created, $=dv.current().file.ctime & modified, =this.modified
tags: Photography
rel: Difficult Devices
In the age of AI images, some photographers are embracing the quirky flaws of vintage digital cameras.
Young creatives are attracted to the very cameras the companies are discontinuing.
For those seeking to experiment with their photography, there’s an appeal to using a cheap, old digital model they can shoot with until it stops working. The results are often imperfect, but since the camera is digital, a photographer can mess around and get instant gratification. And for everyone in the vintage digital movement, the fact that the images from these old digicams are worse than those from a smartphone is a feature, not a bug.
Seeking noise, seeking unique character
Lee says DSLR images are “too clean, too crisp, too nice” for her work. “When I’m picking a camera, I’m looking for a certain kind of noise, a certain kind of character to them that can’t be reproduced through filters or editing, or some other process,” Lee says.
I’m Obsessed with a Dead Camera System
As soon as you have an aesthetic with which an era was captured, there’s a nostalgia about that look. It’s fair to say that early digital cameras inadvertently defined the appearance of contemporary photos
She believes all digicams have unique characteristics, and that if a curious photographer just takes the time to get to know the device, it can deliver good results. “Don’t be precious about it,” she says. “Just pick something up, shoot it, and have fun.”