Each and every crop of photographers brings something new to the table. With the passing years come changes in technology, fashion, politics, new artistic movements, and of course fresh aesthetic tastes courtesy of the younger generations.
Today, Gen Z is the most recent generation that is already affecting the development of contemporary photography. As young adults, they bring with them a fresh perspective and a unique approach to the craft that is different from that of any other generation before them.
But just what makes them so influential in the way photography continues to evolve and develop? And what kind of changes can we expect in the future as a result? Come tag along and let’s find out together!
Contents
Who Gen Z Are and Why Their Vision Matters
First of all, let’s get to know the cohort we’re talking about. Gen Z roughly refers to the demographic born between 1997 and the year 2010. The exact cutoff isn’t clear as the next generation, Gen Alpha, hasn’t come of age yet, so it’s a bit too early to draw a hard border between the two.
On the other hand, the social consciousness of older Gen Zers is clearly different from that of the cohort that preceded them, the Millennials, making the mid-to-late nineties the definitive starting point for this generation.
But just what distinguishes people born during this era from their older peers?
The Digital Native Generation
More so than even Millennials, Gen Z has made a name for itself as the digital native generation. That is to say, they grew up in a world so saturated with high technology that they could hardly imagine any other.
They are, for all intents and purposes, fluent in the world of computing, smart devices, social media, and the internet.
As you can imagine, this has profoundly shaped their attitudes towards modern media and technology, including photography.
A Trademark Sense of Nostalgia for the Pre-Tech World
Partly because of their lack of exposure to the pre-web, pre-tech world of the 20th century, Gen Zers often exhibit a very strong sense of nostalgia for symbols of that period.
This includes things that many of us would find quaint, like VCRs or old CRT television sets. But it also extends to things like analog photography.
In fact, there are more people shooting film now than there were fifteen years ago during the great migration to digital cameras. And Gen Z nostalgia gets a lot of credit for that turnaround!
Chasing Unique Visual Styles
Unlike some of those that came before them, Gen Z photographers have not shown a lot of interest in the technical perfection of pixel-counting and peak sharpness.
Instead, using the camera to tell an interesting story and to evoke emotions in the audience is much higher on the list of their creative goals.
To them, pictures are a means of communication as much as they are visual art. That communication often comes in the form of an expressionist drive to relate to others. Self-referential Humor, satire, and irony are common ingredients here.
Conquering the Narrative Arts With Purpose and Meaning
Gen Z has distinguished itself through its great sense of social consciousness. Members of this generation often profess a great sense of sympathy for social and political causes even at a young age.
As artists, they tend to incorporate these convictions into their images. This has led to a proliferation of narrative photography techniques that were previously thought of as much more niche in nature.
In fact, the use of documentary-style photos to raise awareness to important causes is quickly entering the mainstream of editorial and fine art photography already. The influence of older Gen Zers (and younger Millennials) for sure played a role in that!
New Means of Sharing and Creating
Compared to their forebears, Gen Z has a totally different relationship to the concept of information, data preservation, and publishing.
While they may upload some casual travel pictures on Instagram and share them with their friends to preserve the memories, serious artistic work may be scanned from the negative, printed at home DIY-style, or even posted on their own blog or website.
Thanks to their natural familiarity with the tech world, they also tend to be quite intuitive when it comes to sharing their work across the web, even in rather involved ways. Interactivity, receiving constructive criticism, and engagement matter a lot, so they’ll try to get their photos out there!
Story Over Perfection: Raw Aesthetics, Humor & Nostalgia
As I mentioned a bit earlier, Gen Z tends to favor expressiveness and narrative explorations over sheer technical excellence. That doesn’t mean that they are not interested in operating their camera properly, merely that they don’t feel as much of a need to show off their exposure skills with every shot.
After all, in an era where everybody can get near-perfect metering at the tap of a button (or touchscreen), are the old bragging rights even still relevant?
