© George Muncey | Port Talbot
Why do people still use analogue photography?
George Muncey
Analogue photography as a therapeutic slow-down of time
Words by
Artdoc
Since this year, film photography has become more popular than last year, more camera rolls are being bought. Second-hand camera shops selling film cameras like hotcakes. The younger generation, millennials, in particular, are the most attracted to analogue photography. On Instagram, the hashtags #filmphotography has over 23 million posts and #filmisnotdead 16 million posts. Why do people come back to analogue photography in this digital area?
Among film photography, there are many young famous photographers like Willem Verbeeck, Matt Day, George Muncey, Niklas Porter and Elsa Bleda. Niklas Porter (1990, Sweden) says he continues to work in the tradition and develops his negatives and silver gelatine prints in his darkroom. (Porter, sd)[1] People in their twenties who have only encountered fast technology in their youth missed the tactile experience. They want to have something real, and that requires an elaborate process. Analogue photography replaced speed by patience and a deep breath. The Belgian film photographer Willem Verbeeck who has moved to New York, is widely viewed on Youtube. He photographs a lot for hip hop artists and magazines. He also creates his own "photography zines" as small portfolios of his analogue work. Willem Verbeeck says in his YouTube video A Day of Developing and Scanning Film at Home: "For me developing is a nice part of the process, I missed the tactility and the satisfaction of going out photographing and coming back and developing and scanning the images." (Verbeeck, 2020).
George Muncey explains in his article Why I shoot film? on the website Medium, why he prefers analogue photography: "There's just something about the whole process and workflow which is slightly magical. Being constrained to a set amounts of frames to capture the desired result, and knowing that you're paying for each shot makes you think twice before you take that picture." (Muncey, 2015) Most millennials have not experienced analogue time, and they want a moment of reflection. Today in the digital era, everything looks smooth and fast, but young people want more than that.
Character of film
What is the beauty of film photography? Is it the warmer tones? Is it the grain in the image or the deeper contrasts? The process sometimes seems more important to the young analogue photographer than the results, but at the same time, it doesn't. George Muncey tried to simulate the character of the film in his digital faze at the beginning of his photography passion. He says in Medium: "Being 19 I've never actually lived in the era before digital. I found myself always editing my digital images to look more like film. So, with my first student loan, I decided to take the plunge and pick up my first film camera and start using the real deal. Since then, I've pretty much ditched digital and bought more film cameras than I can count." (Muncey, 2015)
As young people turn to film photography, the older generation switches to digital photography. Like the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado who, after years of working in analogue, now adds digital layers of grain to his digital work.
Psychological Reaction
The growing popularity of analogue photography almost seems like a psychological response to the accelerated society. In this technological society, where everything has to be rushed and perfect, people need a break from bright screens. And photographers literary need to slow down time. People are looking for a world with less noise. The less, the better; this applies to the photo artist Jeff Cowen who says: "Serene attention to simple things."
Film photography has a therapeutic effect in the digital age. Analogue photography creates the thoughts of the Japanese term Wabi-Sabi that invites to slow down and opens space where imperfection is accepted. "All beauty must fade, and everything passes. I think this kind of truth infiltrates every human experience – knowing that everything will pass, will decay," says Jeff Cowen in the book Photoworks. (Berg, 2016)
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Chemicals
You can take photos with your phone and share on social media. You can see what you are doing on your screen and edit your images. In film photography, you can only look through the viewfinder. The result is either a surprise or a failure. Then you can think of the idea of imperfection of Wabi-Sabi. Analogue photography has many benefits and many cons at the same time. Although the development process for the new generation is a magical activity, development remains a long process that requires a lot. If you work digitally, you just buy a camera, and you shoot infinitely, while for analogue photography you always have to buy rolls, chemicals, fixation and a lot of tools. The chemicals are toxic and bad for the environment. Hopefully, some fabric will invent a botanic developer and fixer that would not harm the environment.
Authenticity
It is expected that film photography will become more and more popular over the years. It is good that young people take the time to slow down while shooting. Their images radiate authenticity, which you can experience as a viewer. You can sense that these images have been through a long process. Due to the low edition of the photo, the value of the photographer's work increases in price. The warm tones and the imperfection of the grain make you look at the image longer, giving the photo a more personal touch. The technique of film photography makes you think as if you are looking at your grandparents' photo books. Film Photography gives a nostalgic and warm feeling, creating the effect that the viewer takes the time to look more attentively. In our harsh and rapid changing society, we need artists who are aware of the environment around us and who take the time to observe and photograph it in the slow pace of the old techniques.
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