Night Frame No. 07 — Winter 2025
Light Trails: Shooting the Night in 35mm

Film No. 07

Light Trails: Shooting the Night in 35mm

Why the grainiest, most imperfect photographs of the night are the ones that keep it alive.

By Ana Beltrán 2025-10-21

Film is slow, expensive, and unforgiving — which is exactly why the night loves it. You cannot check the screen, so you have to trust the moment.

The photographers in this story shoot at 1600 ISO and above, in rooms lit by a single red lamp, and they still get the shot the phones can't: the motion blur of a dance, the honest face between songs.

Digital captures the room. Film captures the mood.

We asked them to show us their worst exposures — the ones that failed beautifully. Those, they argue, are the truest documents of the night.

Night Frame · No. 07