Over the last few months, a curiosity with using vintage digital cameras has stimulated an interest among students at Bonita Vista High (BVH). Using cameras that were bought at local thrift stores or using their parents’ digital cameras has influenced students to take photos using the cameras instead of their cell phones. Senior Ximena Carrillo participates in the trend because of the sentimental nostalgia behind the photos.
“I got inspired when my mom showed me old pictures of myself from her digital camera. I had thought nostalgic for her and for myself, so I decided to get my own to take pictures of important memories for me to look back on in the future. It makes taking a picture more meaningful and reminisce about core memories you kept throughout the years,” Carrillo said.
The popularity of digital cameras on social media has encouraged more students to start using one for the memories of being a teenager. Similar to Carrillo, senior Jeremy De Las Alas enjoys using digital cameras because the memories he is making through his teenage years that can be something he can look back on when he is older.
“I think people always look for ways to record and keep precious moments in time and it just so happens that digital cameras has been one of the popular ways recently. However, I also think that because of the hype surrounding owning and using one it has definitely blown up,” De Las Alas said.
Students at BVH are inspired to use digital cameras to hold their memories in a keepsake. Specifically, having a camera designed to take pictures gives students at BVH a note to live in the moment. While they are living in the moment, they have the photos to keep for when they are older. It is a reminder to continue to take photos, so it is more than the memories that are inside your head.
“My dad got [my camera] from Amazon as a gift for me since I had wanted one for a while. I think I wanted one because I liked the way that the pictures looked. They had looked very nostalgic and vintage for kids born in the 2000s. It is so different from the technology that we have nowadays,” Carrillo said.
Digital cameras influence students to capture their surroundings and memories, because of the aesthetic of the photos. According to senior Noah De La Cruz, the feeling of using a digital camera creates a sentimental emotional appeal that he enjoys within his photography.
“The pictures from digital cameras have specific resolution and color grading that differ from camera to camera [while] giving a nostalgic feeling,” De La Cruz said. “I prefer a digital camera over my phone because it creates really cool pictures an iPhone would not be able to emulate and I enjoy the nostalgic feeling.”
Digital cameras have given students at BVH an outlet to express themselves and their creativity by creating memories through their life. Social media is a huge impact for students, which has interested students like De Las Alas to continue to use a camera. Using a camera to encapsulate his life has given memories of his teenage years, that will be a forever memory.
“Digital cameras send out to people the idea that moments in time are so much more than we realize. Especially now when a lot of the art or media we interact with is super fast paced, having a physical camera solely meant to take photos is a nice little reminder to be in the moment,” De Las Alas said. “When you use a digital camera, it has a feeling to photos that you sometimes don’t get on a full on professional camera. I feel like this really influences students to go out and take photos.”
