The 2021 documentary Grain: Analog Renaissance | The Magic of Film Photography, hereafter referred to as Grain, celebrates the longevity and resurgence of analog photography in an increasingly digital world, and it’s available now to view in its entirety on YouTube.
Spotted by ISO 1200, the feature-length documentary directed by Alex Contell and Tommaso Sacconi is now featured on Standart’s YouTube channel.
Per its channel description, Standart “streams high-quality documentaries and curated video content focused on art, creativity, and cultural expression.” All films, including Grain, are licensed by Standart for online publication and dissemination.
Grain, which stars Daniel Arnold, Geoffrey Berliner, and Dave Bias, takes an inside look at the timeless beauty of analog photography, how digital imaging originally displaced it, and how film has had a massive resurgence in the digital age. The film also considers the impact of film’s renewed popularity on the photographers who use it, the companies that make it, and the shops that develop and sell it.
In the three-plus years since Grain premiered, analog photography has only continued to grow. More companies are bringing old film stocks back, others are making all-new films, and some manufacturers are even making all-new film cameras, like the Pentax 17 launched last year.
“The industry has indeed seen a rush of new analog film emulsions and a huge resurgence in the instant film market too, but the Pentax 17 represents the first new production 35mm film camera from one of the major brands in nearly 20 years,” Chris Niccolls wrote in PetaPixel‘s Pentax 17 Review.
Although film started to pick up steam again in the 2010s and early 2020s, 2024 was arguably analog photography’s best year in the 21st century. Film photography is no longer a niche subset of photography; it is the primary visual playground for many photographers, new and seasoned alike.
Analog shows no signs of slowing down, as the reasons why photographers gravitated back toward it years ago are as prevalent now as ever. Film offers a grounded authenticity that is increasingly shaky with digital photography — generative AI is impossible to ignore — and it allows photographers quite literally to get their hands dirty in the photographic process. It’s fun, a fact that Grain captures so well.
Image credits: Featured image by ‘Grain: Analog Renaissance — The Timeless Magic of Analog Photography,’ directed by Alex Contell and Tommaso Sacconi
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