Why students should learn film photography?
Photochemical reactions are important for our life.
Developing an exposed film will give everyone the possibility to embrace the beauty of photochemistry.
Indeed, digital photography will lead to artistic skills, it might lead to an deep knowledge of mathematics, but only film photography leads to an understanding of how light energy can be harnessed to create something unique.
And it is fun!
As my student wrote:
" Introduction
The aim of this experiment is to see how science enables us to keep our precious moments. It’s undeniable that photography has a very important role in our daily life and moreover, in human’s history. Furthermore, photochemical reactions not only play important role in photography, but basically anything else that makes human’s life comfortable: warm houses, automobiles, electricity, and so on. “The coal and natural gas used to keep us warm during the winter, or the gasoline used to propel our cars, has its origin in the photochemical reactions responsible for life on this planet millions of years ago” (Tokumaru, K., and Coyle, J.D., 1992). Also, this helps us realize the importance of oxidation and reduction in daily life. "
Some images from my students
Of course, we can make Sephia images. Yes, I know with your phone you can do it faster, but to develop hands on skills is always a good idea.
"Life on this planet would be impossible without photochemical reactions! This is most evident if we examine the food we eat. The growth of fruits and vegetables involves direct utilization of the sun's energy. It is the driving force behind the chemical reactions which produce edible commodities. Even the meat that we eat comes indirectly to us through plant life. However, food alone is not enough to sustain modern man. We are creatures accustomed to comforts: warm houses, automobiles, electricity, and so on. A flip of the switch or a turn of the key results in a warm house, or a car that starts off for work or vacation, or a light that goes on so that we can study. The list of modern creature comforts is a long one. Not much thought occurs about where the energy comes from to perform these simple tasks. If we stop and think, we realize that the coal and natural gas used to keep us warm during the winter, or the gasoline used to propel our cars, has its origin in the photochemical reactions responsible for life on this planet millions of years ago. Although these solar reactions refer to the process of photosynthesis, solar energy is employed in other important functions such as direct electricity production or heat production, and most of the information each of us receives from the external world is photochemically mediated through vision. Even though photochemical reactions perform such an important function on planet Earth, we know relatively little about how to harness the energy of light. Early photochemical research relied upon the sun as a source of photons. It should be no surprise to learn that the early reports of photochemical reactions come from Egypt and Italy, since these countries have many cloudless days each year. If the sun were the only light source available to photochemists, the science of photochemistry could be practised in only a few locations. This could have grave implications, given the importance of finding new energy sources to replace or augment the finite amount of fossil fuel in the world. Another problem with solar irradiation is that the light intensity reaching earth from the sun varies widely as clouds pass overhead. This makes it very difficult to reproduce reaction conditions. Fortunately, photochemistry as a science has progressed rapidly in recent years due to the availability of higher quality, more stable light sources. Through the use of appropriate light filters or lasers, any wavelength of light can now be selected to provide precise control. High intensity lamps or lasers can also be used to supply a large number of photons to shorten the overall time required to perform a photochemical experiment. These developments have contributed to a modern science of photochemistry which has become very diverse, including applications such as synthetic chemistry, sophisticated laser analysis of the mechanistic details of reactions, and the application of photoresists for integrated circuit development. " (John H. Penn and Elizabeth D. Cox )
