The Fulfillment of an Analog Dream
Filmoticon-Spacelab Circa 2017
Being a visual artist aspirant, I was one of the hundreds of thousands who jumped into the bandwagon of becoming an instant digital photographer when DSLR became accessible to the masses back in 2008. I bought the top of the line camera and lenses thinking I can be a better photographer than others with my expensive equipment.
However, it only brought me into a rabbit hole and it was too late to realize that I have already got GAS or Gear Acquisition Syndrome, a tendency to purchase more equipment than justified by usage and/or price. I fooled myself thinking that those were investments. In 2015, I started to get bored with digital photography. It was so easy, so perfect and the gratification was instant. With my dwindling interest in pursuing an alternative career in becoming a digital photographer later, I started to look for other inspirations because I was not yet ready to give up my interest in visual art.
One day, in a photo shop near me, I saw some expired films displayed in one of their shelves. I casually asked if they were still developing films and the shop owner looked at me, gave me a smile, and then said, film is dead. Upon hearing that, I asked if he can give me those expired films which he kindly obliged. That brought a lot of nostalgia. I went home, spent countless hours doing some research about film photography in UAE and a eureka moment happened to me. Why not help revive the film industry? I was so sure that it was just a matter of time that people will start to get bored with digital photography just like what happened to me and they will start coming back to the bosom of film photography similar phenomena on how audiophiles have started to return back to vinyl.
I felt for a moment how was it like being Archimedes running around the streets of Syracuse, shouting "Eureka!" or "I have found it!" but of course sans nudity. It was a perfect moment for me because it was then that almost all labs were literally throwing away their film lab equipment because they don't just eat a lot of space, the demand was so low to justify keeping the operation to continue. I began to divert my full attention into it and started buying those machines .
Filmoticon-Spacelab Circa 2018
I underestimated the film lab business. I thought it was just a simple plug-and-play. I did not realize that to own a lab, I have to be an IT programmer, chemist, technician, customer service, graphic artist and marketing officer all rolled into one. It took me 2 years before I was able to reach that level of confidence that I was ready to open the lab and that time finally came on October 1, 2017 when Filmoticon-Spacelab started its operations. It was tough and there were so many challenges than I ever anticipated but my brain is not wired to give up.
Now, on its 3rd year, the lab is getting stronger than ever. Modesty aside, it is now the preferred lab in the UAE for film photography processing, a feat that seemed lightyears away when I first started it.
