Artist Spotlight: James Huffstutler

“I am a photographer living in Winter Haven, FL. I mainly shoot on film, with most of my work being in black and white. I do, however, enjoy dabbling in different formats and styles and am always looking for something new to try. I also run Central Florida Photo Club, planning meetups and events throughout the central Florida area.”

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Taking a photograph on film and then developing it requires an intense degree of technical and mental involvement. Most 35mm film canisters only include 36 exposures, so, already, there’s an immovable finiteness at hand. Even if you manage to get the image right, there’s multiple resources to gather and specific chemical processes to follow if you want to recover it in any form. One could argue it’s a form of alchemy. After all, is there really all that much of a difference between eye-of-newt and a Phenidone-based developing agent? (That’s rhetorical. Please don’t hex me.)

It may be because of the strict rules imposed on the film developing process, but I often find film photographers (myself included) seeking out chaos and chaotic scenes. Aggressive colors bludgeon the film and high-contrast light gets forced into an abstract composition. It’s undeniably fun work to create, but in hindsight, it can feel like scribbling in the margins.

I wanted to feature James because of his ability to manifest a sense of order, even peace, into his images. Clear lines and thoughtful subject placement makes his work easy to relate to without feeling derivative. There’s a lot of ways to photograph a theme park, especially the big one here in Florida, but his image below is one of the first I’ve seen that does not rely on crowds, ears, or “magic” to create something compelling.

Responses to the questions below have been provided by James. Enjoy.

How are you feeling today?

Where are you from?

What is your favorite color?

What do you do (or where do you go) to relax?

What scares you?

What does the future hold?

What matters the most?

Provide some bad advice.

Thank you for your time.

Follow James on Instagram @allingrain. If you’re local to central Florida, check out the Central Florida Photo Club for meetups, merch, and news.

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