Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year, Film Fam!
Can you even believe that this is the last FREE Substack of 2023?! Where the heck has the year gone!
Christmas has come and gone in the blink of an eye, and I spent the week before working tirelessly to get my final shoots of 2023 out there. Saturday - 30th December - I have a fun Subscriber Special newsletter dropping for all of you who upgrade to the paid option.
But if you’re here for the freebies and seeing some kickass photos, then stick around. This newsletter will still have a few sneak peeks!
I also want to say a HUGE thank you to each and every one of you. When I started this Substack on 16th December 2022 - I didn’t think anyone would be interested. Now there’s almost 200 of you who have followed my journey and engaged with my work. I’m blown away!
I have a lot of cool things planned for 2024, so I hope you stick around. I’ll be taking a short break, and newsletters will be back at some point in February.
Here’s what you can expect from ‘Josie On Film’ Substack in 2024:
My new FREE series is called ‘Through My Viewfinder’ and will be storytelling of my 35mm Film adventures, with a focus on emotional connection while integrating some of my poetry work as well.
Occasional free educational newsletters - such as recaps of content events, current film news, new camera gear or repairs I’m doing, film resources, etc. These will be more casual and much shorter.
More in depth and loooooong blogs that are full of all the technical info you’d ever want or need to know about learning specific film techniques - these will be a 1-2x monthly paid subscriber newsletter.
‘Behind The Scenes’ of client work and ‘First Look’ content will be split between some free and paid newsletters here on my Substack, and after approx 1-2 weeks the images will appear on my other websites.
As always these newsletters will still have the vibe of catching up with that one friend you haven’t seen in a while who’s just very passionate about all things film. So if that’s your kind of jam, you’re in the right place!
Let’s get into it!
I’m keeping this one short and sweet, I hope you don’t mind.
I’m honestly overwhelmed. I did not expect for my little Substack to have provided me with so much joy this year, and for so many cool opportunities to arise out of it. What started as a way to help me express myself creatively has become to grow into a community and a consistent thing in my life that I adore working on.
I’m still working away quietly on 35mm Film projects throughout January and will be back sometime in February/March. I’m not setting a deadline because I don’t want to rush this recalibrating process for me. It’s so important that in the start of a New Year I take time to really re-focus on what makes me happy, and part of that means exploring solo for a little bit. I hope you can understand - I promise I’ll be returning!
I’m a little burnt out… okay I’m a lot burnt out and have been for a few months. I went a bit too hard towards the end of this year and I’ve put nearly 200 hours into the latest back of film developing + scanning + editing over the last month alone. Some of which I won’t be ready to release in depth newsletters about until next year - but the images at least be trickling out over my Instagram before then.
So keep an eye out for that in January if you want to see just the photos, and not necessarily read a newsletter full of all the nitty gritty details of how I created them.
Reflecting - My favourite moments from this year
Milk Crates - a gorgeous Black and White film editorial I got to be invited along to with the kickass creative team - Jordan Turner, Elle Farrow and Liliano Artistry.
Self Portraits - I started diving into learning the art of self portraits. I hope to do many more in the new year without it needing to be perfect or a full blown editorial. I do tend to get into my head about it needing to match the quality of work I provide for other people - which has led me to procrastinate many cool concepts for myself!
Mentorship with Lucy Lumen - I found her mentor offering as the perfect time when I was lost, scared and had no fucking idea what to do anymore. There’s still amazing things she shared with me from our session that I’m working away at even today. I’m super thankful for that perspective and for the endless encouragement she gives.
Reconnecting with my roots - It’s been a really tough year with the loss of loved ones, but in amongst the grief I was able to find some really cool inspiration to create art thanks to my Grandfather. I challenged myself to shoot nothing but black and white film for a whole month - and I adored it. I plan on doing it again soon as I have so many rolls of film to use up!
Getting in as Media for Unmarked - my first ever car event! Holy fuck! It was a fun challenge and ultimately sparked my absolute obsession with the car scene. I was terrified to change direction and move into this niche, but this event solidified for me that I can toss myself in the deep end and absolutely thrive
Interlinked - a Car + Owner editorial that set everything else in motion for me as well. This shoot locked in a new style of film photography for me that I was dipping my toes into and since then I’ve had so many incredible opportunities to push using Artificial Lighting even further in my practice. I’m so excited to do many more Car + Owner shoots in 2024.
