Film Soup – An Orange Experiment by @brenoot

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When it comes to film soups we always love to see the creative concoctions devised by our community members. This series of vibrant photos by Brazilian Lomographer Breno Otavio, AKA @brenoot, were developed in a soup of orange juice and hot water. Of course we couldn’t resist asking him to talk us through his process.

Credits: brenoot
"This was my second time doing a film soup. In the first one, I was very insecure about the process and what to expect from the result. And this time, I was excited to dive into the process and experiment with my own recipe."
"I spent some time thinking about the elements that could align with the vibe of the film. My expectation was to bring some color to the images, accentuating a warmer tone. So I had the idea of using orange in different forms, its juice and dehydrated slices."

The combination of summery beach shots combined with the color altered and damaged negatives creates a nostalgic effect. The photos look like they could have been taken any time in the last 50 years and recently discovered in an old beach house somewhere.

Credits: brenoot

For anyone wishing to replicate Breno's experiment, here’s his method:

"I used:
The juice of two oranges.
Two slices of dehydrated orange.
About 100ml of very hot water (but not boiling.)
I put it all together and stirred a lot for a minute.
I left it to soak until the next morning (approximately 18 hours.) Then I removed it and left it to dry in the rice for two weeks.
And lastly, I took it to the best lab in the region ( Lab:Lab ) to get developed and scanned. It’s very important to tell them that the film had gone through the soup process, so they don’t have any inconvenience with the chemicals or other film.
One thing that I suggest (and wish I've done), it is to rinse the film after the soup, so it won’t damage the film so much."
Credits: brenoot
I was amazed by the results! The anxiety to see the photos when you do a film soup is even greater, because the level of unpredictability is huge. So when I received the photographs, the biggest surprise I had was to feel that the result was close to what I expected. I think I achieved my goal of coloring and warming the photos. What I didn't expect is that the process would have damaged the film so much, causing some big erasures, but it's part of this experimental process. I kinda like it now!

Film soups are all about high risk and reward. Deliberately damaging your film can seem scary but the results, as shown by these photos, can be amazingly weird and compelling. Citric fruit juices are a great place to start for anyone wanting to try out their own film soups. The acids of these fruits should produce some wonderfully psychedelic effects.


Follow @brenoot to see more of his experimental photography. Have you tried any film soup recipes yourself? What are your favorites? Let us know in the comments!

written by alexgray on 2022-08-25 #culture #places #brazil #summer #experimental #orange-juice #community #film-soup

2 Comments

  1. manu2021
    manu2021 ·

    Lovely pics, tasty soup! Congrats!

  2. brenoot
    brenoot ·

    Thank you Alex and Lomo :))

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