Embracing Candidness and Imperfection
Following from that thought, they are uniquely comfortable with introducing deliberate imperfections into their work. In fact, such a lack of polish may be an important aspect of the creative process!
Photographers from this generation are strong proponents of authenticity and candidness, and a somewhat ‘lo-fi’ look may help accentuate the impromptu, unstaged nature of their images.
Communicating Emotions Through Comedy and Ironic Style
A sort of sardonic sense of humor has become one of the defining traits of Gen Z internet culture of the past few years. This, too has bled into their photos, which often mock or sarcastically reference touchstones of our time.
Blending The Film and Digital Worlds
As digital natives, Gen Zers occupy a unique position in today’s tech landscape.
While they may have grown up with a thorough understanding of computing and social media and definitely leverage that through their digital photography, they also express a serious and nostalgic interest in analog media.
The result is that their relationship to both digital cameras and film is a wholly different one from generations past, and it’s quickly becoming the norm.
Leading the Film Revival
Just after every shutterbug worth their salt got done switching to digital cameras as fast as they could, film sprang back from its predicted death.
Sure, for some time during the 2000s and 2010s, practically all professional photography existed only in digital form. Even amateurs barely touched analog photography, perceived as passé, overly expensive, and too complex for its own good.
But today, in large part thanks to the unique tastes of Gen Z photographers, film has made its way back onto the scene.
Even in the world of photojournalism, editorial, fashion, and commercial photography, shooting film is no longer the taboo that it used to be just a decade ago.
The Rise of the Hybrid Photographer
That leads me to the next great development Gen Z photographers have spearheaded, really another face of the same coin, hybrid workflows.
Not only have 35mm and instant film (and to some extent, even medium and large format) risen dramatically in popularity. But more and more photographers, especially the younger generations, are mixing elements of analog and digital workflows to create something totally new.
For instance, they might shoot on film, but scan the negatives to share them digitally online. Or they may use a modern inkjet printer to make prints out of those scans, or even turn their digital photographs into negatives in post-processing to then print them in the darkroom!
Simulations, Filters, Recipes, and More
Even among those who (mostly) shoot digital nowadays, the workflow has changed. Again, driven in large part by their characteristic sense of nostalgia, experimenting with filters and alternative post-processing techniques to mimic or reference the look of old film stock has become a big trend.
Fujifilm has most notably capitalized on this by offering film simulations on most of their current crop of digital cameras. These faithfully recreate the look and feel of older genuine film formulas at the press of a button, and owners can even “mix” their own recipes in order to simulate non-Fujifilm styles from any time period.
Practicing (Analog) Photography as Mindfulness
A big reason why Gen Z has gravitated back towards film photography after their older peers largely abandoned it is that they find great solace and comfort in the inherently slower, more thoughtful process.
This is especially true of the fully manual, all-analog camera gear of the 1960s and prior, which has really taken off in popularity with the younger crowd.
Many find that the inherent limitations and the attention required to take good pictures with this kind of outfit necessitate a level of attention that teaches them to be less wasteful with their image-taking. Some even find that it can serve as a sort of digital detox.
And for a generation raised on disposable point-and-shoots and camera phones, that’s a valuable lesson!
Tech Tools: Creativity, Gear, and Ethics
The kind of gear we use to take pictures with has always been changing, both due to technological progress as well as more nuanced reasons like fashion, changing tastes, and economic concerns.
Let’s take a look at the camera equipment that the youngest crop of creative photographers use!
Use of smartphones, DSLRs, and mirrorless cameras
Gen Z came of age during the greatest changes to the photographic formula in history, first with the digital revolution and shortly afterwards with the arrival of camera phones. Thanks to today’s smartphones, everybody has the equivalent of a (surprisingly potent) point-and-shoot device in their jean pocket.
This has caused a huge cultural shift. Photos are more commonplace and easier to produce than ever before, something especially this generation tends to take for granted.
The stereotype that they only shoot with their phone is completely unfounded, though. In fact, gear choices are more diverse than ever before!
