The photos are grainy, poorly lit or pixelated. The flash has washed out the subjects or illuminated only a portion of the scene. There may be a tiny orange time stamp in the bottom right-hand corner.

But the photographers don91裸聊视频檛 mind; it91裸聊视频檚 what they91裸聊视频檙e going for, said 20-year-old Anya Chigak.

91裸聊视频淚t captures the vibe a lot more than a clean photo taken by your phone.91裸聊视频�

Like many of her peers, Chigak has embraced compact digital cameras 91裸聊视频� a token of the past she hopes will keep her tethered to the present.

The marine biology student from Cambridge, Ont., pilfered one from her mom and purchased the other second-hand for $10. Neither can produce the quality of the camera built into hersmartphone.

Chigak was in Grade 10 when she started using her mom91裸聊视频檚 old digicam from the mid-aughts, wary of the allure of her phone91裸聊视频檚 notifications and looking for a way to capture memories while staying in the moment.

The results also match her esthetic sensibilities.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 very into antiques and vintage,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚 work at an antique store and I collect records and vintage clothes and cassettes, so I91裸聊视频檝e always liked the older look of photos better.91裸聊视频�

They remind her of the contents of her parents91裸聊视频� old photo albums, which she always preferred to the well-lit, perfectly crisp and immaculately edited pictures that populated her social media feeds.

Selma Purac, a professor at Western University91裸聊视频檚 faculty of information and media studies, said the digicam is just the latest in a long line of out-of-date technology to capture the youth zeitgeist: vinyl, yes, but also disposable cameras and instant cameras, reminiscent of old Polaroids.

91裸聊视频淭hese are artifacts of an earlier time, and I think that makes them kind of transportive,91裸聊视频� Purac said.

Her students and those younger than them, the ones embracing the digicam trend, came of age during the COVID-19 pandemic and are entering a precarious future shaped by climate and cost-of-living crises.

91裸聊视频淎nd then there91裸聊视频檚 the mental health crisis that91裸聊视频檚 been brought on by their engagement with digital media,91裸聊视频� Purac added. 91裸聊视频淪o this desire to reach to a mythical past, a more positively framed past, kind of makes sense.91裸聊视频�

That framing of the past is a key ingredient to nostalgia, she said.

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91裸聊视频淭here is a real simplification underlying most nostalgia. Nostalgia is memory that necessitates forgetting. It91裸聊视频檚 memory that necessitates erasure, because what we91裸聊视频檙e doing is we91裸聊视频檙e reaching back to a perceived simpler time.91裸聊视频�

Emma Soper, a 23-year-old linguistics student in Hamilton, can put an exact year to that time: 2011, when she was nine years old and got the digital camera she still uses today.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 comforting to go back to a time when there was less responsibility and things felt more like someone else was deciding for you 91裸聊视频� it91裸聊视频檚 kind of a break from the mentality of: 91裸聊视频業91裸聊视频檝e gotta figure this out on my own,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� she said.

She also likes that the photos she takes with the digital camera aren91裸聊视频檛 necessarily for sharing.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not like, 91裸聊视频業91裸聊视频檓 gonna upload this to VSCO and adjust the contrast and the sharpness and the saturation and make sure I have a nice caption,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� Soper said. 91裸聊视频淚t was just, smile for the camera, and that91裸聊视频檚 it 91裸聊视频� even though I know full well I will likely post some of those pictures on Instagram.91裸聊视频�

Cedrick Pizarro has perfected his process for sharing the photos from his digital camera.

The 20-year-old flight services student from Toronto has become his friend group91裸聊视频檚 de facto photographer 91裸聊视频� and unlike Chigak and Soper, he91裸聊视频檚 editing his pictures. He uploads them to Darkroom, an app in which he91裸聊视频檚 created preset filters to enhance the retro feel.

Then, Pizarro shares the photos to his Instagram stories so his friends can see them and ask for copies.

But Pizarro is using more than just his digital camera: he also takes photos with his phone and an Instax instant camera.

The phone is good for videos and immediate sharing, while the Instax photos feel more spontaneous.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 no second take,91裸聊视频� he said of his digicam. 91裸聊视频淲ith the digital camera, you can take more and more, while Instax only has 10 (sheets of film.)91裸聊视频�

In that sense, the digital camera is unlike the phone and the film camera, he said.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 so fun taking photos without knowing the outcome,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淵ou can see it in the camera, but it91裸聊视频檚 so small91裸聊视频�If you take a photo on your phone and then you see it, you91裸聊视频檒l want to redo it.91裸聊视频�

An added bonus?

91裸聊视频淲hen I was a kid I wasn91裸聊视频檛 able to use the digital camera because it could be broken easily,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淪o now I get a chance to take pictures whenever I want.91裸聊视频�

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press