A Millenial’s Nostalgia

I am one of those people who was born during the holiday season period. A week right before Christmas, to be more precise. This comes with two perks: getting all your gifts at the same time… and getting all your gifts at the same time. Please don’t get me wrong: my story is not about materialism. It’s the opposite.

When I first fell in love with analog photography, I was attracted by its aesthetic. It is indeed undeniable that the results film gets are almost unattainable with digital photography. However, almost a year after this love story started, I have actually deeply fallen for it. Not for its looks, but for the emotion that it brings up in me: nostalgia.

You don’t know me; I’m such an old soul. I love everything old: vintage hunting, antiquity shops, staring at buildings, watching old movies and listening to old music. If you know any Spanish (or you’re just curious) you should listen to Antigua pero Moderna — a song by Novedades Carminha, a group from my hometown with describes me better than I ever could.

The story behind this image is pretty simple. On my 20th birthday, I curated a playlist of old hits, asked my guests to wear “anything vintagy-looking”, I blew my candles and later went out for drinks to this grungy place. As you can see, some of them hit the nail in the head. That blue-haired girl is my namesake, flatmate and crazy 80s-obsessed friend Lucía. The Beatle-looking lady in black is, as you’ve probably guessed already, a Paul McCartney fan.

I shot this image using a Novacolor disposable — which I strongly discourage using, despite the result. I do love how the roll came out in the end, but what I love the most is what I will experience in the future: nostalgia.

I look forward to being 40 and flipping through film photos — just as I used to do in my living room as a kid — only to realize how fortunate I am now to be sharing my life with these people. And what killer style we have, too!