On Nostalgia
What the "return to analogue" and the desire for "realness" trends could be signalling
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Have you noticed this rising trend of nostalgia? From the umpteen posts on “the return of analogue” to the endless 2016 v 2026 photo carousels, it all looks innocently reminiscent. Harmless. Comforting, even.
But the desire for nostalgia is doing more than setting a mood or a trend. It is one of the clearest cultural signals we have - if we are willing to read it that way.
At first glance, nostalgia is being treated as yet another aesthetic trend. Photos of analogue cameras, flip phones, Walkmans. The past repackaged for the feed. Something you can wear, curate, caption - and, most importantly, be seen with. But that framing misses the point. This longing for the past is less of a matter of taste and more a barometer of collective mood - a coping mechanism responding to something deeper.
As Jonny Thompson recently noted1 - nostalgia was originally considered a medical condition - something “to be cured, like insomnia or a…
