Podcast review: Film Photography Podcast (FPP) ❤️
Film Photography Podcast is the best podcast ever made. Let me tell you why.
I initially started listening to FPP in 2016 immediately after returning to film photography. Back then I was on a lookout for a quality podcast to get me restarted with the hobby. I fell in love with the easygoing and warm-hearted tone of the show (often referred as shoe).
I found FPP really informative. Each episode seemed to answer to whatever question was troubling my mind at the moment. I learned practically everything I know about cameras, film stocks and formats, developers, dark room techniques, among many other things.
In addition to being actually useful, I absolutely fell in love with the crew and their approach to the production. There’s no generic stock music (not to mention Squarespace ads), but in-house produced tunes and soundscapes instead. Another famous trademark is their use of random catch phrases and sound effects, that more often than not gets you off guard. For example, they often play a sound sample of and elderly man saying “The Google” whenever Google is mentioned. (I find it hilarious because I now hear that sample in my mind literally everytime someone mentions Google in day to day life.😄)
FPP is a gem! There are so many rather generic podcasts out there, but FPP has their own thing going on. The show is truly authentic, unique and the hosts are one of the most likeable out there.
They manage to pull off-topic conversations better than anyone else. Many podcasts surround their actual topics in a curtain of random chit-chat, which sometimes perhaps feels like a waste of time (sorry to say) or like a forced attempt at being casual or funny. FPP gets off-rail just as often, but for whatever reason, it’s not frustrating to listen. I’ve had probably the bests laughs out of their absolute randomness. In between the actual topics, you can find discussions of (for example) foreign candy, monster movies, pizza orders, real life anecdotes featuring re-occurring ‘characters’ like aunt Linda or the Track Man.
The tone of the program is always very positive, uplifting and genuinely fun. There’s not even a hint passive aggressiveness, rants or any kind of negativity. Just good vibes and they’ve managed to keep that up for over ten years. I really appreciate that. There’s occasionally some rather inappropriate humour (which is nice), but even that comes from a good place.
FPP also runs an online store that sells cameras, all kinds of films (seriously all kinds, rare hand rolled stuff in addition to the basic stuff), chemistry and accessories. They also have a long-standing school donation program to support art education. 🙏
I got inspired to write this article after re-listening some of my first ‘sodes from 2016 and 2017. It was a nice little throwback to those early film days and I got really nostalgic. I almost started to re-live that honeymoon phase of my film photography hobby while listening to those classic episodes. It also reminded me just how consistently they’ve been putting out such quality content for all these years. The old episodes has stood the test of time and got just better just like fine wine. I laughed so hard and had to rewind some of the funniest parts many many times. 😆
Thank you Mike & the gang for all your good work!
The podcast is available at Spotify, iTunes and probably every other major platform.
They can be found at www.filmphotographyproject.com
