Anyone watching the current World Cup will have seen the cohort of press photographers with their expensive, state-of-the-art cameras, but you don’t need cutting edge kit to shoot soccer.
Indeed, back in 2024 pioneering film photographer Miles Myerscough Harris shot a football match with a 127-year-old camera! The camera in question was No.4 Cartridge Kodak from 1897, which he found at an antique store, while the team was leading Swedish outfit Aik Fotboll.
Miles was was tasked by the club to recreate a team photo from 1924, and chose Ilford Delta 3200 film, explaining that, ‘I needed to be sure I had film that was fast enough to capture the image in an indoor stadium, on a camera with fairly rudimentary controls. It did the job perfectly! Plus the extra grain of 3200 ISO film helped make it look even more vintage.’
He said the actual shoot proved ‘stressful’ as he had to measure the distance between himself and the players to set the focus using the bellows on the camera.
‘In total I reckon I probably had 15 seconds to compose the photo, check focus and fire the shutter, by which point the team ran off to start the match, so I literally only took one frame!’ he said.
Miles then sent the film to be developed and scanned at Analogue Wonderland, ‘I was so worried that it wouldn’t come out, but when I got the scans back we managed to nail the shot, which was extremely satisfying (and relieving)’.
Miles of smiles
Miles is currently over in the US, covering the World Cup with a range of vintage film cameras and expired film, just to make the task even more challenging (see his Instagram feed for full details). So what is it about shooting film that he finds so attractive?
‘Personally, I love the tactile nature of film photography. It feels like you’re pouring a little bit of your soul into every shot because you’re so physically involved – from taking the film out of the box, to opening the back of the camera, inserting the film and winding it on after every shot… it makes me feel so connected to the photos I’m taking.’
I think the limitations of film also make me a better photographer. When I’m on the touchline at a game, I know that I need to be absolutely intentional about every time I fire the shutter, and I can’t waste any of the 36 shots I can take on a roll in case something important happens close to me, so I consider my frames much more carefully.’
Further reading
How to shoot action and sports photography – the complete guide
Do you want to win some great prizes for your photography? Enter your photos in our International Amateur Photographer of the Year competition. Free entry for photographers aged 13-21.
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