There is no two ways about it, Instagram isn’t a platform for photographers, and it hasn’t been for some time. And while there have been other apps and platforms that have popped up in hopes of reclaiming that fancy-free feeling of the early days of Instagram, sadly, none have really stuck. Newgrain is the latest entrant into this space, with a slight twist: it’s a community built exclusively for analog photographers. After trying out the desktop and app versions, has Newgrain changed my cynical mind about a photographer’s social media utopia?
Newgrain vs Traditional Social Media
Newgrain feels like a service that is quite content being something of an odd duck. It almost seems antithetical to the purpose of an analog photo-sharing platform to have a mobile app. After all, you can’t get any further removed from the instant dopamine rush of social media than analog photography. By the nature of the medium, analog photography tends not only to be slow in the moment but also in seeing the result. So, it feels a little funny pulling out my phone, waiting to see photos from a community that largely opted out of the immediacy of digital photography. Make no mistake, this is a choice, and one that I wish I could sustainably make indefinitely for my personal photography. But I’m not going to lie, there is something special about going through the Newgrain app on my phone or the Newgrain site on the desktop and being greeted with nothing but analog images – some taken a few days prior, others finding a new life in someone’s archives.
Scrolling through the images is also something of an intentional process. From what I can tell, there are no algorithms feeding you photographers or images. Simply, what’s been uploaded to the platform sits at the very top of the main page, or if you prefer, only the latest photos from the photographers whom you follow.
For Those Who Geek Out Over the Process
For me, one of the greatest joys of the app is being able to deep-dive into what the community is using to create their images. Newgrain allows users to provide granular levels of detail about the images they upload – everything from the film stock and camera settings used to the lab that developed the frame. There are even options for home developers to help them share their process with the world. It is this level of data that makes the analog community such fun to be a part of, and for those who are not big on gatekeeping, Newgrain is a platform that could help you preview what’s possible with a new film stock or camera – film isn’t cheap, and having an idea of what to expect is a luxury in the analog community.
Its Greatest Strength is its Greatest Flaw
I began lurking within the Newgrain community sometime around the end of January. What initially caught my attention was the clean look of the interface and the wealth of discovery tools – you can filter your feed by most popular (“Hot”), most recent (“Recent”), or who you might be following (“Following”), but you can also explore posts by film stocks, cameras, and even photo development labs. This is where Newgrain shines, not just as an app but as a tool for the photographic community. Whether you’re looking to preview the look of a particular film stock you’ve been wanting to try for yourself or to find a new local lab, Newgrain leverages its community’s collective wisdom to lift the veil on the world of analog photography.
Sadly, the app’s greatest strength is its current greatest weakness. While the community is providing much of the lift to Newgrain’s novelty, my experience has felt a little lonely. I’d love to spend more time in the app and participate in a vibrant community, but as of this writing, it’s not quite there. When I first uploaded my handful of images, they sat at the very top of the “Recent” list for nearly a week. Without knowing what’s going on under the hood, a user may take this to mean that there isn’t much activity to speak of. This is a great turn-off if you’re hoping to dive in and find your community of analog photographers. Maybe even more so if you’re new to analog photography and looking for online guidance. As I write this, I can’t help but root for the underdog. Newgrain is a refreshing departure from the algorithms, mindless videos, and AI slop that have all but infected every other social platform. While the platform hasn’t reached critical mass, it has the bones to be a truly different kind of photo community.
And I’m here for it.