Visual styles from the past continue to inspire the work of artists, designers and photographers today. However, every so often, retro has a full-on resurgence. The latest retro revival began in 2019, and is now in full swing. Retro trends from the 60, 70s, 80s and 90s are now dominating the creative industries, infiltrating everything from graphic and interior design to marketing, social media and pop culture. But photography is perhaps one of the biggest creative mediums to be impacted by the retro reawakening.
The popularity of vintage cameras and retro photography styles has absolutely skyrocketed over the last few years, which has driven a comeback of nostalgic aesthetics, warm tones and analogue-style photography. From vintage film cameras to apps that replicate a retro feel, the glowing tonal qualities of film photos can now be easily achieved digitally – allowing anyone to turn a regular image into a retro-style photograph with the tap of a finger.
Encompassing everything from film photos, to retro editing apps, to color palettes inspired by past eras, here are the top 5 retro photography trends of 2024.
The return of film photos has had a huge impact on the photography industry over the past few years. While many argue that digital photography is superior to film in its quality, flexibility and cost-effectiveness, there’s no doubt that the charm and character of film photography is unmatched – and it’s this warm, aesthetic vibe that has propelled this trend back into the spotlight.
Despite the technical inferiority of film photos, it often results in more authentic, unique and genuine photographs. While you can take as many pictures as you want with a DSLR camera – or as many as your memory card and battery will allow – a roll of film is only so long. Every film photograph costs money, meaning you can’t take 100 versions of the same photo. This gives film photos a sense of rarity, ascribing more value to each photo taken.
Another reason that film photos are so popular is due to the power of nostalgia. Described as "the creative equivalent of comfort food", nostalgia has become a key marketing tool and a hugely popular trend across all of the creative industries. Proven to have a strong effect on our mental wellbeing, studies have found that nostalgia gives our lives a greater feeling of meaning and continuity, leading to a stronger sense of interconnectedness and purpose.
After Lomography's range of film cameras – such as the Lomography La Sardina and Lomo Sprocket Rocket – exploded in popularity in the early 2010’s, many photographers have been snapping up vintage cameras to give their work this retro, authentic feel, such as this 70s Asahi Pentax Spotmatic camera for example.
Tip
If you’re new to film, disposable camera can be a great place to start!
Further demonstrating our collective obsession with nostalgia, the rise of digital film effects is another trend taking photography by storm. Designed to replicate the aesthetic and characteristics of film photos while saving you time, money and effort, vintage presets and editing apps are quickly becoming all the rage.
Often featuring beautiful light leaks, flares, scratches, grainy photo quality, date stamps and even Polaroid frames, the vintage aesthetic has become a massive trend on social media – with huge stars such as Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo even employing the retro look in their Instagram photos. As this trend continues to grow, it has naturally spurred on the development of many retro editing apps so that anyone can add a retro feel to their feed.
For example, apps such as Prequel, Huji and 1998 now allow anyone to make photos look vintage. Combining the ease and quality of digital photography with the warmth and charm of film, these apps enable you to create genuine looking vintage photos in seconds.
Including orchestrated flash and lighting options, added glitches and light flares, and even 90s grunge and kitschy Y2K edits, these apps allow you to immediately transport your images to a completely different era. And best of all, they’re free!
Cool, subtle and easy to achieve, retro color palettes are another big trend impacting photography in 2024. Including warm 70s sepia tones, classic black and white photography, and even 80s neon and cyberpunk styles, retro color palettes are one of the easiest ways to add a retro vibe and take your photos back in time.
Many photographers, brands and creators are now integrating retro color schemes in their work, often interweaving them with modern monochrome and full color images to make the final result pop. For example, Melbourne photographer Max Fairclough uses a mixture of warm, 70s tones and striking black and white color palettes in his work to create a chic, retro vibe.
One of the best things about this trend is how easy it is to achieve. Most paid and free photo editing apps now offer a wide range of retro color palettes and editing effects, and there are a tonne of retro presets and vintage LUT packs available online. Whether you prefer warm tones, the sharp contrast of black and white, or even an 80s futuristic neon effect, there’s bound to be a retro color palette out there for you!
Over the last few years, experimental photography and design has been at the forefront of the industry. Spurred on by the rise of digital illustration, collage and other experimental artistic styles, many photographers are now taking their craft back to basics and experimenting with a range of old-school crafty styles.
For example, duotone – a technique featuring two opposing colors that was once used in old printing presses – is once again shaking up the modern creative landscape. While collage, a style featuring mixed media such as photos, graphics, illustrations and text in the retro cut-and-paste style of childhood scrapbooking, has become hugely popular on social media, it’s also found its way back into photography, art and design.
But perhaps one of the most intriguing experimental styles impacting the photography scene right now is double exposure. Involving mixing multiple images together to create a unique and experimental effect, double exposure photography is the art of quite literally combining two images into one. Australian photographer The Runaway Hearts, who shoots her work exclusively on film and polaroids, is an expert at this experimental style.
Her stunning photography combines simple striking portraits with beautiful landscapes and floral elements, evoking a whimsical sense of nostalgia and wonder.
While experimenting with analogue photography can be creative and a lot of fun, it can also take a lot of time – and equipment – to finesse. Thankfully, these styles can easily be replicated digitally with easy-to-use Photoshop actions, brushes or effects.
Perhaps the biggest trend impacting photography in 2022 is the pursuit of the retro ‘aesthetic’ created by famous film photographers. While our society is reaching a technological peak, many artists, designers and photographers are still looking back to the past for creative inspiration, and embracing the ‘flaws’ of retro photography, as well as the creative expression and artistic license they permit.
As photographs, art and even social media content continues to become more authentic, many people are moving away from the perfectionist ideal and embracing charm and character over quality and prestige. The desire for nostalgia is so strong that people are actually superimposing flaws into their high-quality digital photographs to achieve the glowing, tonal qualities of retro photography – suggesting that this powerful trend isn’t going anywhere soon.
While random light leaks, blurred edges, hyper saturation, glitches and graininess are technically considered to be photographic flaws, it’s clear that in this day and age, the value of the retro aesthetic has negated our desire for high-quality, flawless photography – putting creativity and artistic expression back at the forefront of the craft.
That’s a wrap on the top 5 retro trends impacting photography in 2022! Keep up with all the latest creative trends, tips and tricks over on the Envato Blog.
Guest Author: Kelsie Rimmer
Kelsie is the Editor of the Envato Blog. Experienced in the fields of design, music and digital marketing, Kelsie is a connoisseur of all things creative. Editor by day and singer/songwriter by night, she is a passionate writer, musician and pun enthusiast.
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