Torrance Brady shoots film. Because of course he does. It’s not for nostalgia or the aesthetic, though both may tag along for the ride. It’s for something else entirely, a way of slowing down, paying attention, letting things take their time. This is Melbourne film photography.
We spoke via email, not over beers at the local pub, though kinda feels like we could have been. There’s warmth in the way he talks about photography, not as a technical pursuit, but as a way of participating in the world a little more fully.
Tools for film photography
Brady works with a small, manual-focus arsenal: a couple of Minolta SLRs, a couple of Pentax bodies, all reliable in their simplicity. His go-to film? Black-and-white, naturally. Ilford FP4+, HP5, Rollei RPX 400, and a nod to Kodak Eastman Double X, that cute cinema stock repurposed by a few companies.
He’s not interested in overworking an image. Post-processing is minimal. “I very rarely adjust any aspects of the lighting,” he says. “Sometimes I crop.” That’s it. There’s a reverence for the scene, the moment, the conditions as they were. Like a good writer resisting the urge to over-edit a sentence that’s already telling the truth.
His method is loose, but not lazy. Torrance keeps two cameras on hand – usually one loaded with colour film, the other black-and-white – and doesn’t fuss too much with rules. “I try to keep a camera on me, or nearby (often in my car), as often as possible,” he writes. Sometimes he plans a location. Sometimes it’s just about paying attention. “A scene or subject will present itself, or naturally kind of flower before you.”
"A sense of truth"
It’s a gentle way of working. Unforced. He doesn’t chase high-drama images or fast-moving street scenes. What draws him in are quiet moments, reflective, still, and occasionally imbued with what he calls “a sense of truth.”
It’s tempting to read Torrance’s photographic choices as extensions of his personality. He’s introverted, he says, but not isolated. He doesn’t crave the spotlight, but he thrives in community. His close friends also shoot film, bringing him further into the Melbourne film photography vibe. “Teaching each other, healthily critiquing each other, and revelling in each other’s work – it’s a fantastic thing,” he writes. “I feel truly, truly lucky to have that as part of my journey.”
He talks about patience a lot. With people, with birds, with marinas, with himself. Maybe that’s what defines his approach more than anything else. He’s not trying to capture something. He’s waiting for it to unfold.
Advice he’d give to himself
When asked what advice he’d give to himself at the beginning of his photography journey, he doesn’t go on about gear or settings. He keeps it simple: “Be a little looser – a little more free-flowing… Some of the greatest images have come from mistakes.”
And then, like a quiet closer at the end of a thoughtful album, he offers the line that lingers:
“Don’t worry so much.”
You can find more from Torrance Brady over on his Instagram page.