Meet Joey Chan – a film photographer dedicated to creating safe and inclusive spaces for female and non-binary artists looking to explore the world of analog photography. Read about how this growing community came to be and why it’s so important below.Hiya Joey! Tell us the who, what and where of Joey Chan? I’m a Melbourne-based photographer with a focus on portraiture and documentary storytelling. Photography started as a self-taught hobby over 15 years ago, and during the pandemic, I spent a lot of time photographing on film to stay sane.

In my portrait work, using film and analog cameras have helped me focus on building trust and connection with the person in front of my lens. I’m fascinated by people, and photography has given me a legitimate reason to ‘people-watch’ – it’s so fun to observe and document their interactions, idiosyncrasies and emotions.You are at the forefront of a pretty awesome community, Our Stories on Film. Can you tell us more about it? As the saying goes, “if what you want doesn’t exist, then create it,” which is pretty much what happened. After the lockdowns in Melbourne, I had all this bottled-up creativity and wanted to challenge myself to do more portrait photography. I thought it’d be very cool to take portraits of other female film photographers, and to meet and collaborate with more women who shoot film. I put a call-out on a Facebook film photography group and to my surprise, I got a lot of responses from women in the group.

I was surprised because the posts and comments in the group were almost always made by men. As messages came through, many of these women shared the same sentiment: they wished there was a supportive film photography community led by women for women. In a matter of 24 hours, I created a Discord server for us to connect, share our passion and support each other regardless of level of photography experience.Our Stories on Film is a safe space for female-identifying film photographers and we now have almost 200 members from around the world.  We’ve done a whole bunch of fun initiatives such as monthly themed photo challenges, photo walks in Melbourne, and launched our community zine. Volume 1, which showcases the film photography of 33 female and non-binary artists around the world, sold out in just under six weeks.How do safe spaces and a sense of community aid in nurturing film photographers? I believe creativity thrives when you feel comfortable and safe enough to freely express yourself in your art form. This means being free from judgement, discrimination and condescension. It’s disheartening for anyone to be on the receiving end of patronising comments, unsolicited advice, and judgement on the subject matter of what is or isn’t ‘worthy’ of being shot on film. Seeing these types of comments isn’t very encouraging and, in fact, makes it even more intimidating for anyone who wants to share their work or ask a question.

The photography community is also full of gatekeeping – opinions about the gear, method, or vision that ‘real’ photographers would use or do. Our Stories on Film exists because we just want a safe and inclusive space to share our passion and nerd out on film photography with likeminded people regardless of level of experience. I’m a big believer in learning by doing, so the more you shoot, share, and surround yourself with photography, the more you will learn and grow in your practice. We're also passionate about keeping film alive so we're very encouraging and welcoming of new film shooters.The community zine was focused on exploring identity. Why was that the chosen theme? The first volume was like an introduction to who we are as a community, so it was fitting to start with the theme of identity. We were interested in showing the uniqueness of the individuals who make up this community and were curious as to how they would translate the essence of who they are through their photos. It is quite a challenging topic because it’s so personal, and requires introspection and self-reflection. Our personal identity is how we see ourselves, how we introduce ourselves to others, and a place where we find meaning and a sense of belonging. I hope that our zine will inspire readers to think about what identity means to them as well. What are your next big goals and dreams for the future of Our Stories on Film? We’re hoping to run more in-person events and meet-ups with Our Stories on Film and possibly host them in new locations. It’s so much more fun to bond in real life over a drink or photo walk! We’ll also look to release Volume 2 of the zine with a new topic. If you’d like to be involved or stay up to date, head over to our Instagram @ourstoriesonfilm for announcements as well as the link to join our Discord server.Fancy learning more about film photography? Check out our beginner's guide to shooting film the old-school way.