A few months ago, I went on a road trip through Portugal with three of my close friends. For 10 days we drove up and down the coast in cream Volkswagen van with Westfalia insignia, camping out on beaches, making bonfires and eating as many Pastel de natas as we could get our hands on.
On the third night of our trip, our van was broken into while we were out on the town and all of our cell phones, backpacks and DSLR cameras were stolen. It sucked. It really, really sucked. Still motivated to enjoy the rest of our vacation, we stopped feeling sorry for ourselves and got back on the road the very next morning. We also still wanted to document our trip somewhat, so every chance we got we would purchase disposable cameras from the local gas stations and used them to take photos for the remainder of our time there. When we got back to Berlin and developed the film from our cameras (we went through about 5) weeks later, we were so impressed by the quality of the images we captured that we just kept buying them. Even though we've managed to replace most of our gear by now, we still find it worthwhile to shovel out a few euro for a disposable camera every once in a while.
Why?
1. They're The Perfect Travel Companion
Whenever there's a big weekend, festival or special event going on we always make sure a disposable camera is on our list of things to buy. They're easy enough to carry around and if they get lost, oh well! You might lose out on some potentially great photos, but you're never more than 7 bucks out of pocket. Seriously, take one of these babies with you next time you go to a festival and see how good it feels to be able to take great 35mm photos without having to lug around a heavy camera or worry about losing your precious equipment.
2. It's A Great Conversation Starter
Anytime I buy a disposable camera and take it with me to an event, I always get questions about it. "It's 2017, man, what are you doing with that thing?" This is usually how it starts, and I proceed to tell my Portugal story and how that experience gave me a new appreciation for throw away cameras. There's also something charming about these little machines. The way someone looks at you when you pull out a 35mm Kodak disposable is a lot different than the look you get when you start to shoot at a party with a Canon 5D. The reactions are usually pretty great, and they can make for both interesting photos and genuine conversation starters.
3. They're Perfect For Making Series/Albums
You've got about 27 exposures on your standard single use camera. If you buy one for a specific event and designate it to that purpose, then at the end of that roll you have the perfect size album to commemorate that occasion. Another thing I do sometimes is buy a disposable camera and assign myself a mission. I tell myself that I'm only going to shoot certain kinds of photos and go for a specific theme with that roll, and then I make a series using the best images once the roll is developed. Sure, you can do all these things with any old camera or smartphone, but the tangibility and limited life span of these cameras attaches a kind of nostalgia to these images that you simply can't get with an iPhone or digital camera.
In the end, sometimes it's just fun to go back to the basics. In a world full of high technology there's something refreshing about a camera that can still take great photos, without taking itself so seriously.
When's the last time you used a disposable camera? Share your own story in the comments below!