Trending: Analog Photography

Did you have a “90’s summer”?  

Ironically, I came across this trend on social media. In 2026, people have been putting away their iPads and phones in favor of film cameras, board games, books and crafts. What’s driving this trend? My guess would be the millennials who now have kids are romanticizing their early childhood days spent without screens.  

One of the biggest resurgences of the last few years has been in analog photography. For the last few decades, you could find an old film camera on the shelves of pretty much any thrift store. From simple point-and-shoots to manual cameras, people are picking up film cameras once again.  

For me, it started 3 years ago on a visit home to my parents where my dad gifted me five film cameras as I was leaving.  As a solid Generation X-er myself, I grew up with film as the only option. I had a Fisher Price camera that took 110 film dangling from my neck in every vacation photo.  I remember taking my film for developing to a tiny drive-thru, 1-hour photomat not far from our house in South Buffalo. Looking through the stash of cameras just gifted to me, I knew that I could find film for them but wondered where I would get it developed in 2023? Turns out, there are tons of places you can send your film to be developed online. Two that I have used are Gelatin Labs and Dark Room. I will say that this option seemed too expensive for this to be a routine for me, so I started to look closer to home. That’s when I found Premier Imaging in Pittsburgh.  I have used Premier for 3 years now and have had a great experience with fast turnaround times and quality scans.  Now, in just the past year, Mel’s Alt Images right here in Wheeling has started offering developing services with convenient drop off locations for film at Public Market and at their studio located at 2331 Chapline Street.   

I took photography for two semesters as a freshman in college in 1996.  We used film cameras, learned to develop film in a dark room and make our own prints.  From the dad camera stash I gravitated immediately towards the Canon FTB in the lot which is the camera I recall my dad using for all the family photos at home when I was growing up.  I had to relearn the mechanics of a manual film camera and I am still learning.  As with any 50 year old tool, I’ve also had to have repairs done on the camera.  If you have an old camera sitting around and you’re wondering if it’s functional I would recommend taking it to a repair shop and having it serviced before you waste money on film and developing.  I have taken my old cannon to Bernie’s Photo in Pittsburgh many times.  Unlike some other photo shops, Bernie’s does repairs in house and has been in business for over 60 years. Stepping into the shop is like being transported back in time. 

I have noticed since I picked up film cameras again a few years ago an increase in the amount of film photos I see others post online.  This summer I noticed a friend, Justice Hudson, post a roll of film he shot while out and about in Wheeling recently.  I asked him what inspired him to pick up film instead of reaching for his iphone.  Hudson said he was at a Show of Hands event in which Melody (Mel’s Alt Image) was a presenter and she had a table full of inexpensive point and shoot film cameras for sale at the event.  Hudson picked one up for $10 and got some film.  He said that since he’s grown up in the digital age he’s lost all of his photos to technology snafus in the past so the idea of taking and acquiring film photos he could keep in a physical form was attractive to him.  I found this interesting because at my age there are hundreds of physical photos I’ve lost in various moves throughout my life leading to the same exact problem in an opposite direction. 

We all know you can certainly print out your digital photos any time you want.  Even inexpensive home printers can do a pretty decent job of printing a photo these days.  Why go through the trouble of carrying around ANOTHER device and going out of your way to drop off film and wait for development?  I think the photos speak for themselves.  There is just something special about the texture of a film photo.  I love all of the options for buying film.  There are new companies developing films that lend themselves to different colors and effects and it’s so fun to experiment.  

I think the allure of the “90’s summer” lies within being more present.  Putting our phones away or leaving them at home and just experiencing life.  Taking film photos allows you to be wholly present.  One snap and you’re done.  There is no editing, retaking or scrolling.  Is there a chance that you’ll get your film back and your photos are bad or didn’t turn out at all? Yes.  Maybe you’ll just have to describe the event to your friends with vivid detail instead of an image,  like the good old days.  Maybe you just had to be there.