, Alex Irish, Kristen, Emily Elizabeth, Shena, Lauren
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
