The Film Photography Renaissance: What Is Film Photography, and Why Is It Coming Back?
Film photography is more popular than it has ever been before, evolving from an outdated format of taking photos to a mainstream method of capturing important moments. For the younger generation and those unfamiliar, the question remains - what is film photography, and why has it more popular than ever?
Chart above shows the growing search interest for 35mm film rolls in the last 5 years (Google Search Trends).
What is Film Photography?
The simple answer is that film photography is the method of capturing an photo image on a physical piece of transparent plastic called “film”, compared to a modern camera that captures an image on a digital sensor.
More interestingly, what gives film photos their unique look is the colors and grains present in the photos. This is thanks to the gelatin emulsion side of the film roll which contains photo sensitive silver crystals. These crystals, once exposed to light, become activated and produce an image. Because of this, film rolls must be kept in the dark as even the slightest bit of light can erase any photos exposed to the roll.
Why is film photography becoming popular again?
The growing popularity of film photography can be observed everywhere.