Flying with film? DO NOT X-RAY — a new travel pouch by Sissi Lu may help.
Sissi Lu, a New York-based photographer, has just launched her DO NOT X-RAY Film Pouch product, available at most camera stores in the US and Canada, and directly from Sissi’s website: sissilu.com.
The pouches are designed to organize your film rolls/packs and communicate with the security agent at an airport where you’d like to have your film hand-checked in 27 languages.
I asked Sissi a few questions about her creation ahead of launch. In turn, she revealed a success story of a well-received product for photographers intending to travel with film.
My first question was about the motivation behind it. Here’s her reply:
“It started from a personal need. I had a long international trip planned at the end of 2023, and it was my first time travelling with only film cameras—110, 135, 120, and Polaroid. I was honestly so stressed about X-ray and CT scanners damaging my unexposed and undeveloped film. To protect them—and to avoid the language barrier at airport security—I printed a simple label in multiple languages asking for a hand check and stuck it on a clear pouch.”
“When I shared a photo of it on my Instagram story, my DM was flooded with people asking where it was from.”
“If you know me, you know I love things that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Inspired by an old Kodak label and tips from Tim Ryugo, I designed my own version. I didn’t expect anything of it, but it’s now become a little side business!”
Flying with film can be tricky since we have to ask busy and sometimes intimidating security agents to do extra work. Many people still don’t know about film and how X-rays can damage it. Sissi’s solution was to print an appealing label that clearly explained in the local language what’s inside and why it can’t go through the scanner:
“Asking for a hand check at airport security can feel overwhelming—for both travellers and agents—so I wanted to make the process as smooth and straightforward as possible.
To my surprise, the pouch and its design were actually really respected by the agents. It made travelling with film feel a lot more ‘official,’ and it took the pressure off having to explain myself at every checkpoint.”
The only way to avoid having film exposed to X-rays is to ask.
Luggage gets X-rayed (some say with greater intensity), and lead-lined pouches you may’ve seen on sale may only cause trouble. Sissi’s design includes multiple languages, which may not always be necessary as many agents around the world will speak English, but it can’t hurt either. I’ve had a few language-caused misunderstandings that led to unwanted X-ray scans of my film stash.
“The original pouch design included just the language of the city I was flying into. But when I decided to introduce this product to a wider market, I asked both my friends and the online film community which countries they travelled to most often with film—and I ended up receiving over 30 different languages and dialects.
To keep the design clean and readable, I had to narrow it down to the seven most frequently mentioned destinations. But I didn’t want to leave any languages out, so I created a bonus travel card that comes with each pouch. It includes translations in 21 additional languages!”
Given the response Sissi received, her simple, well-designed pouch has been a success — at least when it comes to her fans’ desire to have one. Eventually, she got overwhelmed by the number of orders and had Roberts Distribution step in to help.
“I used to make small batches of the pouches in multiple sizes, and I’d love to offer that again. But as this project grew into something bigger, I had to be mindful of what was realistic for a wider launch.”
“Since this pouch started as a personal need and has helped me so much in my own journey, I’m really hoping the pouch will be accessible wherever people need it, and I’m definitely open to expanding stockists based on community feedback and demand.” — Sissi Lu.
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