Bryan Berryeater on Creating Beauty in the Mundane with the Diana F+

In an effort to seek out the beauty and fun of life, Bryan Berryeater packed his bag with Lomography Color Negative 120 ISO 400 and an expired roll of Berlin Kino B&W 120, and took off on a few winter bike rides around his home city of Portland, Oregon.

Newly accompanied by the Diana F+ on these bike rides, Bryan is here with us to share his first impressions of the camera's spontaneous, experimental qualities.

Hi Bryan, welcome to Lomography Magazine! Can you start off by telling us about yourself and work?

My name is Bryan Berryeater and I've been shooting film since 2021. For decades I've been taking photos just for fun with digital point-and-shoot cameras and my phone, but when I was gifted a film camera, I really fell in love with the process of it all.

Generally the work I create is rooted in personal grief and healing, particularly related to my experience with long Covid and all the loss that came along with that. Often this looks like making the decision to go out in an ugly world to intentionally seek beauty. I've learned how important it is to be silly. When I'm taking photos that silliness comes out as the drive to experiment with things like multiple exposures and overlapping-frame panoramas. There's just so much to learn and always room for growth.

How did you get into shooting medium format film as opposed to 35 mm?

I received a Holga 120N and a box of Portra 400 for my birthday a few years ago, so it wasn't an intentional choice to start shooting medium format. Still to this day I shoot it more than 35 mm. The high quality of the images has always appealed to me and I appreciate the ability to experiment with multiple exposure and panoramas which medium format cameras make so simple. Plus twelve exposures feels like a good amount when I'm experimenting – I don't feel pressured to push through two or three times as many frames to wrap it up and get it developed.

What were your first impressions of the Diana F+ camera?

Coming out of the box I really appreciated it aesthetically – the shape, the color, the cute flash attachment – it's a beautiful camera. I did struggle a bit loading film at first, but it got easier as I got the hang of it. It's so lightweight it's easy to just throw in my bag and not worry about adding more weight when I'm biking around.

Tell us about what you decided to shoot with this series!

Mostly I shot Lomography Color 400 but also included a roll of expired Lomography Berlin Kino 400. I wanted to get to know the camera a bit so I brought it along on some bike rides and took it to work before I started leaning into multiple exposures and panoramas. There's no particular theme at play here, just my experience seeking beauty and having fun in the process.

What was your process behind shooting this panorama?

This is still a bit of a crapshoot for me. The process is really simple – just take a photo, wind the film several clicks, turn a little and take another photo, and continue doing that until you've captured the entire subject of the photograph. Remember to shoot from left to right because the film is winding that direction. It's hard to know how much to wind and how much to turn to avoid a complete jumbled mess, but that's also the fun part. I just have no idea what it's going to look like until I see it, and I love that anticipation.

What tips would you give others who are wanting to try the Diana F+?

There's nothing to lose in trying this camera! I found I needed to be careful how I placed it in my bag because the wheel turns so easily to advance the film that I lost a few frames. I've often found Lomography film doesn't roll up super tight, and this was true in the first roll I ran through the Diana F+, but the flexibility in the body of the camera allowed me to press down on the back and create more tension when I advanced the film. That helped a lot. Of course I'd occasionally forget to change some setting or another, and end up under or overexposing some frames here and there, but I suppose that's part of the learning curve.

Do you have a favorite feature of the Diana F+?

The simplicity allowed me to not think too much about the process. Sometimes what I want is to just be a bit more spontaneous, and the Diana F+ really lends itself to that.

Do you have any upcoming projects that you'd like to share with our community?

Mostly I'm just having fun. A friend recently taught me cyanotype so I'm excited to see what comes from that, and I've been looking forward to collaborating with other artist friends because, why not? I don't buy into the capitalist thinking that I'm failing if I'm not growing followers or making art for money. I'm content to be exercising my creativity to process grief and find joy.

Anything else you'd like to share?

Thanks to Lomography for the opportunity to share. And thanks to all the badass photographers making awesome art just for the sake of it – you're an inspiration.

Thanks for joining us, Bryan! To those who want to keep in touch with him, you can find him on Instagram here.

written by alexa_alexiades on 2024-04-20 #gear #people #places #medium-format #120 #portland #diana-f #lomoamigo