The Gacha of Photography

Over the past year I have been shooting a lot more analog when I am out and about. It’s been a breath of fresh air for me in this hobby; I wrote about it previously. I have been wondering why, and today I realised I had been so close to figuring it out.

Self-portrait reflected in a glass balustrade: a person in a cap raises a film camera on a wooden deck under a timber roof, the city and hazy hills beyond the columns

It’s gacha.

Gacha comes from Japan and is derived from their word, “gachapon” for small vending machine capsules. The ones where you get a small toy. You pay to get a toy, but you gamble what toy. It’s since been adapted to digital games and essentially all loot boxes in modern games are a form of gacha.

Five older women in sun hats sit on a bench eating snacks beneath bright green and yellow panels and a “You can pass” sign in a covered market

Friends eating at a kushikatsu bar at night behind a clear plastic curtain, under a red awning and paper lanterns, a giant golden figure at the edge

The core of it is capturing people in a loop of “the next one might be it” where they hunt for the shiny toy/game skin they want. It’s why I am so addicted to using AI code things, it’s the same principle. I write a prompt and I get something that may or may not be the shiny result I want.

The vermilion torii gate of Itsukushima standing in the sea, reflected in the water, as a small boat of tourists rows past

And that’s essentially analog photography (to my dopamine riddled brain).

I go out, take photos, and hope some are any good. It’s enjoyable to shoot, so I don’t see a problem yet. But the more delicious part is after. When I sit with this feeling of anticipation for the result, hoping for one or two pictures I may be happy with.

An out-of-focus black-and-white frame, mostly washed-out grey, with the blurred outline of a person’s head at the edge

A giant stone lion head with wide staring eyes peeks over ropes hung thick with white paper fortunes at a shrine

Of course photography, analog maybe especially, is a skill. Over time I will become better, and the likelihood of pictures being any good will increase. But for now it’s a bit of a gacha game that feeds me dopamine.

Eroded crater walls striped in rust orange and ash grey beneath a heavy, overcast sky

A flock of pigeons bursts into flight across Sergels torg as a woman in a plaid coat walks past glass windows reflecting the city

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