Unintentional Intentional MIS-TAKE Photos: A Father and Son Film Swap Project

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Lomographers have probably seen a lot of film swap projects before but this one is extra special. Father and son collaborate in this film swap project from พ่อสอนลูกให้ถ่ายรูป (daddyphotographytips).

Let's find out more about Badin and Akin and their recent exhibition in this interview!

© พ่อสอนลูกให้ถ่ายรูป (daddyphotographytips)

Hello, could you please introduce yourselves to our readers?

Badin: Hello, my name is Badin Limapornvanich or “Bond” in short. I work in creative advertising, photography, and making videos, including for my Facebook page known as พ่อสอนลูกให้ถ่ายรูป (daddyphotographytips), which is also my son’s pastime.

Akin: Hello, I am Akin Limapornvanich, aged 11 years old. I am passionate about taking photos and inventing toys.

When did you and your son start to take photographs together? And what was the initial motivation for starting the Facebook page?

Badin: I have taken photos since I was in university, however, I started taking more photograph when Akin was born. I have bought various cameras and captured all the moments since Akin was born. At first, I was confused about how to use a digital camera since I was used to using a film camera. On the other hand, I already had a basic skill from using a film camera that could help me understand the function of a digital camera.

For the Facebook page, my son and I started working on this page four years ago when Akin was at the age of 7. One early morning, Akin suddenly asked me, “Dad, why do you take such beautiful photos?”

I chose to take photos around the village and explained why those photos were beautiful instead of answering with just words. Then, I posted this story on my own Facebook page along with those photos. On that night, many friends who read this story were cheering me to open the Facebook page and that's why it become พ่อสอนลูกให้ถ่ายรูป (Father teaches son to take a photo).

If you asked about when Akin started to take photographs, it officially started on the same day of launching the Facebook page. Since opening the page, I took my son to do certain funny workshops at the weekend, such as at cafes, museums or public parks. I taught him about some theories of taking photos as well.

Could you talk about the “Film swap” project? How did it happen?

Badin: In the first year of doing the Facebook page I was using the Lomography Diana F+. However, Akin accidentally made a double exposure image, in which there were many composite pictures.

Therefore, as my page is about father and son, I had the idea of making content about film swaps. I took all the film photos in one cartridge and then gave the same cartridge to Akin to make a double exposure photograph and see what photos would be like.

At the end of the year, Seacon Square Srinagarindra, the department store, contacted me to print out the photos in my Facebook page and make an exhibition. At first, I decided to pick some old photos to exhibit, however, this was my first exhibition of me and my son. Therefore, I wanted to make it more memorable and not just the photos that many people had seen before. The film swap project has been taking place and the name of this exhibition is “Unintentional Intention MIS-TAKE Photo Exhibition” with the concept of intentionally taking double exposure photos like a mistake, but that mistake is from the intention.

Which type of cameras and film did you use to take these photos?

Badin: After I agreed to make an exhibition of “Film Swap” with Seacon Square Srinagarindra, I wanted to make this event much more special. I also contacted and explained the concept to Lomography Thailand, and they wanted to support the project. They gave us two cameras, the Lomo LC-Wide and La Sardina along with three films of Lomography Metropolis, LomoChrome Purple and Potsdam Kino B&W.

However, I personally believe that by taking photographs as “film Swap”, there is a possible chance to get bad photos rather than good ones. Therefore, I bought two other rolls of film, Lomography Color Negative ISO 100 and Lomography Color Negative 35 mm ISO 400, which was a really great idea. When traveled during the new year, I also took some photos using film cameras, which consequently made me happy to take photographs again.

Before taking the photos did you plan the style or theme?

Badin: I did not plan before. Sometimes I only knew that I needed a lot of dark areas or areas that were not exposed to the light, since those areas were left for Akin’s photos. If I took a photo that had a lot of white areas such as a sky, it would have no area left for Akin to make a double exposure.

Akin: I sometimes knew about the sequence of photos, so I recognized what that photo is about. Therefore, when I tried to take a double exposure photo, I would think about what kind of photos I should take to make it much more beautiful.

How does it feel to be able to make this exhibition?

Badin: It is one of my dreams to have my own exhibition. When Seacon Square contacted me, I really appreciated that my dream would come true. The concept of “Film Swap”, of father and son and the style of the exhibition is also similar to what I would like it to be. The style of exhibition is hanging photos, similar to how it was done in the past. We generally went to the dark room to develop a photographic film, print photos out and hang them to dry. The highlight of this exhibition is hanging a photographic film in a light box for anyone who walks by to see all the photos come from real film cameras, not just post production from a computer.

Akin: I feel appreciate helping my dad’s dream come true.

© พ่อสอนลูกให้ถ่ายรูป (daddyphotographytips). Left: Badin's favorite photo from the project. Right: Akin's favorite photo from the project

Do you have any tips for other people who want their own film swap projects?

Badin: The first thing that I would like to recommend is using a film camera with no auto rewind function. Also, I recommend not to expect or anticipate what the photos will be like since it will never be as you wish. We cannot remember all the photos in the sequence and you will feel less joyful if you try to remember all those things. The special moment of using a film camera is the excitement of developing a film to see what kind of photos that you will get.

Moreover, one thing that makes the photos more charming is the difference of lens distance of each camera. For example, if you take the first exposure photo, you should use a 50 mm lens. For the double exposure photo, you should use a wide lens such as the 17 mm lens of Lomography LC-Wide that I use in this project.

After this exhibition do you have any further projects for us to look forward to?

Badin: Currently, our Unintentional Intention MIS-TAKE Photo Exhibition will be exhibited in Art center at Silpakorn university. The exhibition is called DEPTH OF FEEL, and our work will be on display with five famous artists of Thailand. For those who are interested, feel free to join this exhibition. We certainly have further projects, however, we need a lot of time to consider the interesting concepts. Actually, I already have the rough ideas but let me keep it secret for now.