Roma Series— 2026

It’s been a really long time since I used a film camera. A couple of years ago, I found a Minolta Freedom Dual AF point-and-shoot at Goodwill, and truthfully it sat in my closet until a week ago.

I checked the functions, bought batteries and film, packed it, and took it with me to Rome, Italy.

It honestly felt like a pricey risk bringing that camera and film on the trip. I spent money on film without knowing the quality of the camera or if it even worked, and there was the chaos of asking several TSA agents to hand-check my film. I was hoping the photos would turn out and that it would all be worth it.

When I first started film photography in high school, I truly fell in love with the process. Nothing about film is instant. You are working toward something gradual and one of a kind. Once I started college, though, I lost that feeling. Photography became work, competitive and full of rules. It stopped feeling like art.

Even though I didn’t develop this roll myself, using film again reminded me what I loved most about it. I was excited to get the roll developed and see what the photos looked like. When I was taking the photos, I photographed the places I wanted to remember. Streets and buildings I thought were beautiful. There were no rules. It wasn’t competitive. It wasn’t work. It was just art.