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.
Is a moody, high contrast B&W shot retro? How about one that includes unusual looking people? Lots of reflections? How about a preponderance of night shots?
Yes and no. We imitate so be can learn and then improve upon that which we love and admire. Recreating an Atget effect for certain subject matter makes sense. It was just much harder to create the look of selenium or salt prints in the physical dark room. Using a washed out saturation or an antique sepia can simplify color in some situations where vivid color can be too distracting.
People are imitating and exploring what those effects meant and how they fit into the modern milieu of tools in our digital darkroom. Yes, some people disguise poor composition and/or technique but that’s a glass half empty perspective. Broadening the pallette of the artist is always a good thing.
My Favorite thing to do is put my 24mm manual Nikkor lens on my old D1x.
This combination is fun to shoot with and takes me back in time each time I use it. I sometimes even use a 512 flash card in it so it limits my shots I can take. It seems to re-focus my shooters discipline and hone my creativity. It gets pretty hard to follow kids with a manual but you get your eyesight sharp and your focus hand laser fast. The images themselves have a quality much more like that of film. The camera has limited dynamic range compared to all the newer cameras out there, but the short lens and low aperture make for some great pictures that I find myself not post processing the crap out of. Why do we shoot vintage/old camera setups? The same reason there are hot rods. People enjoy nostalgia, they enjoy being transported to a simpler time in their life or if they are young, experiencing the tools of the trade from a yesteryear and the results of those tools. Sure I can drive my Carrera 4 around town and have Air Conditioning, a bumpin’ stereo and nice soft leather seats. But I enjoy taking my 1930 Ford model A out for a spin on Alki, No top, No heat, No A/C, no Stereo, Loud exhaust, Fenderless, sparse interior. We Burn rubber with Manual focus because its cool shit!
I think there is something beautiful about the imperfect. For some time I’ve found myself getting tired of the “perfect” image. There was so much emphasis put on crystal clear eyes, sharpness etc that it started to become a little boring and sometimes felt not so normal. I don’t see the world around me with crystal clear eyes. I see the world around me and all of its perfections and imperfections as beautiful. A retro photo, in my opinion, makes me feel like I can step right into the image. There is something about it that takes me away and puts a smile on my face. I am a person of balance so retro photo’s give me a nice balance to my photography and is my way to play.
I think we will always have a love affair with things past. It’s like the direction of fashion and it’s an archive of inspiration.
Nothings more fun then poking around vintage shops,photos and book stores!
Back in the day, when a man—or a woman—needed to do a number 2, he or she would clean up with available leaves. There were many types of leaves in the forest, oak, maple, birch, and so on, all of which had distinct characteristics. Many would prefer one leaf over another for its distinct texture, colors, fragrance, use of natural light, or maybe overall sensuality.
Then along came toilet paper. When first introduced, it seemed a godsend to some, but was not really accepted by all. As toilet paper improved, however, fewer and fewer opted to stick with say, sassafras leaves. Yes, there were the usual retro-grouches who would complain that the newfangled stuff was too cold, too modern, not made like it was back in the good old days. Not natural like oak leaves. Like chemical films, TP was man-made. No real man would but caught wiping with that new stuff. The art, the sensuality of the occasional finger through the leaf experience was mostly missing from heartless toilet paper.
But time, and evolution, and most people pay little attention to ol’ gramps warning of the end of the world brought on by today’s young ‘uns.
Not all of the old folks who had actually experienced wiping with leaves back when there was no choice were as nostalgic. They remembered the inefficiency of leaves compared to toilet paper for actually wiping. They remembered grabbing poison oak or poison ivy and the results to them were not quaint little flaws, but a real pain in the ass. Why should we go back to leaves, they wondered, when we can do almost everything we could do with them with toilet paper, and do it better? Toilet paper continued to advance.
Then something happened. A few folks, curious of the old ways, wandered out in the field to do a number 2 the old fashioned way. They discovered and fell in love with the flaws of rotted leaves for butt-wiping. Nostalgia set in, and they became converts to the romance of leaves for wiping.
Wiping butt with leaves now set them apart. In fact, they felt a bit superior in some ways, for they were the true artists of butthole wiping. Dealing with the flaws and the inconsistencies of leaves, and the fact that no two leaves were alike, where as a piece of toilet paper could be produced exactly the same forever made leaf wipers more in touch with nature. An enthusiast paid much more attention to each wipe with a leaf as she couldn’t depend on handy a double-layered role of 500 sheets. Can’t just machine gun away. No. And it can be damned hard to gather leaves in the forest in the winter when you have gotta go.
But still, most people did not give a rats behind about the leaf TP debate. They just wanted to wipe without much thinking about it. They became known as the P&R (Poop and Run) crowd. They were important in the market, but they were not artists of the butt.
The leaf wipers became small niche markets, artists who dabbled in things like dried almond leaves, or the avante garde hipsters who worked with pine cones. Other experimented with cacti as medium.
Alas, time marched on, and the world continued to go all to hell with new inventions which were not as good as the old-fashioned stuff they replaced. Indoor plumbing was developed. This was the beginning of the end for the leaf wipers. Yes, some moved out into the mountains where they could persist in the pursuit of their vision by squatting next to a mound of autumn leaves and wipe away till their hearts and butts were content. Some, who could not go to such extremes, nevertheless tried to pursue their hobby by squatting in the fields. This became increasingly difficult as yesterday’s fields became today’s neighbor’s yard. And ol’ Elmer, who had a real field, did not take kindly to folks pooping amongst the corn and often responded with a blast from his rock salt filled 12 gauge.
Thus ended on of the great periods of human history. All gone due to cold-hearted “progress” of humankind.
Love it. Awesome depiction of the struggle. We’re all just wiping somebody’s butt whether figuratively in this life or as part of a manufactured piece of TP or a leaf that grew from the compost of what was left of our body. 😀