Jesse Shotland

Dear Followers & Readers of I Still Shoot Film,

If you’ve been with us for a while, you probably already know that ISSF is a personal project maintained in my spare time. Over the years, several people have been gracious enough to help me with this project in the interest of keeping film alive. Some of you seem to be under the impression that ISSF is a fully professional monetized website that makes money off the content we post - it’s not. Our ads barely cover the hosting and domain fees, and any other income made from advertising goes to paying freelance writers for more content for our readers. I personally wrote the Beginner’s Guide to Film Photography to answer a lot of questions I was getting from people about the basics of photography. Why? Because I think film deserves a voice.

When something you love turns in to more trouble than it’s worth, sometimes you need to take a step back and ask yourself why you continue to do it. I Still Shoot Film has become exactly this for me. Rather than feeling happy when I receive emails from someone about purchasing their first film camera, I find myself navigating  negative comments either nitpicking details on obscure cameras or slamming us for not doing things the same way massive websites with employees and offices do. That is not really how I want to spend my day off.

If you’ve learned something from I Still Shoot Film, that’s fantastic. If you come here to make corrections, I suggest making your own photography blog to share your knowledge. As of this moment, I Still Shoot Film will not be updated for the foreseeable future and I will most likely take it down in the coming weeks. It’s been an interesting and valuable learning experience - putting your free time into something with the intention of helping people can do just that, but it’s important to acknowledge when you no longer have the time, patience, effort or budget to maintain it at a level that is simply above your means.

To all of you who have been contributors and true supporters of ISSF over the years, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’d like to think we helped keep this medium alive. After an 8 year run, I think I’ve shared all of the knowledge that I have to offer you and the film community is now thriving on it’s own.

Hopefully taking a step back will motivate me to pick up my beloved film cameras once again.

All my best to every single one of you,