We all know the story of how Steve Jobs pulled Apple back from the brink of bankruptcy and then orchestrated the biggest comeback in personal technology history by creating the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. The introduction of the iPad in early 2010 was interesting for a lot of reasons, but forgotten in all the mythology is the months-long wait between the iPad’s announcement in January and its r…

Over the past few years, young people everywhere have been scanning the aisles of their local drugstores for disposable Kodaks or surfing the pits of eBay for vintage film cameras. I’m no exception to the trend. The earliest seeds of my pseudo-adulthood are frozen in albums stuffed with film photos, capturing a mix of candids and “plandids” of the last three years of my life. 

As this resurgence sweeps the city, Seattle’s beautiful scenery and grunge scene serve as a magnet for film photography professionals and amateurs alike. 

Sarrah Khan, a sophomore, has been experimenting with film photography for a little over two years. She says that she was inspired to jump on the bandwagon after seeing many of her friends in the Seattle area fall in love with film photography.

“Polaroids and film photos started becoming trendy again online,” Khan said. “So I was looking around and found my dad’s old film camera. He got it right before DSLR cameras started becoming popular, so it’s like 20 years old and I’ve been using it for a couple of years.”

It’s interesting that this rise of film photography culture is coinciding with the rapid development of more and more advanced technology. The newest iPhone 14 boasts camera specs so complex, I can’t even begin to decrypt all the odd anagrams.

But despite this continual improvement in photo technology on our iPhones, people still seem to be drawn to classic film. Khan said that part of the allure of film photography compared to digital photography comes from the physical nature of using film.

“There’s something really nice about it being documented only in a physical form,” Khan said.

Khan also commented on the ease and accessibility of using a film camera and how her passion was formed and fueled by the photography community.

“I would say that I’m the most amateur of amateurs,” Khan said. “I’ve done the most basic research but it’s really hard to screw up. The nice thing about film photos is that they’re so forgiving and there are so many people to learn from who are eager and willing to help out, both online and personally.”

My own film journey began in a similar fashion to Khan’s. My older sister hopped onto the film camera trend a couple months before I did, and in a classic younger sibling fashion, I was in total awe of her film photos and immediately copied her as soon as I could get my hands on a camera. I quickly fell into her world, trading tips and suggestions with my sister on what brands of film are best for what kind of pictures and navigating the resources that the Seattle film scene has to offer together.

Moonphoto is a photography lab just a 15-minute drive from campus and has been in business over the past 40 years. Olivia Vick, a Moonphoto lab technician, wrote in an email on behalf of the whole Moonphoto team echoing Khan’s sentiments on the film community, adding that the visual effect of film photos is what makes them special.

“People like the color, grain, and look better compared to digital,” Vick wrote. “It’s looked at as vintage and very aesthetic to take film photos.” 

According to Moonphoto, the time involved in the developing process also makes film photography more attractive than its digital counterpart. The way that it transforms the simple act of taking photographs into a longer activity makes the photographs feel more personal because of the time and labor involved.

“The waiting process and the surprise are so fun,” Vick wrote. “It’s like a gift for your future self, like when you forget you ordered something online and it shows up at your door.”

Khan sees the process involved as a blessing and curse. She says while the developing process is what makes film photos so special, it can be a bit cumbersome to go through. It can also be a bit disheartening to finally send in rolls of film full of intimate moments only to receive pictures that are blurry, covered by fingers, or totally black. One of the more humbling moments of my life was getting back pictures from my highschool graduation and discovering that I had forgotten to turn the flash on for a solid 80% of the pictures, leaving me to interpret 25 photos of grainy silhouettes.

The Moonphoto team said the most common mistakes they see come from not having enough light in the photo.

“If you are going to shoot film, use the right ISO of film and expose it properly with aperture and shutter speed,” Vick wrote. “The next most important thing is making sure when you load film into your camera that it catches properly. We get so many rolls that come out unshot because the camera couldn’t feed the film through properly.” 

But when a photo comes out just the way you want it to, the feeling that picture can hold is unmatched.

“It almost looks like a snapshot of time,” Khan said.

According to Khan, the limited number of pictures on each roll of film combined with the exclusively physical nature of these photographs create a raw and genuine form that perfectly satiates the odd nostalgia our generation craves for a time we weren’t even around for.

“I think the draw towards that is like, simpler times when things were more real,” Khan said. “Things weren’t as filtered. I feel like there’s more of an attraction now to things that are very real glimpses, or attempts of real glimpses, to show your life and of keeping interactions more raw and being able to share that with your friends and people you care about.” 

Both Khan and Vick emphasized how the limited nature of film makes you reconsider what you’re capturing.

“There is something very mindful about only being able to take one shot at a time,” Vick wrote. “It makes you live in the moment more and appreciate every shot you take.”

Khan’s photographs focus on her family and friends along with her travels. She said that she chooses her subjects by thinking about what she’d want to look back on in 10 or 20 years, and her time at UW with friends is definitely something she tries to capture.

