LIFE + FILM PHOTOGRAPHY WITH WILL NICHOLS

GUSTO 35 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

WRITTEN BY: ALEC WELSH

Growing up just outside San Diego in a suburb called Temecula, California, Will's childhood was centered around basketball and baseball. "Running from practice to practice... trying to keep myself entertained".

Creativity wasn't always sown into his fabric, it came later in life towards his early twenties. "I never really thought of photography as an outlet of expression or as a passion... or even knew anything about it".

This changed completely when he started interning for a magazine called High Snobiety. It was in its beginning stages, Will was their only correspondent on the west coast so they asked him to start covering a variety of events. ''That was my real introduction to photography as well as creativity as a whole". Never looking through a lens prior to this, something clicked in a major way.

Not long after mastering control over a digital camera, he made the switch to film. "I got a Canon AE1 and that was my first film camera".

"I enjoyed the process of learning how to work the camera and then I would go off and take photos for myself, randomly, whenever I felt the urge to", advancing to say; "More and more and more until it was eventually my occupation".

Curious at what provoked this Will claims; "Just trying to understand the craft and trying to go back to the origin of where digital had evolved from".

When it comes to choosing between film or digital? "It's more like a convenience thing, what's the task at hand? and when do I need it by? It's an apple and an orange"

As for Will's personal experience and the future with film, "I feel like it's the same ironically, I feel like it's just timeless. It's something that will never go away, it will never get old, or ever feel really that new. It's just going to be there, like water, literally just a part of life".