Ricoh Event - Sparked my love for community and workshops overall. Look, something to know about me is that I’m a slut for workshops and I soak up information like crazy. I absolutely LOVE to learn new things and network with people. I come from a background of being a performing slam poet, and I find those skills aren’t that far off from what is expected of me when working with models within a group setting. This was also the event that has set a lot of cool things in motion for me, and some exciting projects sparked from being able to play with even more insane studio lighting scenarios
Media for the For The Girls Charity Car Event - My second car event for the year, where I had an absolute blast and started playing around with CCD digicam video - that then inspired me to get into Hi8 Cassette videos. Unfortunately my Hi8 Camcorder needs a CLA and Rebuild so that’s all delayed until sometime next year, but I’m really excited to be playing around with that analogue video tech in 2024.
I delivered a gallery with a whopping 157 film photos which took 4+ weeks of hard labor and work during the post processing and I’m utterly in love with how they turned out.She Named You - You Must Be Special - My final Car + Owner editorial for 2023 which is being released early in January. Again the team of Jordan, Mel + Misa, and myself took this one to a whole new level. We played with Gel + RGB Lighting, Direct Flash, mixing ambient light with artificial, pushing film, shooting at night. Basically every potential scenario I could do from Blue Hour onwards, I threw at this shoot - including Cinefilm as well!
I truly cannot wait for you to see more of the end results, it’s arguably one of the best shoots I’ve done all year - and proof that the more you practice your art and style, the better each and every attempt gets!Projector Workshop with Clyde - I got to attend Clyde’s workshop in Sydney and was the only film shooter there. I pushed film massively beyond its limits, and myself too but had a cracking time regardless. It was definitely a tricky lighting scenario for the lenses I chose, but I’m glad the Singlex TLS + 50mm combo pulled through as always. I pushed Ultramax to 1600, and Vision3 500T to 800 which gave some really cool results!
Those photos will be released on my Instagram soon as well. Plus I even got the chance to play with one of the fancy new Sony Mirrorless A7C ii cameras and oh my god, they are SO complicated yet so cool.
Finding myself, again and again - The new series ‘Through My Viewfinder’ has been born from all the rambly “I feel lost :(“ style newsletters I wrote about recovering from grief, trauma, and the struggles of navigating disability, D.I.D, and my spinal injury. I’m so glad that I pushed through and shared even those (frankly cringy) vulnerable newsletters because I ended up at a really really good place where I’m excited to sustain a practice of creating art, purely for myself, and not necessarily as a ‘professional’ level shoot.
Non-Photography related things I’m doing in 2024
Getting Artsy… again
I miss painting and sketching and being that fucking weird girl who hung out of the boot of her car painting random strangers on the street. I’m looking into taking art classes to help me stay consistent and reconnect with my practice.
I also really miss knitting and crochet, and sewing! There’s so many other hobbies I do but Film Developing kind of takes up all of my time. I’m trying to find a better balance next year with it all.Poetry Performances and Writing The Fucking Book
I want to perform poetry again. I love being able to share my work and engage in an energetic community. I haven’t been on stage since 2019 and my bones are craving it now out of the blue. I have so many poems I want to share with an audience.
I’m even considering starting a separate Poetry Substack, perhaps recording videos if I can’t find an in-person slam that I click with.
I’m also taking the suggestion of my mentor and friend Desiree - and that is to just write the fucking book. Carve out time daily to journal. Put in the fucking work. Annotate the shit out of old poetry. Cringe, and cringe again, and rewrite it till it feels good. Just. Keep. Going.
I hope to create at least one chapbook. Ideally I want to create a poetry + photography book. God knows I talked myself out of it this year… not the next. I need to make it happen!Muscle Mommy Mode Reactivated!
In 2020 when I sustained my original spinal injury - I was fucking ripped bro. I mean, I actually had abs, and I had a glorious rounded ass you could bounce a coin off of. I looked DAMN GOOD.
Over time I lost the muscle and while I’m not that much bigger, I’m a little fluffy. I’ve been consistently following my spinal recovery plan - daily yoga, somatic exercises for trauma release, walk when I can, occasional strength training.
I want to kick it up a notch and really truly commit to rebuilding muscle and strength, which means I need to dedicate the first few hours of my morning selfishly to my needs. I’m excited and scared at the same time. I’m a chronic people pleaser so it’s easy for me to push my own needs aside - not anymore.
This needs to happen, and it’ll only help my photography journey and also my mental health and overall disability maintenance. It’ll be nice to attend events and carry heavy gear without assistance and feel a little less useless than I have this year.
Reading Books - not just the smutty kind.
I actually quit a book series last night - I’ve never done that. I was just so sick of the constant slow burn and shit getting dragged out for no reason. I’m culling my current romance collection and diving into more thought provoking books.
