Meet Zachary Bielinski

Film Photography in Japan

By ProDPI

April 6^th, 2023

Zachary Bielinski’s passion for photography started in high school when he received a point-and-shoot camera from his grandpa to take with him on a Yellowstone backpacking trip. During college, he enrolled in a black-and-white film photography class that started his love for working in the darkroom and built off of his passion for 20th-century historical photojournalism. Throughout college, he continued to pursue his passion for documentary photography.

Bielinski graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2016 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Professional Journalism and a minor in art with a focus in black-and-white film photography.

“I consider myself to be a documentary photographer and seek to capture all of the complex aspects of humanity.”

Documenting Japan

Following graduation, Zachary took a job in logistics and moved to Japan, where he lived for three years. Here his photography hit a high point. He photographed in Tokyo and spent significant time documenting festivals and local events in the southern Japanese island of Okinawa and Taiwan.

In December 2019, he departed for a 30-day trip from Taiwan to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Traveling light, Bielinski took only a backpack, notebook, two 35mm cameras, and 60 rolls of black and white film.

Setting out to document the region, he was interested in recording the profound change since the end of the American Vietnam war. One of his goals was to contrast existing day-to-day life to the images of war that exist in the minds of the American psyche, and another was to document other foreign influences shaping the nations today.

Self-Developed

Using a simple camera, Bielinski feels more connected to the moments unfolding before him and is forced to be more selective with his captured images. Beginning in 2014, he has been developing his black-and-white film. He estimates that he has shot and developed roughly 650 to 700 rolls, often using a laundry room, bathroom, or kitchen as a developing workshop.

Printing His Work

Zachary chooses to print with ProDPI because of the quality of craftsmanship and close attention to detail. He loves our Layflat Books for the seamless display of his photography and our Fine Art Prints.