Film Photography Peaked in 2000 with 85 Billion Photos Taken, Then Plummeted

Since photography emerged in the early 1800s, the number of photographs created every year has grown exponentially. A dramatic shift occurred around the year 2000 though:

Year after year these numbers grew, as more people took more photos – the 20th century was the golden age of analog photography peaking at an amazing 85 billion physical photos in 2000 — an incredible 2,500 photos per second […] in total we have now taken over 3.5 trillion photos. The kind of photos we are taking has changed drastically – analog photos have almost disappeared – but the growth of photos continues.

This isn’t to say that analog photography is dead — billions of film photos were created last year alone, and enthusiasts will likely keep the medium strong for years to come — but, as you know, the consumer market has almost completely shifted over the digital in the past decade.

How many photos have ever been taken? [1000memories]

Image credit: Illustration by 1000memories and used with permission