SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) - Camera Exposure, a San Diego camera shop, is seeing the resurgence of film photography, a trend that’s peaked even more during the pandemic.
Co-owner Rob Cowan said he started Safelight Labs in 2019 with the goal of creating a community dark room where people can learn about photography and processing photos. One year later, the pandemic hit, and community spaces were no longer realistic, so he had to pivot. Coincidentally, the previous owner of Camera Exposure was talking about selling, so he bought the camera store.
“I thought it was going to be a really good match between having a film processing lab and a camera store. It just sort of seemed to be a good marriage,” he said.
Now, he owns the hybrid business with Caitlyn Boreliz and they’re seeing business skyrocket. He said this has to do with a variety of reasons. Most recently, the pandemic caused people to find outdoor activities, so photography surged.
“People needed a hobby, people needed something to do and film was something you could still do you could still go out and take photos on the street with your friends in your circle,” he said.
Plus, the shifting of the generations is causing interest with a new audience. He said he’s seeing a trend where older people want to get rid of old cameras that are deemed “too slow,” while younger people are intrigued by the medium.
“The younger generation, they have only had the internet at their disposal. They’ve had digital cameras and cell phones that have cameras in them,” he said.
They’re doing so well that they purchased a new processing machine, allowing them to move away from processing by hand. This lets them develop more pictures faster, helping with the slow wait times they’ve been juggling since the beginning of the pandemic.
He said he doesn’t see film photography dying out any time soon, despite its age. In fact, he hopes to grow the business even more. Eventually, he’d like to add to the existing store and printing business, creating a community dark room in North Park, a gallery and a space for classes.
That project, though, will take time and money. He said he estimates it costing around $50,000 to create, so the first phase likely won’t be finished until the summer of 2023.
Camera Exposure is located at 2701 Adams Avenue, San Diego, CA 92116.
