Lately, a phenomenon has been catching my attention: The return of digital and analog cameras among Generation Z youth. Compact models from the 2000s (the famous point-and-shoot cameras) have reappeared in the hands of people who grew up in the age of smartphones.
Hi, I'm Laura, I have a master's degree in Communication and Information and I'm an undergraduate student in Internet Systems. Today I want to think about the place that photography occupies when still images seem to have lost ground to short and ephemeral videos.
It's not uncommon to see arms raised at festivals holding an old Cybershot. This movement makes me think: photography as an independent language has been relegated to the background. Therefore, the choice to use a camera is not just nostalgia.
There is an important symbolic and technical gesture there. These devices, unlike cell phones, do not offer the immediate possibility of sharing. It is necessary to wait, transfer, reveal, convert. It is necessary to slow down.
In this case, photographing is not synonymous with posting. The image becomes a memory, an archive, a recollection. Not a performance. Instagram has migrated to the logic of videos, and photography has become too silent for the noise of the feed.
Susan Sontag said that photographing is a way of giving importance to things. But what does it mean to give importance to something that will not be shared? Perhaps, today, it means keeping it to yourself.
The algorithm IS NOT NEUTRAL. It prioritizes what generates immediate engagement, pushing contemplative photography to the margins. Taking a photograph with a camera today can be an act of intimate resistance.
It is a way of retaining the image—making it for later, for the drawer, the album, or even for oblivion. It's about recovering the right to an image that doesn't need to be a product.
Ultimately, the essential question that emerges is: can we still value an experience that isn't transformed into digital content? I want to know if you've also felt this urge to go back to dedicated cameras in the comments.