From the Fujifilm X-series that has captivated millions with its high-end digital sensors and retro styling, to highly popular mirrorless cameras from the likes of Sony and Canon, to Nikon DSLRs, and of course vintage film equipment from decades gone by, they are difficult to put in a box when it comes to their kit.
If anything, all that diversity can only be a good thing!
Large language models have given millions the ability to create photos that are, on paper, wholly unique, with no photography knowledge necessary, and no gear except a reasonably powerful computer. The resulting debate surrounding the meaning of authentic photography and creative ownership is a fierce one, and we still don’t know where it will lead.
If current trends are anything to go by, it seems that a large fraction of Gen Zers reject the promise of LLMs. Instead, they have been responding to the popularity of these algorithms by creating more authentic and unique photography, handmade prints from film negatives instead of digital exposures processed in Photoshop, for example.
What Photographers Can Learn from Gen Z
Now that we have a good understanding of what makes them so distinct in our photography landscape, what lessons can we take from their unique views and methods?
Of course, this is a highly subjective question, but I tried to make the following as grounded and as useful for the general photography public as possible. Keep an open mind, you may not have thought about some of these before!
Embracing Imperfection and Fluid Identity in Visual Storytelling
We all want to take the best photos we can, and we all tend to have our own innate sense for what makes on particular picture good or bad.
That has never changed, but what this generation has brought to the table is a renewed appreciation for the importance of telling a story rather than merely focusing on optical perfection.
Their photos tend to emphasize style, narrative, character, and atmosphere. That doesn’t mean that they are technically flawed in return, just that pixel-counting and fussing over depth of field is not the highest priority.
A refreshing turn, if you ask me!
Self-branding through Personal Narratives, not just Portfolios
For as long as independent artists have existed, they have struggled to market themselves to would-be patrons in the hopes of making a living out of their work.
Again, this has not changed. What has changed is their unique methods for putting their photos out there. Instead of using a traditional portfolio (which has remained a popular option), many opt to present themselves in the form of a personal story or brand carefully curated across different channels.
Social media, unsurprisingly, plays a large role here. But it’s also about fostering an online community and having others interact with their work.
Most of all, many simply find this approach a lot more fun than creating a dry, PDF-based portfolio of only a handful of photos!
Learning from the Community
More so than even the Millennials before them, Gen Zers love learning from each other. Instead of betting their futures on formal education, many of them have turned to alternative outlets.
TikTok, YouTube, and even Discord now serve as collaborative, reciprocal spaces where they go to exchange information, critique each other’s work, and teach their peers.
This hands-on, personal style is not just important for maintaining authenticity. Many feel that they learn better this way to begin with.
Our own peer-led community is a perfect example of this. We offer a space to learn, connect, and get feedback, reflecting the peer-to-peer spirit that defines Gen Z photography culture.
Conclusion
Gen Z is rapidly transforming photography culture and doing so with a sharp eye and a clear view of what they want to get out of their images.
More so than any other generation, they treasure the magical moment of the shutter closing just as much as the memories that their photos record. It’s a fine balancing act between aestheticism and technique, between the real and the figurative.
New forms of sharing and collaborating open up the playing field even further for them.
But if current trends are any indication, these photographers are going to grow up to become masters of this tightrope walk!
Take Away
Gen Z is continuing in the footsteps of some of the most prolific generations of photographers in history, and upping the ante while they’re at it. Thanks to amazing leaps in technology and resulting changes in mass culture and media, they get to experiment with forms of expression and ways of sharing their work that would have been almost unthinkable only a few decades ago.
Thanks to their drive for individual self-expression, storytelling, and social consciousness, in addition to their collaborative spirit, they are quickly shaping up to become one of the most influential cohorts among photographers to date.
But regardless of when you were born, you can take inspiration from their approach and grow as a photographer yourself!
Great article, I grew up with film and happy it’s returning and love what Gen Z is doing.