‘Your First and Last Camera Store’ is a Short Film About Portland’s Beloved Blue Moon

In 2001, Jake Shivery opened Blue Moon Camera and Machine in Portland’s St. John’s neighborhood. At the time, there were 11 other camera stores across the city, but Shivery decided to open a shop anyway. On December 1, he opened the doors — and no one came.

“One of my former mentors had come up to help and he called The Oregonian and pitched the story and they came here and did a little write up of what we were doing. I came to work on Christmas Eve very depressed because we hadn’t gained any traction at all,” Shivery says. “As I turned the corner there was a crowd of people standing at the front door because they had read the article that had come out in the Christmas Eve newspaper. And then we got busy. And we haven’t stopped being busy.”

Blue Moon Camera and Machine has become a Portland institution for fans of photography, film, and art. Those words from Shivery were captured by local filmmaker Mike Marchlewski, who directed the short film, “Blue Moon – Your First and Last Camera Store,” above. The 15 minute short was produced entirely on 16mm motion picture film (with generous support by Kodak) which, if you know anything about Blue Moon, is incredibly apt.

What makes Blue Moon special isn’t that it’s in Portland, or that it offers a mix used cameras, new film, development and print services, or that it is a cornerstone of visual arts in St. Johns. It’s not even its International Camera Museum — it’s all those things, all at once, equally.

“At Blue Moon Camera and Machine, we seek to offer nothing less than the full restoration of your tactile sensibilities. Analog is more than tech, it is technique. It is a commitment to a lifestyle of rigor over ease, a deep connection to your craft and a knowledge of your process,” Blue Moon writes in its manifesto.

“We do what we do because we believe that analog is the antidote to the often overlooked compromises of an ever-automated world. A resuscitation from automation back into something more tangible; let your lungs swell as you inhale deep. We resist the growing separation between the maker and the tools, the lit fuse of planned obsolescence, and the homogeny of practice.”

Blue Moon’s love for the art of photography is palpable in everything it does, from its support for its staff and local artists through annual shows, to the love for each film stock it shows in its weekly Film Friday stories, to its staff’s visible love of what they do when you visit.

“What Blue Moon is is a collective of people who have all decided we’re going to pull on this rope at the same time in the same direction. Not to be sappy, but it is that is special in that there are just aren’t shops like this,” Arthur Ruckle, a Blue Moon salesperson, says in the film.

“We’re the ‘nobody’ in the phrase ‘nobody does that anymore.’ Nobody wears ties to work anymore. Nobody shoots film. Nobody answers the phone when it rings. Nobody gets that back to you the same day. And it’s something that I knew before I worked here that this is Jake’s way of doing business. It’s a special place for me to be, because it’s not a lot of places.”

Being great at developing film — any and all film — certainly helps, though.

“We can develop just about any type of film. We can develop Kodakchrome. We can develop modern film. We can develop stuff from 60 years ago. We can do anything,” David Malenborg, another Blue Moon sales staffer, says. “If we don’t have a chemical process for it, we’ll make one up and we’ll make it work. And we get results out of film that nobody ever thought they would see again.”

Photographers who love the art photography and who also love people who share that love will greatly appreciate Your First and Last Camera Store. It’s a film made not just for fans of Blue Moon, but for fans of photography.

Authors Note: Blue Moon is awesome. I get my film developed there, everything from HP5 to Velvia 50. Everything always comes out gorgeous. This place is great, and if you’re ever in Portland, you should swing by.

Image credits: Mike Marchlewski and Blue Moon Camera and Machine