Photography Enters 'Post-Digital' Age: 120processing.com Brings Old-School Photo Lab to the Internet
Photographers are returning to film in droves. To serve them as they go 'back to the future,' 120processing.com is bringing the old-school local photo lab to the Internet, offering to develop medium-format/120 film by mail.
Dover, NH, May 19, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Believe it or not, photographers are returning to film in large numbers, and an enterprising photo lab is serving them by combining their experience in traditional film photography with the networking and sharing powers of the Internet.
Recent months have seen a movement to revive film. One facebook group dedicated to a particular type of film photography has gathered 50,000 members in a matter of a few months, and--after years of talking only about digital photography--photo labs report an increase in inquiries about 'analogue.'
"People frustrated with the impersonality and blandness of digital images have remembered what drew them to photography in the first place: personal control of expression and quality," says Steve Frank, owner of Photosmith Imaging, a lab operating in Dover, NH, for the last 30 years.
Though there are more people 'shooting film,' there are fewer photo labs to serve them. Many local photo labs have been driven out of business, so photographers are turning to the Internet for their processing needs. One of the few surviving independent labs, Photosmith Imaging has begun www.120processing.com, a website offering film developing by mail to Internet customers.
“It’s the best of the old and of the new. For years we were a Main Street business. I knew what each of our customers wanted - whether they preferred 3x5 or 4x6, matte or glossy,” says Frank. “Now we are offering that same personalized service on a broader scale. And since the Internet lets us take our business nation-wide, we’re able to offer very competitive prices for film processing. We are small in size, but more experienced than most. We cater to people on a personal basis, the same as if you come in to our brick-and-mortar operation.”
www.120processing.com will also use the Internet to recreate a community of people interested in photography - what the Main Street photo lab used to be. The website has a facebook page, where photographers can meet each other and share images, as well as a monthly contest with a prize of free processing.
Over the last several years digital photography revolutionized the genre - people captured thousands of images, deleted most of them immediately after taking them, and edited out imperfections. Photographers lost images when their hard drive crashed or when their online image warehouses folded. Customer Mark Stevens appreciates the careful craft of film photography. “I'll never stop shooting film,” he says. “I love the process. It forces me to slow down and study the composition and light in each frame. I find it very relaxing to get back to the basics of photography, and it’s great to have www.120processing.com to do the developing.”
Retro? Owner Steve Frank doesn’t think so. “This has been our way of doing business and making images for decades. We are trying to find customers who want and appreciate the same things.”
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If you’d like to run a story about www.120processing.com in your publication or on your website, we’d be happy to offer your readers a discount. For more information, or to schedule an interview with Steve Frank, owner of the Photosmith, please contact Stephanie Frank at 312.730.6602 or photosmithnh@gmail.com.
Recent months have seen a movement to revive film. One facebook group dedicated to a particular type of film photography has gathered 50,000 members in a matter of a few months, and--after years of talking only about digital photography--photo labs report an increase in inquiries about 'analogue.'
"People frustrated with the impersonality and blandness of digital images have remembered what drew them to photography in the first place: personal control of expression and quality," says Steve Frank, owner of Photosmith Imaging, a lab operating in Dover, NH, for the last 30 years.
Though there are more people 'shooting film,' there are fewer photo labs to serve them. Many local photo labs have been driven out of business, so photographers are turning to the Internet for their processing needs. One of the few surviving independent labs, Photosmith Imaging has begun www.120processing.com, a website offering film developing by mail to Internet customers.
“It’s the best of the old and of the new. For years we were a Main Street business. I knew what each of our customers wanted - whether they preferred 3x5 or 4x6, matte or glossy,” says Frank. “Now we are offering that same personalized service on a broader scale. And since the Internet lets us take our business nation-wide, we’re able to offer very competitive prices for film processing. We are small in size, but more experienced than most. We cater to people on a personal basis, the same as if you come in to our brick-and-mortar operation.”
www.120processing.com will also use the Internet to recreate a community of people interested in photography - what the Main Street photo lab used to be. The website has a facebook page, where photographers can meet each other and share images, as well as a monthly contest with a prize of free processing.
Over the last several years digital photography revolutionized the genre - people captured thousands of images, deleted most of them immediately after taking them, and edited out imperfections. Photographers lost images when their hard drive crashed or when their online image warehouses folded. Customer Mark Stevens appreciates the careful craft of film photography. “I'll never stop shooting film,” he says. “I love the process. It forces me to slow down and study the composition and light in each frame. I find it very relaxing to get back to the basics of photography, and it’s great to have www.120processing.com to do the developing.”
Retro? Owner Steve Frank doesn’t think so. “This has been our way of doing business and making images for decades. We are trying to find customers who want and appreciate the same things.”
###
If you’d like to run a story about www.120processing.com in your publication or on your website, we’d be happy to offer your readers a discount. For more information, or to schedule an interview with Steve Frank, owner of the Photosmith, please contact Stephanie Frank at 312.730.6602 or photosmithnh@gmail.com.
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120processing.com
Stephanie Frank
603.742.6659
www.120processing.com
Stephanie Frank
603.742.6659
www.120processing.com
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