Why film photographers tend to shoot old things?
As it is regularly and somewhat lightheartedly pointed out, film photographers are often known to shoot vintage oriented subject matters, such as old cars, abandoned buildings and other rustic settings. Even though this sentiment is usually just a whimsical side-remark on a film photography related YouTube video, I thought, whilst experiencing a really boring Saturday morning, to write about it rather seriously.
More than just a trend?
Some subject matters, such as old cars, abandoned petrol stations and vintage neon signs, will of course just get trendy from time to time and get replicated for that reason as well, but I think there might be something else going on as well. So why are film photographers drawn to old and timeless things? I have one hypothesis. This one is going to be hard to explain, but let me try.
I actually think that this question is often looked at the wrong way around. Film photographers may be drawn to old things to begin with and instinctively come to the conclusion that film is the most fitting medium for their world view.
Old souls are drawn to old things
I’m someone who could be described as an old soul, which is why I’m naturally drawn to things of the past. Often times, I feel very disconnected with the ever changing world with it’s rapidly evolving technology, that I don’t always feel a part of. I look for things that evokes a sense of belonging — things that feel like they belong to my world. It dictates where I tend to point my camera to and what kind of imagery I’m hoping to produce.
The recording medium should, of course, support the subject matter. It should aim to tell the same story. Otherwise there would be a visual dissonance and the imagery wouldn’t make complete sense. The logical instrument for this kind of visual expression therefore is a film camera. So, I don’t (firstly) buy a film camera and then (secondly) start to look for old things, but the other way around; I look for the old things and choose a tool that can deliver the desired visuals. I think this sentiment is something that many film photographers share.
Digitalisation vs analogisation
We still have the brains of a caveman, yet we have god-like technology at our disposal, which we are clearly not yet ready for. Digitalisation came too quickly and too soon for us to adjust for, and while we are still trying to get our heads around all this technological advancement, many of us want to keep the other leg still in the past.
As a counter movement to digitalisation, it also gave birth to something I like call analogisation. That’s where film photography also came into the picture. Is it any wonder that we are once again obsessed with technology that many considered outdated and obsolete just a while back? Now that everything is digital, hackable and soulless, we came to understand the importance of the physical media; vinyl records, typewriters, cassette tapes, film cameras, film photos, books and even something like DVD’s. All these things has made a comeback in the recent years. They are equivalent of a real human touch, something that you can actually feel on your finger tips and on your skin, which is something that digital media cannot provide. No matter how many Tinder profiles you see, they are no match for a real touch and eye contact. Okay that’s a bit off-topic, but I’m just trying to paint a picture here.
At this point it is only relevant to mention generative AI. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more fake and meaningless, artificial intelligence came along and drowned us into this echo chamber of visual garbage. I’m sure there are plenty of upsides to AI as well, but from an art lover’s point of view, it has made me cling to traditional media even more. Honestly, 95% of all AI that I see is total crap. I’m open to AI, but the way it is generally being used, is really disappointing to say the least. It shouldn’t come as a surprise though. So here we have this amazing technology and of course it immediately gets overused for some pointless crap, leaving it’s inventors rolling on their graves.
Of course the upside to the rise of generative AI is that it now places much demand on so called real art. I don’t believe that it will overthrow traditional artists, because I believe that there’s always going to be demand for good taste and a keen eye. Artists are naturally concerned by being replaced by AI, but the democratisation of smartphone photography didn’t make us all Cartier-Bressons either, because the fact is that most of us are not photographers even though we all have a camera in our phones now. There is still a separation between real photographers and people who just happen to have a camera.
Comparing musical and pictoral expression
But back to the topic… as a final note, I’d like to draw a quick comparison between musical and pictorial expression.
I’d imagine that musicians are into the kind of music that they want to play and then choose their instruments accordingly. When they record their music, the production style is chosen to fit the kind of music in question, not the other way around.
If the musician is into 1920’s jazz, I’d imagine that preferring acoustic vintage instruments would make sense, because they would enable the musician to encapsulate the desired sound and atmosphere. When recorded, if there’s any emphasis of capturing the 1920’s mood, the production style would perhaps also favour equipment from the past and traditional studio techniques. At least that’s how I’d perhaps see it, if I’d be a musician. The art and the vision, whether it is music or photography, comes first and the style of execution, technique and equipment are more or less dictated by them, being somewhat secondary.
So then, when trying to capture the look and feel of old photographs, it makes only sense to choose the equipment accordingly. Maybe that could explain why film photographers tend to shoot old things to the point of becoming a cliche. Old photography techniques and old subject matters are a good, logical match, because there isn’t a visual dissonance between the execution and the content of the image.
