The Film Safe Presents: Alex Costa
We sent film to our friend, Alex Costa, to document his recent adventure across La Cerdaña, a stunning mountain region stretching across the Spanish/French border. Alex is a film enthusiast, marketing expert and a self-professed adventurer, choosing motorbikes as his mode of transport for incredible journeys across South America, Vietnam and the Middle-Eastern Pamir Mountains. We absolutely loved the shots from this trip, including horse-back travel, motocross and Land Rovers in the snow.
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Check out the images and highlights from the interview below!
"It’s the aesthetics for me, the colours that you get with film can’t be replicated with a digital camera. To me, film makes photos come alive, which ultimately translates into better storytelling..."
Alex Speaking on Motorbike travel...
"I feel when I do these big adventures, buying a motorcycle somewhere remote and just travelling around like a local. These trips can be quite challenging, sometimes it’s the weather or altitude, other times it’s paperwork, bureaucracy and corruption… Documenting all these trips is my way of telling my stories, I’m not a great writer so I let my photos tell my stories."
"To me there’s not a better lunch than arriving at some remote village and having lunch at someone’s house while we have a chat about what its like living there, what they enjoy and what they’d like to achieve someday. There’s also no timetable when you travel by motorcycle, you don’t need to hurry to catch a bus, you can take all the time that you want, for example waiting for the perfect light."
"...since I hopped on the film train, I never really looked back."
Some quick-fire questions…
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What is your favourite film camera?
Canon A1
What is your favourite film stock to shoot?
Kodak Gold 200
Have you got a favourite photo that you have taken?
Yes, my cousin standing with his motorcycle underneath the Ak Baital Pass, at 4.655m of altitude in the Pamirs (Tajikistan)
What has been your favourite travel trip or memory?
Raja Ampat, most beautiful place I’ve ever been.
Where is your favourite location to shoot?
From the seat of my motorcycle.
If you could own any camera, what would it be?
Pentax 6 x 7 or a Contax G2