“We love seeing people’s photos and what catches people’s eye,” Vick wrote. “It’s part of what makes our job so fun, so keep shooting film, everyone.”

Reach writer Asma Masude at pacificwave@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @asmayikes 

Like what you’re reading? Support high-quality student journalism by donating here.

It is hard to believe nowadays, but a few decades ago, Kodak was so dominant in the photography industry that the company’s name was synonymous with the image itself — the “Kodak moment.” So, why is the company a shell of its former self today? This neat video takes a look at some of the major milestones in the company’s history and why, despite being at the forefront of the industry at one point, they are almost totally irrelevant today. 

Coming to you from snappiness, this great video takes a look at the history of Kodak and how it slowly became irrelevant in the photo industry. It is incredible to think that Kodak was the company that invented the digital camera, but it was that invention where they arguably first took a major misstep. In 1975, when that first digital camera was made, film ruled the world, and Kodak was hesitant to cut into their lucrative film business. And so, the company essentially tabled the digital camera, leaving other companies time to catch up and surpass Kodak’s accomplishments. By the time the company realized the need to get competitive on the digital side of things, it was essentially too late. Check out the video above for the full rundown. 

DOWNINGTOWN, PA — Life’s memories are ephemeral. But even though they are transient, photographs become a powerful testament to their existence, painting each one in a light of beauty and hope for a glorified future. Amidst several pairs of eyes freezing memories and filling the canvas with their blend of unique, artistic splendor, Sadie Brown Photography is rising as a new storyteller, treasuring narratives with innovative skills behind the camera.

The lifestyle photography brand has been preserving people’s precious moments for quite some time now, offering them a day of joy and remembrances for the future that witnesses new occurrences to enclose in snaps. With an eye for detail and an innate ability to transform the blurry life into compelling narratives, the brand’s founder, Sarah Brown, gets onto her passion armed with the power of her camera.

Sarah’s fondness for art appeared early in her life, prompting her to be part of the creative world by pursuing a degree in film & photography. The dots connected, and the pieces fell into place when her camera became the expression of her artistic honor, depicting life in multiple ways. Her creative brilliance came through inside her clicked shots when the moment’s emotion translated well.

Besides her specialization in family portraits, the fineness of her perspective captured through the lens visibly appears in intimate wedding shots, headshots, and other spontaneous memories, seizing time and defining the competitiveness she brings by setting an exemplary benchmark in her lifestyle photography work. Her profound ability to think differently is reflected through her handy work as she moves from one pixel to another with an angle here and a lighting there.

Sadie Brown Photography has been delivering on its promise of efficiency through Sarah’s delicate time perception, especially when it concerns capturing the most spontaneous moments. Her photography portraits appear as a work of art through her impeccable reflexes that never miss a gleaming moment of joy in the most authentic way possible. Each of these portraits made its way into her visually stunning portfolio of work. However, the lifestyle photography brand’s recent collaboration with Dart Digital Agency made the portfolio more emotionally evocative.

The photography brand’s desire to find virtual prominence led them to approach the digital marketing agency to develop a dynamic website that could become the custodians of their online presence and align the offline brand identity with the digital one. Sadie Brown Photography & Dart Digital’s creative alignment set things accurately in the quest to reach the right audience in the market.

The digital agency brought forth a unique set of ideas and creative liberty for the photography brand to efficiently portray the vividness of every picture ever captured. To give the owner’s profound vision behind stills and to visualize joy in every smile, the website design successfully defined an experience for the prospective customer to see the brand in its true essence, appreciative of the nuances of lifestyle photography.

The outcome came through as a visual masterpiece through their affordable web design service, which was not just intuitive, but effortlessly sleek to stand as an extraordinary composition representing the brand. Sadie Brown Photography & Dart Digital Agency’s creative partnership created a new era of still portraits in the digital age, amalgamating innovation and artistic endeavors to reach a comprehensive audience.

“Working with Sadie Brown Photography came up as an incredible opportunity to depict the incredible passion of the photographer, transforming real moments into a journey for people to reminisce down the line through the Sarah’s lens, says a spokesperson from the agency. Sarah’s incredible passion and creativity to connect people to their life’s beautiful moments truly comes as an inspiration”.

Dart Digital Agency is now extending its collaboration with the brand to help it reach the ranks on the web through SEO service and find the prominence it deserves by giving people a taste of Sarah’s artistic excellence captured through her lens in the most extraordinary way possible. Now, with a website so beautifully showcasing the brand, Sadie Brown Photography’s personality is demonstrated uniquely.

For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News.

Munich, Germany

Musicians play alphorns during the Oktoberfest landlords’ concert at the foot of the Bavaria statue. About 300 musicians gathered for the 188th edition of the traditional Oktoberfest beer and amusement festival. Oktoberfest 2023 runs from from 17 September to 3 October with several millions of visitors expected from all over the world

Photograph: Anna Szilagyi/EPA