Owner Jim DanDee of Lumentation Lab and Curator Claire Ogden present “Shoot Your Shot,” a photo exhibition of 35mm prints from local photographers on display from October 9 – November 13. Shane Woolley is the photographer of “Queen of Forty Foot – Leap,” featured in the exhibit. Claire Ogden took the installation photograph.

By Harry Kane

The love of film photography has made a comeback in Somerville with a community photo exhibition curated by Claire Ogden and presented by Lumentation Lab. The show is currently on display at the Rooted Armory Café, and will continue until November 13.

Shoot Your Shot exhibition hopes to remind artists that film is a medium unlike digital, which captures images in an alternate process, and allows the photographer to return to the foundations of still photography and take a leap of faith with their image-making.

“I met the staff through processing my own film photos, so I first got to know them as a customer,” says Ogden. “I was just blown away by the passion they brought to film photography.”

Ogden floated the idea to Javier Molina, a staff member at Lumentation Lab, to hold an exhibition at the Rooted Armory Café.

“I thought it would be a great way to uplift the work coming through the lab,” Ogden said.

Any photos that had been processed at the lab could be potential submissions for the exhibit. After some deliberation, 36 photos were selected by Ogden and Molina.

“I think it’s really important and special to highlight community artists in this way,” Ogden said.

Ogden and Sophie Cloherty, an exhibition volunteer for Arts at the Armory, installed the photos in the café.

“Film photography is a reminder of the things that make us human: connection, creativity, failure, and the ability to try again,” according to the press release from the exhibition.

“The Dog Jog,” photo by Evan Guarino, taken in Honolulu, February 2024.

One of the photographers, Evan Guarino, who shot a black and white photo called, The Dog Jog, spoke to The Somerville Times about his photograph and experience with film photography.

Guarino’s hobby for film photography has been developing for the past couple years, and he has enjoyed frequenting the lab.

“I like being able to bring it to a smaller, local shop that specializes in film,” Guarino said.

Guarino submitted some of his photos for the show after seeing the exhibition advertised on Instagram. The Dog Jog was one of two photos selected for the exhibition.

The photo was taken in Honolulu in February while Guarino was there on a work trip. He says he usually brings a film camera with him on most trips. The sleek, compact Olympus XA point and shoot film camera fits in his pocket, and is the perfect retro camera, he says.

“I shoot several rolls of film and then forget about them,” he added. “It’s like a fun reminder of the trips.”

The camera was already loaded with Ilford FP4 Plus Black and White film when he went to Honolulu, but it wasn’t done purposely.

“In Hawaii, that doesn’t really seem like the type of film you want to bring to a tropical paradise,” he said jokingly.

But Guarino used the black and white film, and he captured a great shot at a park by an airport. Guarino was taking photos of the different vertical and parallel lines of the outdoor park structure when by happenstance a woman jogged by with a dog. He snapped the photo and captured, The Dog Jog.

Recently, Guarino said he likes shooting astrophotography. “I’ve been dabbling with trying to shoot some stars, and I took some comet shots with my film camera, as well, so eager to get that developed in the next couple of weeks.”