Arts + Literature Laboratory, PhotoMidwest Festival 2024 and FlakPhoto Projects present Grain: Analog Renaissance, a documentary by Alex Contell and Tommaso Sacconi on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 7:00pm. Free admission.
Grain: Analog Renaissance | Alex Contell, Tommaso Sacconi | USA | 2021 | 81 minutes
Grain celebrates analog photography by showing its ups and downs in real-world scenarios and tells the story of artistic commitment, discovery and romance. Whether it's a fashion house seeking to bring a new edge to their creative work, an amateur perusing eBay for the perfect vintage Polaroid, or an influencer attempting to capture a comforting retro aesthetic on social media, analog photography has piqued the interest of people everywhere. Is this resurgence a backlash against digital photography? Is it just a trend perpetuated by our desire for authenticity in an increasingly superficial world? Or is it something else entirely?
Filmmaker statement: We’ve spent a lot of time and money photographing in analog. And we began to question why. Why were we opting for the most expensive, complex way of approaching photography? Why were we choosing to forego the benefits of digital to use old technology that is all too vulnerable to human error? What’s the point? Doesn’t it all end up on Instagram anyway?
As we considered this, we realized there must be others dwelling on this same conflict. We were compelled to understand the bigger picture, to hear how other photographers have remained committed to analog even with its challenging intricacies. The seed was planted. And a film was born.
We’ve gathered different points of view from established photographers and art institutions, and told their stories through a combination of cinéma vérité and cinematic shots.