Now there’s nothing wrong with a bit of intellectual foreplay, but I kind of miss just normal fantasy books that don’t turn into really weird smooshing of body parts for absolutely no reason in the middle of a battlefield while they roll in mud - you know?
I picked up a book at the recommendation of my poetry teacher - Don’t Read Poetry by Stephanie Burt. I’m also coming back to another book I started but got distracted from - Thriving Through Uncertainty by Tama Kieves.
I’m excited to dive into them and see where they take me.
More Trips - Solo and with Loved Ones
I love roadtrips. I love camping. I love it all. I want to make memories and snap photos and be a dickhead out in the middle of nowhere around a campfire. I want to smoosh balls of ice in my brothers face, and drink a beer with my dad. I want to snuggle up with my loved ones under the stars and pretend we know what the fuck we’re taking about when neither one of us knows the constellations.
I’ve written endless poems about this desire to travel alone or with loved ones in my weekly poetry classes I attend… it’s time to start living them I think!
“Slumber Party With The Intention to be More Vulnerable.” - Written August 1st, 2023 - by Josie Goris
You’ve been formally invited to pile into a cabin in the mountains with me - preferably in winter where there’s a chance we could get snowed in - and settle into an unfamiliar routine.
I’ll make sure there’s spacious bedrooms and separate bathrooms to escape to when things get a bit too much - but collective open areas that encourage a brief moment of communal living.
Let me cook way too much food for everyone while one friend does their makeup with another braiding their hair,
another helping pick an outfit, struggling to pull someone else’s too tight pants up over their thighs,
giggling with delight about getting dressed up for no reason in particular.
Another is painting the scene and mumbling about mixing the right tones of grey for the shadows,
while another is cocking the shutter of a film camera to capture candid's that won’t be revealed for weeks to come,
another is reading erotic romances aloud and asking what others think of the spicy scenes, and if it’s safe to bend over in such a way.
We can talk across the room to each other, endless strings of conversations being woven in, one big unhinged story time.
Let me make coffee and sink into the big u-shaped lounge, legs over legs, leaning on one another,
the joy of platonic affection for the first time.
Can I ask you a question and wipe the coffee off your nose?
When you say yes and let me, that’s the first sign of agreeing to let our guards down.
Tell me about your childhood and I’ll tell you mine,
about how once I jumped on a trampoline so high I thought I could fly,
instead I landed chest down on the cracked concrete and knocked myself out.
As always my dad came to my rescue, scooping my bruised toddler body into his arms and asking me what I thought.
I cry about wanting to feel the wind on my phantom wings,
how I want to fly too close to the sun,
we’ve heard this story about freedom spelled out in various metaphors before.
I want to know about you as deeply as I know about myself,
so let’s keep going.
Tell me about your first kiss - and your last,
hold my hand and guide me into the moment you realize you couldn’t go back to tender innocence,
and the moment you realize you were far too grown too soon.
Show me what your biggest dream is - explain to me why you’re too afraid to try.
Do you think if we got sucked into a black hole right now we’d see each other as long spaghettified noodle humans before being spat out the other side,
or would we just blink and be gone?
Okay and here’s another - If I was a worm, would you place me in a pot of strawberries and let me eat all the grubby dirt around it to make sure you had the juiciest of fruit?
Do you think I’m fruity too - in a good way?
Let’s go clamber into our 4WDs last minute and drive so deep into the surrounding forest we get lost even in this small convoy.
Let’s speak gross jokes over a crackling UHF while crawling deeper into the wilderness.
Teach me how to build the most efficient fire and I’ll tell you the story of how I got burned,
and where these scars adorning my wrists came from too.
Let’s get weird and vulnerable under the stars,
tell each other how much we are in love with life - and one another.
I’m asking you as a friend to hold me close
wipe away my tears, kiss my cheek
let me rest my head on your shoulder,
just for a moment - and then we can pack everything up,
leave this all behind
and go back to the awkward silence and emotional distance
of our everyday lives.
Thank you, so much!
There’s so many more moments - and 22+ jam packed newsletters I’ve sat down and written and shared with you this year.
I’m so incredibly grateful and proud of this little space I have carved out for myself, and thank you immensely for joining me on this fun filled film adventure, even though sometimes it gets a bit wacky.
I’m so excited to see what is in store for 2024, and I’m keen to spend time working on my own thing for a little bit so I can come back recharged, and with some new goodies to share with you in the new year.
Take care of yourself, have a kickass New Year’s celebration, sink a few tins for me, and I’ll see you early next year.
Until the next roll,
Xoxo Josie