Nostalgia and passion fuel young couple running old-school photo lab

Fabriccio and Lucía run the only fully equipped film lab in Central America

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersNostalgia and passion fuel young couple running old-school photo labFritz Pinnow"It all started as a small passion project," says Fabriccio Díaz, 28, who, together with his wife Lucía Ramírez, 25, runs the only fully operational photo film development lab in Central America from their apartment in Guatemala City.

"Now we have over 60 clients a month and have developed over 800 rolls just this year," he adds.

Arca Film Lab has been in high demand this year and is the only photo film development lab in Central America that develops every type of analogue photography film, which includes the rather complicated process of developing positives in a process known as E-6.

Fabriccio, who studied cinematography, explains that the great inaccessibility of high-quality film development services in Central America gave him the first decisive push to learn how to develop his first film.

"When we started experimenting and developing film in our apartment, friends started asking us to develop film for them and it all just took off somehow," Lucía recalls.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77j7n4kyy5o

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