WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) — Normally, taking a photo is simple: Click a button on your phone and look at it instantly. But now, a nostalgic device is making a comeback, offering a walk down memory lane.
One-time-use cameras are known for their temporary use and surprise factor. Instead of viewing photos instantly, users must get their photos developed before viewing them.
Bryan Groothuis is the manager at Mark’s Photo and Video in Wyoming, Michigan, and has worked in the industry for decades. He told Nexstar’s WOOD that he has seen the resurgence firsthand.
“The exciting part about it is not knowing what you have. The excitement kind of builds between the time you have taken the picture and seeing the picture later,” he said. “Been in the business for a long time and I never thought film was going to come back, or the one-time use cameras. So to see that comeback is kind of rewarding for me to know that sometimes when they go out, people realize how good they were and then they come back.”
But why are the nostalgic devices growing in popularity? Groothuis credits their simplicity.
“They are super easy to use. Kids can use them. If you are going to like the beach or any place where you don’t want to have your phone exposed to the elements, one-time use cameras are great for that,” he said.
One-time use cameras also offer a view smartphones can’t.
I think people like the technology that they’ve got and they wouldn’t necessarily give it up,” Neil Saunders, a retail analyst, told The Washington Post earlier this year. “But they’re looking for something alongside that that’s a bit deeper, that represents a slower pace of life.”
Others told the outlet they enjoy getting these cameras for special events, to cut down on screen time, their novelty, and even, as some argue, because they can help a moment feel less staged.
While these cameras may be remembered by their more common name, disposable cameras, Groothuis said that is a thing of the past.
“We also recycle them. So when somebody drops off a one-time use camera, we break it open, take the film out, develop the film like we would any other 35-millimeter film, and then the rest of the camera goes to the recycler and is used again,” he said.
Groothuis told WOOD that they send their bins of cameras to Commodity Resource & Environmental, a recycling company that offers a one-time use camera recycling program. In five years, their recycling numbers have risen by over 55,000 pounds.
“The business keeps growing, and I think the more younger people we can get exposed to taking pictures, especially one-time-use cameras, more people are going to use them,” he said.
Nexstar’s Addy Bink contributed to this report.