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.
I adore older, to me, things in many aspects. I watch a lot of older movies & read older books over new releases. I have a yearning to leave the USA & travel to – maybe even live in – Europe with all its history and culture. I keep snapshots from my husband and my childhoods on our fridge. And I adore film so much over digital.
Digital is neat, I really appreciate it. But like so many things in our world it just moves so fast and I feel disconnected when I use it. We so often get instant gratification with fast food, fad diets, online social networking, emails, etc. From my experience and what I see going on around me all these things seem to be separating us from awareness in our humanity. So for me film keeps me connected to the actual world around me. I use a Polaroid finish on my phone camera, because it reminds me to stay grounded to the actual world vs. the tech/cyber world. I really want to delete Facebook and Twitter now. Too bad most the people I know wouldn’t know how to stay in contact anymore if that mode was gone… I’m digressing.
One of my friends just told me I like film and old things because I like things that are dead.
Could be.
I embraced the power and convenience of digital when DSLRs became so cheap and gave consistent good results, but then I realized it was just *too* easy and *too* clean. I admire a lot of photographers who shoot digital and can always appreciate a well composed and naturalistic digital photo, but for my work digital images seem like throwaway images. I always think, “Man, I wish I would have got this on film.”
I work almost exclusively on film, because I like the process. I think about the shot more and I don’t have to check whether or not I “got the shot” when I shoot film. It just works better for me. And no DSLR matches my Hasselblad and a roll of slide film. 🙂
Film is not a fad for me. Film is photography.
Same for me. My personal projects tend to be done on film. Although when it comes to earning a buck, digital is tough to beat.
I think there is a general trend towards appreciating long-process, old-time techniques in art and life in general.
Note the popularity of Etsy, artisanal crafts, organic food, home cooked meals, etc…
Do you prefer instant coffee or coffee so fresh you can smell the earth it was grown on? Freshly squeezed juice or canned concentrate? Not only is about quality but it’s about process.
Sure, digital is convenient and serves a purpose, and if you love it, great!
I for one, prefer the tangible, soulful quality of film. From the initial loading of the camera to picking my print out of the wash and turning the lights back on…I’ll save my computer for email and internet surfing- my art is done with my hands.
Jason
@iheartfilmphoto
I’ll put it this way, “Augmented-Reality”. For many of my client’s photography has become a means of communication vs. emotional documentation. The retro trend seems to overcome the photo-realistic communication of photography by adding emotion, uniqueness and personality back into the art of photography.
It’s a cheap trick. It’s a way to convey an emotion in a photograph without having to actually do the work of putting any real emotion in the image.
“Wow, this photo makes me think of a hazy summer day!” No kidding — I just sucked the contrast out of it and slapped some orange tinting on the top.
This, too, shall pass.