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Disposable film cameras have made a comeback among today’s teens. However, the real question is why are they interested in these grainy, light streaked photos?

Have you ever looked at a baby picture or picture of your parents and thought the image’s authenticity and oldness seemed cool? 

As life progressed into the twenty-first century, technology has advanced along with it. This includes having a camera of the highest quality which fits in your pocket. However, nowadays celebrities and social media stars have begun sharing some of their unforgettable moments on low-quality film cameras on social media. 

Celebrities and social media influencers such as Gigi Hadid and David Dobrik are frequent users of disposable cameras. Gigi Hadid, American model, even brought a film camera to 2019 Paris Men’s Fashion Week. David Dobrik, a YouTube star with over thirteen million subscribers, produced an Instagram account in mid-June called “davidsdisposable” where he posts his disposable pictures of celebrities and his friends being candid. Dobrik uses the Fujifilm QuickSnaps camera and has them stocked in his home to give to his friends when they come over. As his and others’ photos became more popular in the media, many teens began buying disposable cameras. In December 2019, Dobrik even launched an app, “David’s Disposable,” now known as “Dispo,” where someone can take a photo on their phone camera and wait twenty-four hours for their photo to develop in the format of a disposable camera photo. 

Still, many teens prefer to use an actual disposable camera. Alexandra Azan ‘23, an avid user of disposable cameras, specifically Fujifilm QuickSnap, wrote, “there’s something very nostalgic about how simple they are to use” and “how the photos come out with a sort of vintage feel that you can’t exactly edit into a photo.” Also, there is an element of surprise since once all the film is used on disposable cameras, they must be taken to be processed. Azan continued, “you get what you get and you don’t get upset … every time you get the photos back it’s like opening a present for yourself.” Most importantly, Azan described her favorite part of the disposable camera as, “it’s a really easy way to create a unique record of great moments.”

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