Jaded by the noise, in his spare time, Aat withdraws to his little analog sanctuary, where things are much more tactile like they were in the sixties and seventies.

For Aat, analog culture, which cherishes physical media developed prior to the dawn of digital media in the early 2000s, offers a getaway drug to nostalgic nirvana. 

“I don’t have an aversion to innovation whatsoever. It’s just that, after a while, technological advancements are not what they are cracked up to be,” Aat said. 

The ease with which people can snap photos from their cell phones has led people to enjoy their day-to-day experience less, and the habit of listening to music from streaming services has cheapened the music itself.

Analog photography is the antidote to the out-of-control digital photography. 

Aat said he believed reality was more genuine when viewed through the lens of an analog camera than through the “sanitized” viewfinder of its digital counterpart. 

A former disc jockey, Aat developed an affinity for the medium in 2016 when he would frequently take photos using an analog camera and develop a bunch of images from his films. He later teamed up with fellow enthusiasts Wahyudin and Febrian “Fey” Thomas to organize communal analog photography events. 

“Fey and I used to be loyal customers at Wahyu’s dark room studio. It didn’t take long for all three of us to become best friends,” Aat said. 

The trio decided to found Lab Rana, a film lab specializing in the development of analog images, in Kemang, South Jakarta, early this year. 

Lab Rana is the latest addition in a growing number of communities and businesses promoting analog media in the city. 

More of a movement than a business, Lab Rana came out with a manifesto that seeks to challenge the creed of modern life, which laser-focuses only on result.

“Our purpose here is simple. We want to bring back the joy of being engaged in the adventurous process of developing analog images,” he said, adding that the notion of process had largely been taken out of the equation thanks to the perfection in digital technology.

In addition to image development services, Lab Rana also serves as an outlet to sell a range of film and analog cameras 

To develop a sense of community, the staff of Lab Rana occasionally give crash courses on image development to customers. 

For others, vinyl record is the last defense against the wholesale digitalization of music.

Among a number of Jakarta-based record labels that specialize in releasing music on wax, Lamunai Records stands out for its decision to work on projects that many years ago music fans thought were impossible, releasing old music from the country’s most avant-garde composer Harry Roesli. In a span of less than three years, Lamunai released Roesli’s prog-rock opus Philosophy Gang and his rock opera Ken Arok.

Lamunai founder Rendi Pratama said he valued the authenticity that came from listening to music on vinyl. 

For Rendi, the somewhat unpolished nature of vinyl records stands in stark contrast to the sterilized sound of music played on digital and streaming platforms such as Spotify or iTunes music.

“Vinyl is as close as you can get to hearing the original recording of a certain musical performance. Nothing else comes close,” he said. 

Last year, music fans bought 14.32 million copies of vinyl records, an all time high since market research firm Nielsen begun tracking sales of music in 1991, up 9 percent from 13.1 million copies the previous year.

Rendi said music was best appreciated in its analog form, which requires listeners to set up their turntable, clean the grooves and drop the needle down. 

“For me personally, analog media represent a crucial intersection between humanity and technology, where the two elements live in perfect harmony and do not cancel each other out. It’s almost utopian in that sense,” he said. (rfa)

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