Artist Spotlight: Derrick Buckner

TL;DR

Introduction

Derrick Buckner is a Tampa-area film photographer committed to the full analog process. Working primarily in medium format, he develops and scans his own negatives, then carries the decisions made in the field and darkroom through to the final print.

His photographs move between the layered streets of Ybor City, abandoned edges of Tampa's urban landscape, close macro studies, and the night sky above Florida. Across those subjects, he looks for a shift in perspective: a texture, shape, color, or overlooked detail that changes how a familiar place is seen.

Planning for the Unplanned

Derrick is an engineer by training and a project planner by profession, so preparation is built into his photographic thinking. Before a shoot, he considers the subject, film stock, camera, development, and intended print. In black-and-white photography, many of the final image's possibilities are shaped before the roll is loaded.

That planning does not eliminate spontaneity. Derrick keeps a camera with him because the world rarely waits for a scheduled shoot. Awareness and preparation support each other. A planned process makes it easier to recognize and respond when an unplanned frame appears.

Swampy Marsh

Swampy Marsh is Derrick's most meaningful photograph. He made it with his first 6x6 medium-format camera, a Bronica EC-TL II. His father was also a photographer and owned the same model, giving the camera a direct connection to family history and to Derrick's eventual move toward the Hasselblad 500C.

The location carries equal weight. Derrick photographed the scene at Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Florida, in an area later destroyed by Hurricane Milton. The landscape no longer exists in the same form, so the image has become a record of a place that cannot be revisited.

It also marked a technical breakthrough. After months of practice, Derrick used a handheld light meter and achieved the exposure he wanted. Camera, place, memory, and craft converged in a single frame.

Selected Work

Documenting What Is Disappearing

Derrick's ongoing projects examine places and experiences that are becoming harder to find. One series documents Florida flea markets and the distinct communities that gather around them. Another, Sentinels of What Was, follows surviving photo booths as monuments to an everyday ritual that has nearly vanished.

His series Convergence looks for unexpected intersections among people, architecture, and nature. He also publishes The Analog Process on Substack and releases limited-edition zines through D. Buckner Photography, including Pure Analog Vol. 2, made with a Hasselblad 500C and the 6x6 square format.

Printing with The Stackhouse

For Derrick, a print is not merely a reproduction of a screen image. Knowing that a photograph will become a physical object changes the way he exposes, develops, and edits a negative. By developing his own black-and-white film, he keeps creative control across the process and can make choices with the final print already in mind.

He prints almost entirely on Fine Art Baryta. The paper supports the tonal range and physical presence he wants from film photography. In his view, print quality also shapes how a collector understands the work: the object has to carry the discipline that went into making the image.

Artists planning a print release can explore Giclée fine art prints or compare paper options with a free media sample set.

Find Derrick Buckner

Explore Derrick's photographs, writing, and zines at D. Buckner Photography, or follow him on Instagram.

Print Your Work with The Stackhouse