some photos I took with disposable cameras when I was a teenager.
Once upon a time, you could go into your local supermarket and you could buy a disposable film camera with about 27 photos on for about the same cost as a bottle of milk. I know!? Crazy right! And when I was 17, 18, I used to do that quite alot! I hadn't fully gotten into photography back then, but always fascinated with taking photos and preserving a moment, so when I had my first job and a little bit of free money to play with, I started to get more into photography.
I mostly just shot pictures of my friends getting drunk and doing things that teenage people do to be honest, but that was fun for me. And seeing how the photos turned out with the harsh contrast and shadows was some of my first experiences that made me fall in love with film.
None of these people are me by the way... and it's a bit sad but I can't even remember who some of these people are 😄. I am 40 next year... some of the people in these photos are already 40... these were all taken over 20 years ago...
If my memory is right, I'm pretty sure I mostly used the old Fujifilm Quicksnap cameras, which were mostly loaded with Fujifilm C200 so most of these old photos were shot on that, but occasionally I'd shoot with Kodak ones and I think they all had Kodak Gold 200 loaded? Most of the time it was ISO200 film. If I used a waterproof disposable, I think they had ISO400 film in? But they were usually more expensive so I didn't bother.
I still love using disposable cameras, and I've got a handful packed away somewhere that are long out of date, but I'm saving for something special. Nowadays there are alot of more sustainable options that mimic or outright replace the experience you get with a disposable camera, and to be honest, in 2026, anything you can do to reduce landfill waste is only going to be a good thing, but my first experiences, before I owned my first camera, were with buying these things and just taking 27 shots of garbage or nonsense! But it was fun.
And that they managed to survive my old laptop failing, x2 house moves, and a complete data migration, is a bit of a miracle. There's photos of parties I don't remember going to, and people in these photos that I don't see anymore now I live 150+ miles away from my home town, and pretty sure there's a few people in them that didn't make it to 40... so I guess, for me, it's nice to hold on to them cos they're a record of what my social life was at that time. And what most British teenagers from a crap market town did in the early 2000's.
That's a Sony Ericsson w300i, and that's my phone. That's not me holding it, that's Adam (he's a dad now 😄 shout out to Adam) but if you want a hint at how long ago this is; the iPhone hadn't been invented yet... one last photo then I'm done: the person in this photo, believe it or not, is only 21 years old:
I have folders. Literal folders. With more photos in, but these were about the best. And strangely, not really any of me from back then. Guess it's cos I was on the other side of the camera. But yeah, maybe I'll share some more another time?
