The response to the Save Analog Cameras campaign has been amazing! There are over 4,000 people who participated in the survey from 100 different countries. Among these, more than 300 are from the Philippines.
Here is a quick summary of the things that we have learned about the analog community in the Philippines through the survey:
The community is young. A majority of the analog community in the Philippines are young and from the ages of 21 to 26 (43%) and 16 to 20 (26%). These analog photographers are digital natives and were probably kids when the first digital camera was released.
There is a strong online community. Since the analog community is composed of younger photographers, they are generally more connected online. There is a strong online analog community in the Philippines. This somehow bridges the gap of analog photographers who are dispersed in the different islands of the country.
Photographers, stores, and labs are mostly found in the capital. Because the Philippines is an archipelago, most of the stores and labs are concentrated in cities, especially the capital city Manila. This is true for physical stores and labs. There is also a stronger offline analog community in Manila compared to the provinces of the Philippines.
Online stores fuel the community. Although physical stores are mostly available in Manila, there are online stores that help fuel the analog community especially those who are from the provinces. A strong online analog marketplace has also allowed newbies from different parts of the country to have access to analog cameras and films.
The outlook of film is generally positive. Although there were a lot of worries regarding the aging mechanics, most of the participants were hopeful about the future. With the rise of younger analog photographers and of online stores, they were almost positive that the film community in the Philippines will grow and flourish.
To know more about these results in details, you can click on the sub-entries below:
Author: Ana Melissa Ortiz