Hey, we’re Hope and Jack, Co-Founders of The Film Safe! 

 

We’re a home-grown developing lab based in Southampton, and we wanted to take the opportunity to introduce ourselves to all you film photographers out there! We love photography, specifically portraiture and travel,  and have around 7 years of experience in the field. One of us even has a degree in photography (that's Hope!). 

 

We know many of you, experienced or novice film photographers, are starting to shoot film more and more these days, with seemingly shrinking options for where to get your photos developed - especially as Boots and Snappy Snaps labs drop away by the day! 

 

So, we wanted to provide an easy, friendly, and expert mail-order option to get your film developed. We love the sentimental and artistic value that film photography holds over all other mediums, and we would count ourselves lucky if you chose to trust us with developing your photos. Plus, with our trusty Dachshund Daisie keeping us in check and sniffing out any imperfections you can be assured your photos will be in safe hands! 

 

 

We’ll let you in on a secret - The Film Safe didn’t start as a development lab. But we always planned to get here eventually! 

 

Graduating in 2018 with a first-class degree in Photography, I (Hope) spent three years shooting film of all mediums, and using the extensive (and thankfully,   free to use) labs of Falmouth University. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to learn all about darkroom developing and all the quirks of film processing which will allow us to ensure each roll of film is cared for and developed exactly how it should be!

 

Whilst I was doing all of this, my partner Jack spent most of his time growing his passion for photography, and getting to grips with both digital and film photography whilst traveling around anywhere he could afford a plane ticket (not so hardworking!) 

 

Fast forward through the years, in which both of us had had the opportunity to hone our creative skills in our respective careers (from marketing rolled ice cream in London to launching a worldwide equestrian business on the south coast), and we find ourselves in early 2020, launching The Film Safe. 

 

We initially launched The Film Safe simply as a service to help people scan and preserve their old film negatives, home movies and family memories after a close friend of ours asked us to digitise their archive of rally driving photos (a whole career’s worth of photos!). We loved being able to help people with bringing their photos back to life and to relive moments that had been buried in the loft years ago.

 

But we were really dreaming of growing into an independent developing lab. Our goal was to save up enough money to buy an automated processor, and after a couple months of hard work, we had saved up just enough to do so. We wanted to bring something that would contribute positively to the film community that is growing and thriving right now!

 

Having bought ourselves a consistent and reliable JOBO ATL 1500, set up our homegrown lab and refreshed our developing skills (or in Jack's case, learning them), we're ready to welcome your awesome photos and art into our lab to be developed!

 

We’re so looking forward to getting to know you as our little lab grows, and we hope that many projects, ideas, and events grow from our community as the world moves forward into 2021 and beyond.

 

But for now, we just wanted to say hi from the two of us at The Film Safe. 

 

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Hope & Jack