Digital camera technology is pretty incredible these days. The features and functions can make them a dream to work with, and the images can be stunning. For a while, it looked like film photography would soon be a thing of the past.
But film is far from dead. In fact, analog photography is having a renaissance. For some photographers, shooting film is still king. And many digital users are now dusting off their old 35mm machines.
We’ve created a list of the 25 best film photographers working today. Not only will their work demonstrate that film is not dead, but they may also inspire you to pick up your own analog camera!
The Unique Qualities of Film Photography
For all the technological mastery of the modern digital camera, there’s a quality to film that can’t be replicated. It’s hard to say what this quality is exactly. There’s a deep textural aesthetic created by the chemical reaction of light hitting film. Digital photography can’t replace it.
Capturing on film creates a classic feel that carries much more emotion than simple digital images. The film grain and lower dynamic range can actually make film photographs more interesting.
You can read our take on the film vs digital debate. And you can see our full list of our favorite color films, so you can start shooting analog. Or you can go monochrome with our list of the best black and white film stocks.
25 Influential Film Photographers You Should Follow
Are you interested in landscape, fashion, or documentary? We’re sure you’ll find something interesting in this list of the 25 best film photographers to follow.
1. Dan Rubin
Dan Rubin is one of the leading practitioners of contemporary film photography. He is a master of the 35mm and medium format camera.
His style varies, and no subject is out of bounds. But whether he’s shooting an urban landscape or an intimate portrait, the shot will have a beautifully considered composition.
Much of his work is natural and candid, but he still knows how to curate a scene. His collection demonstrates he can find shots as well and construct them.
2. Lucy Laucht
Lucy and her Leica 35mm are inseparable. Together, they capture the bright and the beautiful.
Lucy, as you can see from her work, is drawn to the sea. Her mastery of the 35mm technique allows her to express the joy and enjoyment of being on the shore. Water and sunlight are recurring motifs throughout her work.
Her photos are vibrant and alive with color. The golds and deep blues warm you even if you’re miles from the Mediterranean coast.
3. Henri Prestes
Henri Prestes is a fine art photographer from Portugal. He works across southern Europe, honing his film photography technique.
Henri is a curator of mood and atmosphere. His images are filled with an intense eeriness, combining natural landscapes with a sense of the supernatural. There’s a dreamlike quality reminiscent of Emily Bronte’s northern moors.
His work is not going unnoticed. He was a finalist in the 2020 and 2021 ADC awards.
4. Ryan Muirhead
Ryan Muirhead has a highly cinematic style of photography, using both 35mm and medium formats.
His images can fill you with wonder and unease. They’re scenic and beautiful but remind you of a bad dream you had long ago. And his portraits are personal and intense, like horror movie scenes.
He has no fear when it comes to experimenting with form and technique. This only adds to the uncertainty of meaning in his imagery.
5. Ian Howorth
Ian Howorth is a celebrated film photographer based in Brighton in the UK.
His documentary style has a timeless and nostalgic quality. His shots of contemporary England take you back in time—a time you can’t quite place.
He brings mystique to the mundane and finds beauty in the benign. His photos come from places we are all familiar with, yet they all seem new.
He has been published in The Guardian and Huck Magazine. He has also published two books, Arcadia and In Passing.
6. Oleg Oprisco
Oleg is a fine art photographer from Ukraine.
His images are intense with color and concept. The scenes are highly stylized, and every detail has been attended to. Every color, line, and texture has been considered—there are no accidents here!
Oprisco’s work can be categorized as fine art in film photography. And the film plays its part in his imagery.
7. Trev Lee
Trev Lee lives and operates on America’s Pacific coast. His work is full of that famous West Coast sensibility. His collection has a sunny, upbeat disposition which is undeniably infectious.
He has some stunning landscapes and a wonderful eye for composition. But it’s his people photography that holds the real charm. They’re full of wide eyes and smiles.
He also has a fabulous monochrome collection on his website that’s full of sharp imagery and texture.
8. Patrick Clelland
Patrick is a street and documentary photographer from Sydney, Australia. He works in the medium of 35mm film and travels around the world.
His photos convey the feeling of walking through a strange city at night. You’re alone but alert to all around you. The viewer is the fly on the wall—you get a glimpse of what you shouldn’t.
Patrick uses patterns, angles, and shadows from the street to create images of urban elegance.
9. Tom Mitchell
Tom is a Scottish photographer now based in London, UK.
Tom matches stylized fashion photography with a relaxed and casual sensibility. He uses natural and studio settings, but his subjects are always at ease. His shots are controlled yet candid.
He uses color and black-and-white film and often presents them together. This adds depth and texture to his collection.
10. Carianne Older
Carianne Older uses the quirks and complexities of film photography to her advantage. She uses SLR, compact, and Polaroid cameras to create distinctly analog images.
Her style is overtly glamorous. She indulges in the kitsch and the gaudy, creating a style that is sexy yet self-aware. She has a more-is-more approach, but her scenes are deliberate and considered.
Her popularity is booming. She’s had commissions from Puma and Playboy and is heading Rebecca Black’s promotional campaign.
11. Chesley Sinclair
Chelsey is a fine art film photographer based in New York.
Her imagery is sparse, and her color pallet is pale, but her photos are gripping and intense. She sets bare skin against raw elements and stark conditions to convey a sense of vulnerability and fragility.
Chelsey’s scenes are formulated and exact. There’s a feeling of intended tension in all her work.
12. Rosie Matheson
Rosie is one of the UK’s leading portrait photographers. Working with 120 medium-format film, she is a master of her craft.
