“It’s so wild to me cause I’m an elder millennial,” says Ali O’Keefe, who runs the photography channel Two Months One Camera on YouTube. “My childhood is captured on film ... but for [young people], theirs were probably all captured on, like, Canon SD1000s,” she says, referencing a popular mid-aughts point-and-shoot. This highlights the generational shift in photography preferences and the nostalgic pull of vintage cameras.
The rise of the vintage digicam marks at least the second major nostalgia boom in the photography space. More than 15 years ago, a film resurgence brought thousands of cameras from the 1970s and '80s out of closets and into handbags and backpacks. This observation points to cyclical trends in photography styles and preferences, showcasing how nostalgia influences current creative practices.
But other shutterbugs are reaching back into the past 20 years or more to add a vintage 'Y2K aesthetic' to their work. The MySpace look is strong with a lot of photographers shooting with authentic early-2000s 'digicams,' aiming their cameras-flashes a-blazing-at their friends and capturing washed-out, low-resolution, grainy photos that look a whole lot like 2003. This demonstrates how aesthetics from past digital eras are regaining popularity and influencing the creative landscape.
Much of the buzz among this creative class has centered around premium, chic models like the Fujifilm X100 and Ricoh GR, or for the self-anointed 'digicam girlies' on TikTok, zoom point-and-shoots like the Canon PowerShot G7 and Sony RX100 models, which can be great for selfies. This reflects a blend of appreciating old technology while also recognizing the innovative capabilities of modern compact camera design.
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