ANTON BOSMAN – How Fujifilm Re-Ignited My Love For Photography

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Let me start off by saying that since I became more serious about photography, my love for photography has become an all-consuming flame. This is not to say that the flame burnt strong all the time.

There were times during this photographic journey where I became very despondent as well as immensely frustrated. As a creative, I am constantly pushing my own creative limit and looking for new ways of doing things.

 I do not want to be the person whose work becomes stale and as a result, I constantly pursue different techniques and methods. Because I often find myself trying to do what some might call the impossible, it was my gear that mostly prohibited my growth.

 We always hear that “a better camera will not make you a better photographer”. There is so much truth in that quote, but something happened in my life, something which changed my perception of how we are not to be limited by what we believe our gear can and can’t do. In to my life stepped the Fujifilm X100.

 The year was 2011 and I saw one of the first X100 cameras on the shelf at the camera store.  I was immediately and nostalgically transported back to 1988 and I was smitten.

 It was in 1988 that I worked for a company that did commercial real estate photography. I applied for a job application that read, “Looking for a person with skills in carpentry to help us build a darkroom.” I started the job on the very same day.

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 Upon completion of the room, I was roped in and asked if I would like to work in the darkroom. Obviously, I said yes, and within a few weeks I was further tasked to take photos of real estate as part of my job.

The camera used was by a popular brand and it was their F2 model. Needless to say, when I saw the X100, it was love at first sight.

 As a camera that I purchased on impulse because of its looks and the immediate nostalgic attachment, I did not expect much. I walked away with buyer’s remorse but told myself, at least I have a really cool looking camera. 

 It was not until I started using the camera properly that my life changed. I had a tool in my hand that I wanted to use, it yielded incredible image quality, and it looked cool.

 But more than that, I now had a camera that I started using more and more purely because I found the ISO quality superior and the camera was incredibly intuitive, easy to operate and user-friendly.

 I was at home with this camera, and my work started improving. I felt myself being creatively ignited and pushed harder and harder to make all the clichéd ‘it’s impossible’ a possibility.

My eyes, heart and creativity had been opened.

The journey with Fujifilm has been a good eight and a bit years for me, and I can comfortably say that with every single iteration of Fujifilm camera I have used, Cupid’s arrow would sink just that little bit deeper.

By Fujifilm X-Photographer Anton Bosman

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