Inspire: Denmark photographer Nell Parker turns her focus to the good old days as she ditches digital for film

For an artist immersed in the digital age, Nell Parker is about to join the march back to the analogue world. The Denmark photographer reckons AI is the most challenging issue for any artist and, as a photographer, she feels especially vulnerable. As a result, she is going to tackle it head on — by returning to physical film, the actual stuff which has to be sent away for processing while the photographer waits for the prints to come back, with fingers crossed. “AI is frightening; it is really challenging for most artists in any medium and I am reverting back to completely manual because of it,” she said from her studio in Denmark. “I moved to digital, along with everyone else, but now I want to switch back.” She has bought a classic manual medium-format Mamiya camera, a brand renowned for exceptional high-res lenses, which she hopes will enable her to continue producing multi-exposure images, as she does digitally at the moment. “I want to do multiple exposures on film — it’s a real challenge because I can’t just press delete, delete,” she said. “You only get eight to 10 exposures on a roll of film, you have to be really methodical as it’s a slow process because if you’re not, the whole lot can go down the drain.” Buying film and getting it processed is an expensive business — and, of course with the pictures being developed sight unseen it’s risky from the artistic point of view as well. However, Parker grew up with film and is happy that as the world continues to spin on its technical roundabout, she is about to step off and go back to her roots. “It’s expensive — you have to send it off to be developed and then sit and wait for the prints to come back,” she said. “But I’ve always wanted to do my own developing even though that’s another pricey process. “I love using multiple exposures in the same frame, setting them up, rearranging and refocusing the image until I’m satisfied. “It’s a lot of exploration — digital is the easy option for that because you can delete, adjust the shutter speed and aperture and go again. “But even with digital I sometimes take it too far and do one more, which ruins the image, and I have to start again. “It’s about finding a balance.” Her mother was creative, painting when Parker was a child, and Parker herself experimented with crafting until she started travelling around the country and found other distractions. Her love of photography was rekindled when she bought her first digital SLR camera in 2000. “I’ve been interested in photography for a long time, it has been a part of my life forever, but I’ve also dabbled in ceramics and painting through TAFE and a bit at home. “I lost a bit of interest and life got in the way — in my last lull I went back to doing nail art with string, but I just kept thinking about images, so I bought a second-hand DSLR. “All my gear is second-hand, and I use a lot of vintage lenses with my favourite Pentax, which I’ve had for such a long time.” She loves photographing flowers, often layering her images on a painted background, but she also has a large collection of brassware and glassware which she photographs using the same techniques and then presents in something from her collection of vintage frames. “Instead of picking a frame to match the image, I tend to make the image match the frame,” she said. “I collect vintage glassware but also beautiful fabrics for backgrounds — I spend a lot of time in op shops, on marketplace or Gumtree.” Her pictures are marvellous, especially her “vessel” series where the seemingly simple images belie the technical skill behind their creation. However, like many creative people she struggles with the sales process although she appreciates the help she gets from Albany’s Blush Gallery. “I’d love to sell more pieces,” Parker said. “The hardest thing for me – and I think most artists – is getting myself into sales mode. “It’s lovely when people say they appreciate your work, but you know they appreciate it when they get out their wallet!” For now, she’s getting to grips with twin challenges. She is preparing to open her studio to the public one day a week and zooming out to the future. At the same time, she is turning the clock back 30 years and zooming in on her return to film. It’s quite a shift in focus.