Is Film Photography Dead? - Future of Film Photography

_{Photo by @ameliabartlett}

What is the future of film? as I dive back into the work of film photography and @ameliabartlett newly discovers the twist on an artform we’ve both felt so comfortable with. It’s sparked many conversations about, longevity of analog, cameras - new and vintage, and the industry as a whole. While we are inspired by the subject, others almost seem to frown upon the idea of loading or developing film, others cherish it like their favorite vinyl record.

What’s the current state of film photography?

In a world where our smartphones are equipped with better cameras than our parents ever had - why bother with film? After all Instagram or VSCO can replicate just about any popular film down to the grain, in an instant. I’ve written as to why I choose film, but as for the rest of the world country... who knows? I’d like to think that people are realizing not everything online is our favor. And our entire lives dont need to be entirely online. I’m sure you’d get all sorts of answer depending on who you asked.

There seems to be a real pulse in analog photography world. It’s very much alive. A handful of great companies and projects keeping things going. A few years ago, all I’d see #Filmisnotdead #keepfilmalive or others (some of which I’ve been caught using). Now, after Kodak, Impossible Film, CineStill, Polaroid, Lomography, and other company/projects have made some serious leaps. I’d say those hashtags are not the case anymore.

Film is available so what’s the big deal?

So if the availability of film and developing materials is kept around purely by passion driven companies like those mentioned above then we have no problem – right? Those interested, can just develop their films by themselves or at the local darkroom in ~10 years. Well, if you agree, then you are what I call a core member of the analog scene. In my opinion there are four major groups of the film photographers that exists today... Hoarders, Gear-heads, Nostalgists, and Newcomers.



_{Photo from Mario Calvin on Unsplash}

The Hoarder

By default the Hoarder is a white male in his sixties. He’s combed over, smells like formaldehyde and mothballs. Just kidding. But, He does have a collection of cameras that he has accumulated during his life. They couldn’t help themselves when prices plummeted as the industry made the swing to digital. Obviously the Hoarder doesn’t actually use his cameras and they gather dust and decay slowly into a state where CLA (Cleaning, Lubrication, and Adjustment) is needed.



_{Photo from Ramiro Mendez on Unsplash}

The Gear-head

I imagine a 37year-old male engineer, the Gear-head is someone who loves to mount analog shit on his digital camera. He has used film when he was young and / or dreamed that it would be nice to just shoot film and not worry about Lightroom or Photoshop. He loves the quality of gear almost more than the end result it produces. However he hasn’t ventured back into the analog world in a way where he would consume more than 2-3 rolls of film a year.



_{Photo from John Moases Bauan on Unsplash}

The Nostalgists

Not as strongly defined by age or gender, the Nostalgist is more of a philosophical group. The Nostagist believes in film as a concept – an age old analog way to preserve time and emotion through the centuries without the worry of becoming unreadable data. They use a lot of film, developers and photographic paper. However, as for camera gear - it’s either way too complicated or is just a means to an end for them, which usually makes them bad at helping Newcomers get an easy entry into using a camera without automation.



_{Photo from Mitchell Hollander on Unsplash}

The Newcomer

Ok...I’m just going to say it - Newcomers are more concerned about having their shots on social media than as prints. They want good quality scans and are willing to send their film to another country if the lab has the right amount of Instagram followers. The Newcomers love Canon AE-1’s 🙃 with Portra 400 loaded into them. They shoot a lot of film when they find a good working camera and a good lab to service them, as they are still not ready to do developing themselves – especially for color pictures...The three previous groups may not understand the ways of the Newcomers, but there is a lovely aesthetic philosophy in their photography – they just do things differently than the previous generation.

Of course these groups are variable and someone can be 70% of a Gear-head with 20% of an Nostalgist and 10% of a New-comer. From what I’ve experienced as of late, I’d say the core analog scene seems to be half Gear-heads and half Nostalgists at heart – that’s why they tend to have a growing, almost unhealthy desire to shoot larger formats.

As a side note I would be very interested to learn how different cultures around the world fit into one (or more) of these groups.

This post turned out a bit more lengthy than originally intended. Please stay tuned for part 2’s discussion of Whats next? Solving the future problems Of film photography.

Whether you’re already on the analog photography journey or have never touched the stuff, what category would you fall into?

Hey, my name is Tang. 👋

Most people know me for being a bus dweller - I converted a school bus into a custom RV, but I’m also a film photographer, dreadlocked Legolas, and a dad to a dog named Hobo. Right now, I'm experimenting with vintage cameras and expired film, learning how to mountain bike, and sharing my adventures along the way.

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