Favorite Things: Roy Lawrence and his Canon AE-1

Roy Lawrence, 25, is a FEMA employee who enjoys taking photos, traveling and watching movies in his spare time. He views the world through the lens of his favorite thing.

My camera is a tiny little 35 millimeter. It’s a Canon AE-1.

I was working in a campaign office when I bought it. Next to one of our old offices, there was a camera shop. So, I wandered in one day on break knowing that I wanted to join the Peace Corps after the campaign was over.

I wanted a camera and I was set on that. But I didn’t know which one. I was thinking I was going to get a digital at first, but then my eyes landed on that film camera. 

Right after the campaign was over, I took it coast to coast. From New Hampshire back to Michigan, down to the Gulf Coast, to California, then back to the middle of the country.

In Cambodia, I stayed out in my village for six to eight weeks. Over that time, I started to notice things that you wouldn’t if you were operating at a faster speed.

I got this photo of these water buffalo that my friend’s niece was actually walking by to graze. Just as the sun was going down, she was walking them back from a field to their pen. The lighting worked out perfectly.

My first three rolls I shot, I got maybe six out of every 36 photos. One-sixth of what I shot turned out right.

A lot of them came out blurry because my hands were shaking. Really rookie mistake that I would have avoided if I had read anything about it beforehand.

I like the process of shooting on film. Shooting on digital, I take 50 photos of the same thing and pick the ones I like later.

With film, I have to pay for every shot. It forces you to take a step back and figure out how you want the shot to look beforehand. With this camera, I frame the photo, worry about the exposure, then worry about depth of field and aperture.

I shoot lots of architecture lately because I’ve been really bored. Plus, you don’t need people around to make it work.

I really like the fact that, with any given subject, a hundred people are going to shoot it a hundred different ways. We all see the same things, but we all have different backgrounds and different ideas of what a photo should look like.

Next, I’m planning a trip to North Dakota. I’ve been to South Dakota to Badlands National Park and loved every minute of it. As the fall gets going and things start to cool down, I think that would be a nice trip to take. I’d love to shoot some bison.

Interview edited and condensed by Cole Tunningley. If you have a suggestion for Favorite Things, please email Skyler@Lansingcitypulse.com

Support City Pulse  -  Donate Today!