(NBC, KYMA/KECY) – It’s starting to look more like 1994 than 2024, as younger generations are driving a nostalgic comeback.
From Snoop Dogg at the Olympics to Hope Walz at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), suddenly disposable cameras seem everywhere.
For photographers and friends Allison Blackmon and Aja Villacres, it’s all about the look and the experience.
“I think just the easiness of it. It’s cool, because you don’t know what you’re seeing, and what you’re gonna get,” Blackmon said.
“I like it becuase it keeps me very present,” Villacres shared.
According to Kodak, it’s more than just vibes. Sales of the company’s single-use cameras have doubled over the last five years, driven largely by millenials and Gen Z.
“It’s social media. They’re seeing it on TikTok. They’re seeing it on Instagram,” said Phil Steblay, owner of The Darkroom, located in San Clemente, California.
The Darkroom is where his lab technicians process and recycle 200-to-300 disposable cameras every day.
“Young people now enjoy it a lot too because it’s a little more rare for them…They didn’t grow up with physical prints where old people like me, that’s how we we saw our photos back in the day,” Steblay expressed.
And then, there’s the wait. Each print is time capsule into the past.
“That’s the beauty of it…Kind of like Christmas morning, opening up, you know, your photos and seeing and remembering all those little moments,” Villacres expressed.
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