Can a classic be a trend?

Someone said lately that they were amused by the trend of shooting film after I told them I was excited about starting to shoot film ourselves. It wasn’t an intentional knock in any way, but I was secretly slightly embarrassed by jumping on the film wagon. Am I just being trendy? I’m not really a trendy kind of person. I like sticking to things I know won’t go out of style. I wear loafers and elbow patches. I love old movies. I’m a sucker for vintage maps. And then this question popped into my mind: can a classic be a trend?

I suppose it is true that using film to photograph became very rare with the advent of digital cameras. And everything retro seems to be brought back eventually by hipsters (or Zooey Deschanel…perhaps they are one and the same). So is film just another flash-in-the-pan, do-it-because-it’s-cool things, like listening to vinyl? Or is vinyl such a beautiful way of listening to music that it should never have gone out of fashion in the first place?

I think it’s the latter, and I think film photography falls into that category. Film is classic. Some people are doing it just because others think it’s cool and what’s being called for by popular demand, but that’s not why we’re doing it. We’re doing it because as you know, we’ve always been drawn to the classics. There is something so timeless about Audrey Hepburn, for example. Or Pride and Prejudice. Or a pearl necklace. Or your grandmother’s china. These things have a grace and beauty about them that regardless their age, I appreciate them and treasure them. There is an elegance that my grandmother’s china has that Pottery Barn dishes will never have, no matter how hard those Pottery Barn dishes try (and trust me, I love Pottery Barn!).

Now you think I’m crazy for comparing photography to dishes, but I hope you understand what I’m talking about. The classics never go out of style. So I don’t think we’re really jumping on a trend. We’re realizing we should have been using film all along, as it has a timeless look and quality that speaks to our simple hearts and old souls.