Taking a picture on our phones has become so normal that many have forgotten that photos started on film. A Monroe woman says this old-fashioned format is making a comeback.

"I basically started my career as a photographer in this building," said photographer Emily Swift. Swift's third floor studio in Bridgeport has become a big part of her love of photography shooting portraits. During Covid when she wasn't using her cameras as much. "I thought what else do I know how to do professionally? And the only thing I could really think of was film processing," said Swift. She went on TikTok. "As you can see we have 69,000 followers and 1.3 million likes and right here this is the video that changed everything for us," said Swift. One of her TikTok videos has reached over four million people. "We have reached all 50 states including Alaska and Hawaii. We've had several customers in Canada. One in South Africa," said Swift. During Covid more and more people were getting into the hobby of shooting on film because they were all stuck at home with nothing to do. The art of film processing is now coming back into focus. Swift is capitalizing by blending traditional techniques with today's technology. Welcome to Darkslide Film Lab. A labor of love that is so much more involved than just snapping a picture on your phone. "The generation that is entering their 20's right now is on the cusp of kids who didn't actually grow up with their childhoods photographed on film. What's happening is this same generation is now seeking out this nostalgic thing that they actually didn't get to experience," said Swift. And when she's not processing film, Swift is creating portraits that provoke thought.

Her age-old business is capturing the past and the future.