Notes from the
studio.
Essays and how-tos on polaroid frames, film borders, vintage date stamps, and the slow art of making photos worth keeping.
AestheticY2K is back. Here's the photo recipe.
The Y2K aesthetic isn't just frosted tips and low-rise jeans. It's a specific photographic recipe. Four ingredients, and a phone photo becomes 2003.
AestheticWhat makes a Wes Anderson photo, exactly?
Pastel pinks, perfect symmetry, deep focus, soft Kodak film stock. The Wes Anderson aesthetic is a small set of decisions, repeated.
TrendsThe film aesthetic is winning. Here's the data.
Polaroid sales doubled. Kodak made $400M selling film. TikTok hashtags crossed 8 billion views. The numbers behind why analog is back.
Memory CollageWhy scrapbooking is back (and what makes a good photo wall)
Pinterest photo walls, journal spreads, dorm-room collages — physical scrapbooking is having a 2026 moment. Three rules that make a collage look intentional.
BorderWhy a white border changes everything
The thin white edge around an Instagram photo is doing more work than you think. A short read on framing, gallery psychology, and why a colored border can make any photo feel intentional.
Portrait ModeThe magazine portrait look isn't an iPhone trick
What makes magazine portraits feel different from selfies isn't a camera — it's a 100-year-old optical decision called shallow depth of field. Here's how to fake it well.
Social CropOne photo, every platform: a 2026 sizing guide
Eight sizes that matter in 2026 — Instagram Post, Story, Reels, X, LinkedIn Banner, Pinterest, YouTube. Why each one exists, and how to crop one photo for all of them.
DisposableHuji is gone. The look isn't.
The most-loved disposable camera app of the 2010s went quiet. The aesthetic it created — warm yellow, light leaks, orange date in the corner — kept growing. Here's how to get the look without the app.
Film GrainWhy digital photos look too clean (and what to do about it)
Modern phone cameras eliminate noise. Real photos have grain. A short essay on what grain actually does to an image, why it stopped being a flaw, and how to add it back in 30 seconds.
PolaroidWhy Polaroid is having a moment in 2026
Instant photography is quietly back — not as a gimmick, but as the antidote to scrolling. A short read on the aesthetics, the history, and what it means for the photos you share.
FilmKodak Gold, Fuji Superia, Ilford — how to fake the look online
What makes a film border feel real? Sprocket holes, hand-set frame numbers, the right Pantone of yellow. A breakdown of three iconic film stocks and how to recreate them in your browser.
Date StampThe orange date stamp: why 2003 keeps coming back
That tiny orange timestamp in the corner of your parents' digicam photos has become a Gen Z aesthetic. Here's where it came from, and how to add one to any photo today.