Focusing on an old passion

In Agan town, 20 kilometers southeast of Lanzhou's Qilihe district in Northwest China's Gansu province, a flicker of magnesium light pierces through 50 years of dust, still glowing in the window of Agan Photo Studio.

This beam illuminates more than just yellowing film negatives — it captures the collective memory of a community shaped by the country's industrial past and digital present.

Inside the cramped studio, 44-year-old Wei Wei adjusts his father's relic: a wooden large-format Seagull camera older than he is.

As tourists queue for portraits, the vintage device — once used to photograph coal miners' sweat-streaked grins, children's wide-eyed wonder, and labor models' proud gazes — now freezes moments for a new generation seeking nostalgia in the digital age.

Though analog photography — photography that uses a progressively changing recording medium that is either chemical-process based or electronic — took a backseat with the rise of digital photography, a renewed interest in the vintage process has since emerged at the photo studio.

Founded in 1972 as a state-owned enterprise, the studio became a visual chronicle of its milestones under Wei's father Wei Jiexiong, who joined in 1974. At that time, photographers from the studio were often invited to take photos during festivals or celebrations in town.

At the busiest period, Wei Jiexiong would start at 7 in the morning and work until late at night.

Wei Wei spent his childhood in the studio with his father.

The young man at that time watched, then learned: mixing chemicals, loading plates, framing shots.

He recalls: "My father would shoot and print more than 100 photos on a busy day.

"I'd assist him, then try myself. I wanted to preserve people's stories too, like what my father did," he says.

When his father passed away last year, Wei Wei inherited both the studio and its analog legacy.

For Wei Wei, this is not only a family trade, but also about safeguarding authentic stories sealed in monochrome.

In recent years, Agan Photo Studio gained popularity on social media, attracting numerous tourists who come to document their memories.

The studio has not only preserved the fondest memories for the town's residents but also borne witness to social development and transformation.

All this through an appreciation for the past.