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Happy New Year to all! For me, 2022 was a significant year for healing and growth. I was able to experience new things with friends, grind through adversity and celebrate wins, grow a deeper connection with my mental and physical well-being, and maintain healthy relationships with friends and family. Honestly, just saying all that brings me a great sigh of relief and a smile to my face. Although it wasn’t sunshine and flowers every single day, it was most definitely the best year of the previous few. It flew by quickly, but I have good energy to continue the momentum going into the New Year. To name a few things I accomplished in 2022:

  • Named my business DVLPD, “a creative media company which brings ideas to reality“
  • Had a fairly successful print sale in Sacramento, with motivation to do more pop-up sales when the new season approaches
  • Caught up on nearly all film developing and scanning – anyone who shoots film knows how good this feels
  • Upgraded to a Panasonic GH5, but usage got delayed for quite a while until I also recently upgraded my PC, which can handle editing the video files
  • Treated myself to new Sony headphones and an iPad Mini + Pencil, and moved most workflow to the Cloud so I can edit photos and small video projects on the go
  • Worked the entire year and crossed the 3.5yr mark at my job, got a salary bump
  • Physically moving and feeling better as a result of more exercise and adjusting out bad habits in my life surrounding diet, sleep, movement, stress management, personal management, etc. Obviously, still working on these things every day..
  • Ending the year feeling much better than I entered it; hungry to take on more opportunities for growth, curious what the future holds because I’m always seeking to grow into the best version of myself and chase the ever-changing ideal end-goal.

Reflecting on these accomplishments like this just reassures me that I’m doing something right. In contrast, it’s easy to compare where I am to all those I look up to, but I know we each have our own journey and the fact I look up to them already places my standards for success higher than most. I make an effort to reach out and stay in touch with those I know that I see putting in the work like me. I know that often times when less recognized artists go against the grain of what’s common, trendy, or popular, we ‘re subject to feeling as if we’re doing something wrong. In reality, we’re just really passionate human beings who want to be known for our own styles, pushing the culture and the community forward, and being able to survive doing something we love. To that, I will always go out of my way to support someone else that I see going through that grind to give them the fuel to keep going, because I know sometimes, a few words of encouragement go a long way.

Peace and enjoy some of my favorite film images from 2022 below.

Armstrong Redwoods, January 2022
Mya on Gold 200, March 2022

RIO on Gold 200, May 2022
CELLO on Gold 200, May 2022
Side note. I grew up with these cats RIO and CELLO. They are real artists and hard workers who deserve praise.

Frank on Gold 200, June 2022

Emerald and I tossing each other my point ‘n shoot in the snow so we can take portraits of each other, before going down the expert slope that we totally thought was the beginner one..

Jackie leading me to Salt Point
Washed up rock at Salt Point

Not sure if they are the best tacos in Studio City, but they are much better than the “tacos” I was served in Hollywood..

The colors in this make me happy.
APEXER art on a wall in the Mission
… IYKYK
San Diego with the fam. What is the fam doing here..? Not sure…
Sonoma Coast
Trying out Cinestill 400D in Hawaii
More 400D in North Shore Oahu

Last but not least, a glorious sunset at Land’s End on September 5th, 2022.

As usual, contact me for prints or visit www.matthewpak.darkroom.com to streamline your order! I appreciate any order, even if it’s a $5 4×6. I also appreciate any support, by sharing my work online or by word of mouth.

Thank you! Wishing you all a successful, healthy, and fun 2023 and beyond!

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This roll is interesting… It dates back to like February, before pandemic/shelter-in-place. The first half of the roll I shot through a Pentax K1000 I found in my dad’s old camera bag. Me and my housemate made a little video on it that I never really felt “finished” with so I put it on the backburner. I wanted to make a video where I developed that film and showed the results but when Covid hit, it put a curveball in everything and the roll sat in my fridge. We also ran out of developer at the house, and then the messiness of the house made me indecisive unto how we would film that portion of the video.

Ultimately, I made a bunch of excuses for the video but eventually developed the roll and got the scans back to confirm I should keep using this camera. The K1000 works great, and the roll switches over to my M6 around the frames of the Poppies. You almost can’t tell, as the K1000 and its 28mm f/2.8 prime lens is very sharp. Its focusing mechanism and exposure meter took some getting used to and I find both more helpful but also more intrusive to the experience compared to the M6’s rangefinder shooting experience. Overall it was fun and easy to use and I now use it as a carry-around that I don’t mind it banging around or if (knock on wood) something were to happen to it.

The K1000 frames were made in Petaluma, CA and the M6 frames were made in Santa Rosa, CA.
Some of the clips from the video and frames from this roll are in this video.

Peace!

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This roll of Gold 200, developed and scanned by Underdog Film Lab in Oakland, CA, features a day at the beach with some of my housemates and friends – several months back (I’m updating this blog with film roll dumps and a message to go with them). Also pictured are just some spontaneous moments in the following week or so. Pete (15, 16) always gives me a laugh not only just when we hang out but especially when I take pictures of him. He likes to pose or give a goofy face or do something.

Emerald took the second to last frame of me… We practiced that one on digital for a while and I set the settings for her so she would be comfortable only having to focus the lens and hit the shutter. =]

Peace and love.

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I feel like it’s not only overdue, but my right and my calling to make a post here every day. I often feel that maybe my thoughts aren’t cohesive enough to write them here, but I forget how powerful and beautiful the act of writing can be. And really, it goes hand in hand with what I have to share visually. Together, they are a catalyst of the experiences I’ve had that I can share with others. I’ve found that’s what I really want to do. Create; Educate; Commemorate.

