This is how we win
Porchfest, community, and the perils (and triumphs) of home-developing color film.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Kodak Ultramax 400, developed by hand and scanned at Tacoma Photo Center; color corrected in Negative Lab Pro
Being a (primarily) analog street photographer is, among many things, an exercise in asking “how pretentious am I able to afford being” on a regular basis. What do I mean by this? Primarily, color film has been simpler for me to have a lab develop and scan. It means that I get scans back that look consistently good, and the development process is trusted and consistent.
However, it is not a practical exercise, or at least regarding affordability. To go to my favorite/trusted film lab costs $21 a roll to develop/scan color, and $22 a roll for black and white. Which is a price I have no problem paying… when I can afford it. But as I decided around this time last year to pivot to freelance photography as a career path, my disposable income has been lesser more often than not.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Kodak Ultramax 400, developed by hand and scanned at Tacoma Photo Center; color corrected in Negative Lab Pro
Which means then that I need(ed) to find more responsible methods of shooting analog (which does seem to be the avenue through which I get the most artistic satisfaction these days). And last July, I was provided with an opportunity not just to do that, but also to witness something that soothed my soul. Or, at least, soothed the part of my soul that is worried about the collective social fabric. And to that, may I talk for a moment about Tacoma Porchfest 2025.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Kodak Gold 200, developed by hand and scanned at Tacoma Photo Center; color corrected in Negative Lab Pro
What makes Porchfest truly special is its reimagining of private spaces. Yards and porches which are typically "off limits," transform into joyful, welcoming gathering spots where diverse groups of people gather to enjoy music, dancing, conversation and meaningful connections.
Porchfest is exactly as you’re imagining. A bunch of houses in a neighborhood block in Tacoma hosting outdoor music shows. People bringing their families and kids to listen to music, engage in community, to be around each other. And beyond that, it provided an opportunity and a space for everyone in the area to remember that this is how we win.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Kodak Gold 200, developed by hand and scanned at Tacoma Photo Center; color corrected in Negative Lab Pro
When I say ‘win’, I mean win the bigger idea.
Win the day in the battle between apathy and empathy.
Win against the people who want to use their money to keep us (and our neighbors) angry and scared of each other.
Win against the push of big business to infest and infect our minds with ‘necessary’ artificial intelligence.
Win by saying “let’s be outside and listen to music and share food and laugh and take care of each other”.
And let me be the first to say it was a beautiful thing. And a great opportunity for me to take pictures in the most ideal street photography setting- outdoors with lots of people in a condensed area.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Ilford HP5 400 on Canon A-1, developed and scanned by Speedy E-Photo in Parkland, Washington
Above, I wrote that I have to ask “how pretentious am I able to afford being” with analog street photography. And when I say ‘pretentious’, I mean how film scans different depending on what I’m able to afford. With color film, the ‘easy’ part came with being able to develop multiple rolls (even of different speeds/formats/etc) at the same time, so long as they were all color. But with black and white, I still wasn’t comfortable enough (at the time) to do it by hand. So, while the two rolls of color film I shot at Porchfest I bit the proverbial bullet to develop (and scan) by hand, the one roll of black and white film that I shot I was still unwilling to do by hand, and thus paid to have my trusted/beloved Speedy handle.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Ilford HP5 400 on Canon A-1, developed and scanned by Speedy E-Photo in Parkland, Washington
And I call it ‘pretentious’ because, theoretically, the visual quality of black and white scanned film negatives matters less than that of color. So what made me decide which to develop by hand? In short: I had many more rolls of color film, and I wanted to try.
But there was no real rhyme or reason to it. And it just became up to whether or not I wanted to take the time to develop and scan black and white, or color.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Ilford HP5 400 on Canon A-1, developed and scanned by Speedy E-Photo in Parkland, Washington
And in spite of aforementioned ‘pretentiousness’, I actually don’t have a visual preference for this post. Yes, true, the black and white are probably closer to the spirit of what the film looks like printed out.* But in both cases, there is a virtue to what is gleaned and presented.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Ilford HP5 400 on Canon A-1, developed and scanned by Speedy E-Photo in Parkland, Washington
That is a damned cute baby, though.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Ilford HP5 400 on Canon A-1, developed and scanned by Speedy E-Photo in Parkland, Washington
Black and white film is my love- not to capture what I saw, but to capture what I felt. And in images like above, what better way to capture the vibe of ‘late afternoon in my hometown, walking through the neighborhood while music and good spirits pour out and cover us all’? Very little.
And my own lackadaisical* opining beside, I think it’d be appropriate to end this blog with one more image that warrants something of an explanation.
My ‘gateway drug’, of sorts, back into photography itself was shooting 35mm film. If you’ve been a reader of the blog, that wouldn’t exactly be a secret. But/and the main output I had of film photos for two years (before I started writing this blog) was my ‘private’/‘artsy’ Instagram profile. The naming convention I made it under (and thus gave myself) was simpleish: for every post of a 35mm image, write ten lens of poetry to go along with it. And for the image below (that I have never posted anywhere), I’ll add the caption that I added to my initial post on Instagram last summer about Porchfest.
Tacoma Porchfest 2025; Shot on Ilford HP5 400 on Canon A-1, developed and scanned by Speedy E-Photo in Parkland, Washington
It feels impossible
Evil men everywhere, all with more.
What can I do? What can any of us?
No matter what moves there are to make, we lose.
“No”, the voice says, and then repeats:
This is how we win.
This is how we win.
This is how we win.
This is how we win.
This is how we win.
Wrapping-up thoughts:
Asterisk/footnote number 1: it’s always worth mentioning when I actually save negatives. I have the whole roll of HP5 from Porchfest, and all the negatives that I scanned by myself from the rolls of Gold and Ultramax.
Porchfest 2025 was truly a life-giving experience for me. If you live anywhere close to the Tacoma, Washington area: check it out July 18/19 2026. (I will only be able to make it to one day, if I can make it at all.)
It certainly is because of who tagged/shared it, but the post I made with some of those scanned images on 35anddime (said ‘private/artsy’ Instagram account)
It’s going to be a chaotic summer, so I’ve stopped posting/publishing a week before it shows up on my threads account. I’m still caught up with posts on Threads, though.
To add for ‘things that are important for this summer’: I have been bulk-rolling black and white film and just ordered the materials to develop said rolls by hand at home. May make a whole blog just about that, depending on how spicy I’m feeling.
Speaking of home dev/scanning: if you’re wondering what looks ‘imperfect’ about the color images (beside just being taken by a human), it’s that I scanned them on a DSLR scanner. I still haven’t figured out how to make them look better, so this is ‘looks good enough to communicate the idea’.
Worth mentioning: if you ever see a picture I post in this blog (or in the Threads posts that direct you here) and want that image, feel free to reach out! If I’m posting them here, that means I’m more than likely okay with talking about that.
That’s all for now! Go see Disclosure Day this weekend (on film if you can!) and get your tickets for the Odyssey as well!