The slow photo movement | Masserman Photography
Our digital world is one that is based on convenience and not always aesthetics. Electronic devices can quickly snap dozens of pictures and store thousands of images on a hard drive. This has undermined the entire notion of photography as a form of art. With Facebook and Instagram, any blurry, unfocused picture can be quickly shared with hundreds, or even thousands.
There used to be a time when people were alright with waiting for film to develop. In fact, many remember waiting in breathless anticipation for a Polaroid picture to magically come to life in their hands over the course of many minutes. Although the digital proliferation has irrevocably changed the entire practice of taking pictures, some are working hard to bring back the film photography style that dazzled camera users for generations.
When Polaroid discontinued its brand of camera film in 2008, many thought that the days of creating images from film exposures were long gone. Quickly, however, a number of former Polaroid employees teamed up and created the Impossible Project. The group’s goal is to create an alternative to Polaroid film that can be used with film cameras.
Oddly enough, young camera owners are taking to this movement as well as older users who would be more familiar with the film style of camera. Some see it as a means of escaping the over-digitalization of our world by choosing a style of picture taking that takes a longer time to develop. Some have even dubbed it the “slow photo” movement.
Developing pictures on film returns a product that is more artistic than digital photos; sometimes the color may be off, but that often contributes to the aesthetic atmosphere, and the lines are very sharp for the most part. The Impossible Project is even about to release a hardware device known as the Instant Lab, which can receive digital images from iPhones and other devices and print them out on film.
The convenience of digital picture taking will always have its fans, now that the digital age is here to stay. However, the resurgence of Polaroid-style film photography shouldn’t be understated. Masserman Photography realizes that many people want art in pictures, and not the kind that you get from an Instagram filter. If you have a photography project near Detroit or southeast Michigan, call us today to see how we can bring some aesthetic flair to your photo shoot.
