Hey all, Erik here with a quick guest post about a subject that’s raised a lively debate in our studio. Everyone on our crew has long been shooting with Polaroids, rangefinders, micro 4/3 cameras adapted to accept vintage lenses…even processing digital images to look like they came out of an old dusty camera. Surveying the landscape, it’s clear this tide has been rising for a while now and we’re not the only ones attached to this stuff. So the question I present to you is this:
Why is retro or faux-retro photography so popular these days?
Why, when we have such capable and inexpensive cameras at our disposal, are we reverting to old technology and old aesthetics? Is it pure nostalgia? Is it a palette cleanser from the ease and accuracy of said capable and inexpensive cameras? Is it a passing trend? We have opinions–especially Chase does as you might expect–but we’d like to hear from you.
There are few reasons I feel its “popular” these days among photographers
1. Some people hate change and have a hard time letting go of the past…we all know a few people around us who are very nostalgic and seem stuck years behind than normal
2. Personal preference. The same way some people will never post any image without postprocessing it in some insane HDR software is the same reason some people will never leave a photo looking “modern” and will do anything to give it that vintage feel. I’ve seen some photographers dub it as a “style”
3. Copycats. Some people see someone doing it and think “Oh, this must be cool” and they jump in, head first, and the rest is history…
Whatever floats ur boat…lets all keep making photographs 🙂
Actually, I think people have always been interested in the “retro look”.
The difference between now and before is that it’s much easier to achieve now.
In my case, I’ve been shooting with Super 8 film for years to achieve a “retro look” in my videos, and it was always well received, but it takes time to develop the film and converted it to video, not to speak of the extra expense.
Now, all you need is an iPhone and an app for $2!
I think in every creative field there’s a ‘pendulum’ that always goes the opposite direction of what the norm seems to be at the time. Over produced music led to the acceptance of ‘lo fi’ sounding albums. Over produced photos led to pseudo vintage and less than perfect imagery popping up. Sooner than later it will become tired and the pendulum will swing back the opposite way.
A flock of sheep always seem to run the same direction until one of them decides to dart the other way, and the rest always seem to follow!
I think it’s mainly to do with instant likability and wishing we had been born in 1956 rather that 80… Polaroids always have people ooing and aaahing no matter what the subject is as do images that look like they were shot in the seventies on dodgy film. I know that if I want to make a mediocre pic have more impact i can bang on a retro film filter, sprinkle with dust and scratches and violà there it is, the plebs love it. Flickr goes mad…
The photographer generally being and ego on two legs loves people saying how cool the pics look and delves even more deeply into the retro look, light leeks, fogged film… the works.
As for the vintage gear, apart from it being truly beautiful, it’s also a statement…. “I know my s**t. I can develop rolls of film in my bathroom with chemicals like a modern day alchemist”, ” I don’t need a screen to preview my work because I know that I’m hot”… and if it doesn’t look fantastic I don’t care… I can burn another roll of film cause I’m rich bitch! ” heh heh
To add to that – I predict a “hi tech” backlash shortly. I think commercially you will still see the same old but with more and more people picking up cameras (and not lighting gear) I think that style will deminish.
Anywhere you look now people are posting their set ups, gear reviews, etc. The information is literally at your fingertips.
I think we can already see photographers lessening their gear and getting more mobile. Excellent results can be attained with just a speedlight, good ambient and some thoughtful poses.
Sorry for the rant – the point of this is that when things reach a fever pitch, (tuts, websites,etc) there tends to be a fall off as quick as the ascent. Retro looks/cameras may be the beginning?
I fully agree, there will likely be a digital backlash and hopefully the styles will collide in a creation different styles for something new rather than opposite or divisiveness. Humans are the only things that have the capability to create order from chaos — but only if they choose to do so.