Hipsters and Their Polaroids

Ad Fontes of the medium

It's interesting that now, in this age of communication mastery, we are experiencing what Maly and Varis term an era of "superdiversity." People, perhaps more aware of their role in the billions that populate the planet, are trying harder than ever to define themselves and to communicate that indefinable substance which makes their existence unique. An interesting facet of this behavior is the "hipster," or "lumber sexual," trend which now currently dominates the media. This trend expresses itself by a return to the older material items of past generations. A Polaroid camera, glasses from jars, vinyl, large head phones, all of these are now familiar items on any shelf. What's fascinating about this is that people now seek a return to the genuine nature of things, which they believe is corrupted by modern technology. It's an expression of Ad Fontes, by returning to the methods of the sources. A separation of the pure and the impure, the sacred and the profane, based on material possessions.
That this should be a trend would suggest that the purpose of returning to such items in order to separate oneself from the population is ultimately a failure, leaping from one population to another. But these material items are enablers, they allow their possessors more freedom than the identical products taken by more up-to-date tech.

Maly, Ico and Piia Varis. " The 21st-Century Hipster: On Micro-Populations in Times of Superdiversity." European Journal of Cultural Studies. (2015): 1-17. Web.