Her casual yet intimate portraits show that Rosie sees the best in people. She connects you to her subject with eye contact in many shots. And the bright lighting creates a sense of empathy.
Rosie narrowly missed out on the Portrait of Britain award in 2016. And she is still one of the UK’s top talents.
13. Peter Holliday
Based in Helsinki, Peter uses the sparse beauty of the arctic tundra to create stunning works of film photography.
White dominates much of his imagery. You feel a chill when confronted with the conditions of his photos, which he tackles head-on. But despite the freezing conditions, his portraits are full of warmth and humanity.
Peter Holliday’s photos document our battle against the harsh conditions of the Arctic regions. They convey the struggle of winter and the warmth of the hearth.
14. Louis Dazy
Louis is a film photographer with the heart of a movie director. He constructs his images with a glowing cinematic style. There’s an electric combination of neon and noir, brightness and darkness.
He conveys feeling lost in a world we don’t quite recognize. This style gives his portraits a feeling of sadness and distance. The subjects are lost and vulnerable.
Louis is a master of double exposure. He uses the technique to add depth and a sense of the paranormal to his photography.
15. Muhammed Ali Arslan
Muhammed is a film photographer and cinematographer based in Istanbul. His love of cinema is well presented in his photography.
He uses subject, environment, and technique to create scenes of high drama. A starkness runs through his imagery, creating a cold and sterile atmosphere. The tones are muted, but his images are striking and powerful.
16. Mateusz Żurowski
Mateusz is a Polish photographer true to the medium of analog photography. His contribution to the field has been recognized with an IPA Analog award.
His shots are highly styled and detailed yet distant and dreamlike. His human subjects are vulnerable in their stark environments. And despite the cold and muted colors, there’s a warm humanity.
Some of his sets are cinematic in their composition, while others feel more candid. But, with all his shots, everything is deliberate.
17. Toby Harvard
Toby Harvard has a distinctive cinematic style of photography. He contrasts dark settings with bright neon colors, giving his pictures a neo-noir aesthetic.
His portraits are tense and moody. His use of subject and location gives an air of dystopian science fiction. The atmospheres are dark, yet the images vibrate with color and intensity.
His cinematic sensibilities do not end with the camera, as Toby is also a screenwriter.
18. Daphne Kladis
Daphne Kladis is a fine art film photographer from Switzerland.
Daphne explores shape and form with bleak and abstract imagery. Her photography is not exclusively black and white. But there is a striking lack of color. She uses the body for shape and effect.
Her work includes analog techniques, like double exposure and motion blur. Her camera is used to explore the medium of film photography.
19. Zhamak Fullad
Zhamak Fullad is a film photographer based in Toronto. Her photography blends portraiture with a rugged street style. The images are carefully stylized yet feel intimate and candid.
Zhamak gives you a glimpse into a world outside the mainstream. It’s a window into the underground and the marginal. It’s a part of society you might not otherwise see.
She’s been published by Galore magazine and has been shooting behind the scenes for images for Canadian singer Roy Woods.
20. Rhiannon Adam
Rhiannon’s work combines art, portrait, and documentary photography. She’s from Ireland but has had a nomadic existence throughout her life.
With her photography, she’s not just showing you the sights. She takes you on a tour and tells you the story. The images are beautiful and expressive. And she accompanies them with heartfelt descriptions.
The photos by Rhiannon Adam are like a personal journal. Through her work, she brings you on her journey.
21. J. Flynn
Flynn is a portrait photographer working in London, UK. His style of portraiture is stylish and modern yet personal and relaxed. His work is easygoing, whether in the studio or on the street.
Eye contact with his subjects plays a big part in establishing a connection with the viewer. He allows the subjects’ characteristics to influence the schemes and motifs of his portraits. Each shot expresses a different personality.
22. Masahiko Nishiyama
Masahiko Nishiyama is a Japanese photographer who creates color photos that combine portrait and landscape. Her work is bright and colorful but dreamlike and fragile too.
Her photos are a celebration of light and color. She uses pale pastel colors, especially pinks, greens, and blues. There’s a sense of overexposure that gives her collection a subtly and elegance.
23. Michael Novotny
Michael is an analog photographer originally from Prague, though now he spends much of his time in Iceland.
His landscape and documentary photography is striking. His images are composed in a way that highlights the grandeur of the scenery. There’s a narrative of Man’s struggle against nature throughout his collections.
24. Paul Bundy
Paul Bundy is a photographer living and working on America’s Pacific coast. He works with 35mm and 120mm film, capturing the sights of the West Coast.
From majestic shorelines to curiosities of American suburbia, Paul transports you to that world. Paul captures an America that seems timeless. You don’t know if you’re looking at 2021 or 1951.
25. Ana Topoleanu
Ana Topoleanu is a Romanian photographer currently based in Mexico. She works with portraits and landscapes, often combining the two.
She loves nature and open spaces. She knows how to utilize natural light, and the sun plays an important role in her photography. No matter where she is, she documents the world intimately.
Conclusion: Most Influential Film Photographers
Film photography is alive and kicking. Our list’s 25 most influential film photographers prove that analog image-making is still alive. And not just alive but thriving with beauty, passion, and energy.
Film photography is an art form all its own. If you pick up a film camera, there is no end to the horizon of opportunity. These photographers have mastered their craft from landscape to portraits, abstract art to documentary.
Maybe you won’t like them all, but there will be something to ignite a passion for film photography. Find inspiration, pick up an old 35mm camera, and start shooting.
