[NSFW] South Korean Style - part I, by Duran Levinson

"I like the look and feel of film, and the whole process is therapeutic and fun for me."

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Duran Levinson, I'm a 28 year old cinematographer and film photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. I have been shooting film for 3 years and my work revolves around street and portrait photography. I work as a freelance filmmaker and am mainly working on set as an on-set visual effects supervisor and assistant. I work between South-Africa and Asia and will be moving to Shanghai, China next year to focus on making music videos, commercials and short-films.

When and how did the film journey begin for you?

I started shooting on film because I found making pictures on digital to be a process that doesn't interest me. Film photography has become my main creative outlet that I am keen on growing and working on. I started shooting because I found that the whole process of making pictures on film appealing to me. I like the look and feel of film, and the whole process is therapeutic and fun for me.

Who are your models? Where do you find them?

The models I shoot are mainly friends of mine, whom I've met through social media, mainly Instagram. Usually before travelling to a new country I will find some people I'd like to shoot, and then contact them. I like to capture non-traditional models in their natural environments in some sort of a unique way.

What cameras and films do you use?

I shoot exclusivly on 35mm. My main cameras are my 2 Contax cameras. I have a G2 rangefinder with a 28mm lens along with my T2, a point and shoot camera with a 38mm fixed lens.
I can pretty much achieve the type of photos I like to make with these 2 cameras and lenses.

I develop films on the road when I'm traveling, usually by finding out from friends where the film scans are in the cities I am in. In Cape Town I develop my film at Orms, which gives me decent resolution Jpeg scans. From there I will get high-resolution scans done on an Imacon, because of the price point I usually only scan my best images, in order to work towards exhibitions and larger scale print work in the near future.

You can find Duran Levinson here:
www.duranlevinson.com,
Instagram.