CineStill BwXX, Christopher Nolan's Favorite B&W Roll

CineStill BwXX, Two Cameras, a Double Exposure Accidental Surprise, and A Shot Ansel Adams Would Be Proud Of!

Why Black & White?

I initially chose black and white because I had a plan to meet my friend Kimi for a photo walk and a darkroom session. He works at a lab and offered to teach me how to develop black and white film. In January, we set the date a couple of months ahead, waiting for the weather to warm up, but in the meantime, I ended up teaching myself how to develop film at home. I had already processed a few rolls of color, but hadn’t tried black and white yet. So even though I didn’t develop this one myself, it was still my first step into shooting and seeing the results of B&W.

Say “Hi!” to my friend Kimi!

The film was CineStill BwXX, which I picked without knowing much about it at the time. I just liked the idea of a classic black and white stock. Only later I found out it’s the same film used by Christopher Nolan to shoot the black and white scenes in Oppenheimer. That added a nice layer of curiosity after the fact, unfortunately, not before.