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.
Ha ha… I was merely surfing roughly and took a glance at these reviews. I can’t believe in attendance’s still this much leisure activity. Thanks for posting about this.
It seems that we as humans have been so infected with photoshoped, doctrined images, that we are starting to yearn for something more real. We want to see life exactly as we experience it. Though most of us may not notice it, we want to see images that represent life as it really is. Not glitzy and full of perfection, but raw, ugly, hard, and sometimes unexpectedly beautiful. This is what vintage images can provide for us. It is a way to make a direct window to life. No air brushing or age reversal. The bullshit gets cut out and we are faced with the true outcome of that split second which has been forever saved by our camera.
I like the theory that it’s a response to our times, maybe a symptom of a subconscious yearning. Global recession, difficulties, disasters – analogue and retro is a way of harking back. But it is refreshing, too, in the crisp and clear digital age to see or hear something a bit more…organic. Anyone think we’ll ever get nostalgic for cheap, shitty digital photos, stuff that looks like it was taken on your first camera phone?
I’ve always like old things (so i’m probably not the typical retro user), I love the way things were built properly, they feel heavy and solid. It was made by hand, by someone who knew what they were doing, not by a machine which is doing what it’s told. Modern things can’t compete at a sensible price with old cars, high end hifi, cameras and the list goes on. Yes you can buy something equal or better but for my money I would rather have old and amazing.
In photography I like film because of the mystery of whether you go the shot or not (of if you loaded the film right to begin with). I like negative film as it’s almost impossible to lose the highlights, and slide because it looks amazing through a projector. The fact that they will never be made again adds to the appeal, the fact that I have a 100 year old camera that still works and probably will for the foreseeable future is amazing.
There’s a lot of great posts here. I’ve been pondering this same question for some time (not just in photography but in design as well), here are some of my theories on the return to vintage (re-vintage?)…
– Adds character.
Elevating what would’ve been a simple capture into something that is personalized and artistic. It gets better when you add great composition. If the composition is crappy, it will elevate that capture as well… to a certain extent.
– Boredom.
With basic point and shoot cameras becoming easier to use and more accessible there has been an increase in the amount of standard, unedited looking photographs out there. Same goes for the generic industrial design of most of these cameras. Eager creative types are always looking to stand out from the crowd whether its in their prints or the cameras that they use (even if its unwieldy). I have a heavy Pentax 67 with a wood grip and sometimes I wonder if it had a discount coupon for a gym membership in its original box.
– Cheaper and easier to use tools.
A search for photography apps in the iTunes app store will yield lots of search results for apps that cost less than a 10th of Photoshop and 100 times easier to use.
– Accessibilty.
For the braver souls (and wallets) out there vintage cameras and gear are fairly inexpensive to purchase if you know where to look. A lot of pro studio and wedding photographers have been selling their gear to upgrade to digital or sadly have decided to close up shop. Of course, there is also eBay and the numerous classic camera sellers on there. I managed to find some great cameras using both methods.
– Warm Fuzzy Feelings.
It just feels good to look back. Anyone taking a look at the stack of old photos of their grand parents or parents is guaranteed to get the warm and fuzzies. There’s a certain feel to old photos, or anything old and analog really, that feels comforting and authentic. Even though your relatives may not be in the photos, the look is there and may trigger those same feelings.
For example vinyl vs mp3s, there’s a warmth and fullness to the sounds of vinyl vs mp3s. Furthermore, there is a process to playing my vinyl and a tactile feel to it that cannot be replicated by my iPod (not even by the “classic” ones with the click wheel). This process probably feeds into those feelings too Same goes for photography, the vintage look gives us those same feelings visually. Now take that to the next level, try using a vintage camera and you spread those feeling to your other senses… the sound of the shutter on a medium format film camera and feeling the vibrations from the mirror “slap”… the old camera smell from the leather bellows and case on an old Voigtlander Bessa camera (can’t forget those darkroom “smells” either)… getting cut from handling film or photo paper… ummm, that last one not so great.
– A Fad?
The return to vintage may just be a reply to the clean and technical design that was popular a few years ago. I work in the web and graphic design field and have noticed a lot of co-opting of nostalgia in either the personal work of my peers or on projects for small businesses. The clean and technical look is still alive and well with the corporate set although I have been seeing a few reaching back into the archives for inspiration (car companies). Everything goes in cycles, as fun as this vintage phase is, I’m excited about what new things will come out from all these tools and experimentations in vintage.
Thanks for making it this far into my post… I did warn ya that I have been pondering this for some time! lol 😀