“It all started as a little passion project,” said Fabricio Díaz, 28, who lives with his wife Lucía Ramírez, 25 Central America’s only fully operational film processing laboratory operates out of an apartment in Guatemala City.

“We now have over 60 customers per month and have developed over 800 volumes this year alone,” he added.

The Arca Film Laboratory, which has been in high demand this year, is the only film processing laboratory in Central America capable of developing various types of analog photographic film, including the rather complex positive film processing process (called E-6).

Fabricio, who studied cinematography, explains that high-quality film development services were hard to come by in Central America, which gave him the first decisive push to learn how to develop his first film.

“It all started somehow when we started experimenting and developing film in our apartment and friends started asking us to develop film for them,” Lucia recalls.

Thus, Arca Film Lab was born in September 2023 as a simple Instagram page offering film development services in Guatemala.

The couple taught themselves most of the skills required for filmmaking by watching YouTube videos and contacting other film labs internationally for advice.

“We were surprised by how many people answered our questions. Many veterans of the photo printing community helped us by sharing their experiences and tips. We are very grateful for that,” said Fabricio.

Fabricio and Lucia’s love of photography didn’t end with developing film, though. The couple also organizes “Photo Walks,” where a group of people gather in Antigua, Guatemala City’s old center, to take photos and try out old analog cameras.

For a young film enthusiast like 22-year-old Iván Ortiz, taking photos with a camera older than his own gives him something modern cameras can’t match.

“It’s like missing a generation that we were never a part of,” he told the BBC.

Ivan said older people don’t always understand the recent hype surrounding old cameras and film. “They just don’t understand our perspective,” he explained.

“We live in a world where everything is digital and fast. With analog photography, I have to make conscious decisions about my photos and just focus on the act of shooting. The best part is you get something physical afterwards thing, and not just another data file,” he added.

Steven López from the United States emphasized that having physical photos is also an advantage of analog photography.

The 33-year-old is traveling across Central America to document the last vestiges of Mayan culture, always carrying a 35mm analog camera with him.

“Photography, especially film photography, is the best way to record and experience culture. Every time I come back from a trip and get the developed film back, it’s like Christmas!” he told the BBC.

Central America’s community of film photography enthusiasts may be growing rapidly, but the challenges are greater than elsewhere.

“It’s really hard to buy analog cameras here, and it’s even harder to keep them in good condition,” explains Ronald Ottoniel, 26, a 7-year-old who lives in a developed country.

There are other obstacles.

Fabriccio and Lucía explained that the process of purchasing and importing the chemicals needed to develop the positive films was extremely complex, as their import was closely monitored by the state and required special permits, making it a grueling and lengthy ordeal.

“Many other labs don’t offer E-6 processing simply because imported chemicals are so complex,” Fabricio said.

Their business may be expanding, but Fabricio and Lucia are determined to ensure it doesn’t lose the personal touch and passion that originally inspired it.

Lucia explained that sometimes customers “put little sweets in the packages they send us, and sometimes we send back a handwritten note.”

“It’s important to us that this is not a mass-production business but that each customer is (treated) as an individual,” she added.

Around the world, photo studios use large machines to develop film almost entirely automatically, but in Fabricio and Lucia’s humble apartment, the process was largely “hands-on.”

For both color and positive (E-6) film, the temperature of the chemicals and the time the film is exposed to the chemicals must be accurate, otherwise the results from the entire film roll will be poor.

“The beginning of the whole process was definitely not easy, but after developing more than 800 rolls of film, the processes became like second nature to us,” recalls Fabricio.

“But when we first developed the positive film, the E-6 process, we were very nervous because we had invested so much money in chemicals and film. But when it came out, we were able to see these vivid colors in positive Movies are always very exciting,” he added.

Another integral member of the Aca Film Lab is Toto, the four-month-old cat who, according to Fabricio and Lucia, is responsible for quality control and walks around throughout the development process go.

The developed film is then transferred from the kitchen to the bathroom, as the bathroom is the most dust-free space in the home.

There they dry and then scanned with a high-resolution Nikon scanner, which Fabricio says is the highest-resolution film scanner in Central America.

Fabriccio and Lucía have now also expanded to El Salvador, where they regularly collect and sell film.

The young couple remain ambitious, saying they hope to build a strong relationship with CineStill and Eastman Kodak in the future and expand into the development of motion picture film, including a complex process called ECN-2.

“My dream is to revitalize the classic cinematography scene in Central America! We have so much talent, expertise and passion to offer the world. (…) Together with Arca Film Lab we have launched a movement that we want to take further Take this movement even further,” Fabricio said.

All photos taken by Fritz Pinnow and protected by copyright.