Analogue Photography – A Journey Back to the Future?

Is analogue photography a way to reclaim individuality amid the growing sameness of AI-generated and smartphone-produced images?
Or is it a nostalgic response to an increasing estrangement – both between human and machine and between human and subject, between eye and algorithm?

The return to film appears to be more than a technical fashion.
It reflects a desire for own time and hands-on craftsmanship in image-making – a counter-movement to the instant, limitless and often “cleaned-up” aesthetic of digital photography.
Analogue photography demands decision, patience and conscious seeing – and it is precisely in this that its fascination lies.

Why?
I recall the time, during the 1980s and 1990s, when I travelled the world with my analogue 35 mm cameras – to the kingdoms of the Himalayas, across the plains of Bagan (Burma), or among the Toraja people on Celebes.
Back then, film was a precious resource, hardly replaceable in remote regions. For safety, I carried it in radiation-proof containers to protect it from the adventurous scanning devices at airports.
And because film was limited, every exposure had to count – no “hundred shots of the same subject – the best will do” as has become so natural in digital times.

Thus (almost ;-)) every image became a unique piece – the result of planning, intuition, and waiting for the moment when light and scene briefly found their symbiosis.

Between Smartphones and the Search for Meaning

Today we experience the opposite: continuous shooting has become the comfortable norm.
High-end camera systems now compete with smartphones that easily handle many professional tasks.
The boundaries between artistic, journalistic and private photography blur – and with them the standards by which we judge photographic quality, authenticity and intention.

📷 Survey on Analogue Photography

Dr Joachim Feigl, psychologist at the Institute for Photo-Psychology in Rutesheim and member of the German Society for Photography (DGPh), explores these questions in his current survey.
It is aimed at everyone interested in photography – whether they work with film or are simply curious about the fascination of analogue practice.

Take part:
👉 Direct link to the survey on umbuzoo.de
or via the Institute’s website: www.foto-psychologie.de

Participation period: until 17 December 2025
Duration: approx. 10–15 minutes
The survey can be completed on a smartphone, though it is usually more comfortable on a computer or tablet.

The results will be published on the Institute’s website and presented within the DGPh.
I am pleased to support this project because it examines photography not only technically but also psychologically and socially – in that space
where perception, identity and technology seek a new balance, and the art of photography preserves meaning amidst the flood of images.

A warm invitation to take part and share the survey!

Jürgen Tenckhoff
www.tenckhoff.de