I believe that in my life I’ve attracted specific experiences — specific souls and relationships that have either grown to become something or drifted off for the better; specific places I’ve been and photographs I’ve made, hands I’ve shaken, DM’s I’ve sent, turns I’ve made. I believe that nearly everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t quite understand it yet, or ever. Many things in life aren’t meant for us to understand, but moments in time meant for us to experience… And perhaps, for some like me, we have an underlying purpose to capture them and preserve them.

The work I do is both for myself and for the preservation of an art form which captures extremely rare, once-in-a-lifetime snapshots of our collective consciousness experience. That is a beautiful thing and I’ll simply always do it, always learning and growing along the way, as I’ve been. It’s just a beautiful thing to embrace, like all of our collective experiences together…

…And when we find there’s something that hurts our souls, that disturbs our peace, that isn’t beautiful in respect to preservation of life – we act… We protest, we debate, we fight, we rebel.

Even those moments – especially those moments – need preservation. They and the individuals who have experienced pain and injustice need their story told so that the collective conscious understands morality and learns to love each other. We have been shown time and time again the importance of documenting and telling the stories over time, and fighting for the change we wish to see.

Spread love, stay safe, stay tuned. A post every day coming from yours truly.

In Solidarity
~Matthew

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I currently own more film cameras than I do digital, and I have no problem with that. I love to have options when I shoot film. Being able to grab a specific tool from my arsenal to enjoy its particular process and outcome is something I know I can get used to.
If anything, I believe I’ve reached a new peak.

I love every tool I own for their own reasons. It’s much like owning different kinds of the same size wrench, or different depths of the same size socket to access them in various scenarios.
The kind of photo I envision or perhaps the film stock loaded in the camera is part of the context which helps me select my tool of choice.

I try not to draw too much attention or importance to what the tools are; their brand name, or their value. It’s worthless to me if it doesn’t inspire or aid me in making great photographs. The process and the results are of utmost importance to me…

Some of my extended family. My aunt, centered, gifted me my M6 in 2019. (Portra 160, Leica M6)

A lot of people will judge you by the equipment you have or the mediums you shoot on. People have literally stopped me and gasped at my Leica M6, or commented on the cuteness and sleekness of my Konica Big Mini. But the truth is that both of these cameras come from my bloodline. They carry such significant intrinsic value to me that I could care less if they were to be found for $20 on eBay. They carry a history, they inspire me to create, and ultimately they are my tools of creation. That kind of value carries no price tag to me.

As a matter of fact, the most recent camera I’ve begun to use was the first film camera I became familiar with – a Nikon N8008s. It literally is a $20 camera on eBay, but would be one of the last possessions I’d ever sell, same with my M6 or Big Mini. It was also passed to me from family, this one from my father. I shot and developed my first rolls of film from this camera, some of which I made enlargements from that are still framed in my room. I still have the film, contact sheets, and proofs at my parents’ home.
The below photos were taken on Nikon N8008s, Kodak BW, hand developed and printed by me in my high school darkroom. Then scanned with a shitty flat-bed scanner…

Carlo (@leftf0otforward) on my right.


Most of the time, I don’t use the whole roll when I go out shooting because I tend to be very frugal with how I consume film. And because of that, I wouldn’t prefer to “waste” a shot that I know I intended for another day or another roll. (i.e. a sunset or colorful scene on monochrome film I would have preferred to have taken in color). But sometimes, you can’t help yourself and you don’t know how tight or how whack the result will be. You just have to find out. That’s all part of the fun and the challenge. See below:

I captured this while driving next to a purple-orange sunset. I knew the creek was going to be in frame, but I was more impressed with the contrast among the creek than the sky like I intended. (T-Max 400, Leica M6)
I also dig this shot. Again, I wanted to capture the tones in the sky but it didn’t go my way. It’s alright though – no mistakes, just happy accidents. #bobross (T-Max 400, Leica M6)

My Nikon D800 was the fruit of my own labor. A much needed digital FX upgrade. A much needed sharpening of my edge, a big addition to my tool-bag.
The reality is, however, I could sell it and get another body and feel little remorse because although I adore it as a tool, I don’t have a personal connection to it (yet) like I do the N8008s or M6. And yes, the photos will come out sharp and clean in a variety of mixed circumstances, along with creating HD video, but the art I’d create in the process of carefully and accurately burning images onto silver-halide photographic film is a process I will never be tired of and should never be left behind.

And that’s likely why I own more film cameras than I do digital, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it stayed that way.

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The shots below are from my first roll ever of Ilford HP5. I really love the look it provided. It is a very contrast-heavy film. It does a really good job of bringing out details within the shadows if exposed correctly, but if there is harsh light or over-exposure, particularly outdoors, you lose some mid-range and depth. At least, that’s how I feel about it so far.
When indoors and especially when shooting portraits, the grain of the film suddenly becomes more noticeable. I would say it is more on the looser end of grain than fine. It provides a classic film look, and the higher contrast helps create a cinematic, dramatic vibe.
All of the images were shot with a Leica M6 35mm f/2 Summicron on Ilford HP5 400. Enjoy and view my Flickr for more.

Matthew Pak
Matthew Pak
Matthew Pak
Matthew Pak
Matthew Pak
Matthew Pak
Me – shot by Emerald Tanaka