Documenting the Kenya Wildlands Project by Tanner McGinty

Today, we’re featuring an incredible set of images from film photographer Tanner McGinty. Tanner was able to travel to Africa to document Bobby Neptune and his Kenya Wildlands project. Here are a few words from Tanner about the experience…

I recently returned from a week of driving around and camping in remote corners of east Africa, documenting my friend Bobby Neptune and his work as a photographer in Kenya. His current project, called Kenya Wildlands (www.kenyawildlands.com), involves photographing Kenya’s watersheds, wildlife, and people from above.

His preferred method is to utilize a powered paraglider to gain unique perspectives of his subjects. I wanted to spend a week documenting his process and surroundings using my preferred perspective: through the lens of an old film camera.

It definitely was not the easiest way of going about it. Worrying about missing focus or missing a moment, the anxiety of not knowing results until after my return, fighting tooth and nail to get my rolls of film there and back without repeated x-ray exposure, loading rolls of film as quickly as possible while getting tossed around in the back of a dusty land cruiser, etcetera, are all hardships that would have been easily avoided by just taking a digital camera instead. But I was once again reminded of the purity of film, the sense of adventure found in the difficulty and deliberateness of it all, and the profit of patience realized at the moment of development, finding that it was worth all the effort.

Analog cameras and films used: Nikon FM2 (Find at KEH Camera or eBay), Hasselblad 501CM (Find at KEH Camera or eBay) | Kodak Ektar 100 (Find on Amazon), Kodak Portra 400 (Find on Amazon), Kodak Portra 160 (Find on Amazon), expired Kodak Portra 400VC

Connect with Tanner: Instagram 

Learn more about Bobby Neptune and the Kenya Wildlands Project: Website

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