Arai Cam

Arai Cam is a little black-and-white street camera for your phone.

We made it because we wanted something that felt fun to shoot with. Modern phone cameras are incredibly good at producing sharp, clean, perfectly exposed pictures, but sometimes that can take some of the fun out of simply pointing the camera and taking a photo.

Arai Cam is deliberately different. It’s grainy, contrasty and a little rough around the edges.

We took some inspiration from the Japanese Are, Bure, Bokeh approach to street photography — rough, blurred and imperfect. You don't need perfect focus or perfect exposure. Move the camera. Shoot through a window. Photograph a street at night. Catch something as it happens.

It's not about getting technically perfect photographs. It's about seeing what you can get.

Arai Cam comes with a selection of built-in black-and-white looks inspired by street photography and gritty reportage. Swipe through them while you're shooting and see what works.

If you want to get more involved, you can tweak the settings yourself: change the filter, exposure, grain and more. When you find a look you like, save it as your own preset and share it with other Arai Cam users.

You can also “print” your photos from the app, adding a simple frame, title and QR code. It's an easy way to share a photo — or a preset — with someone else.

Using Arai Cam
1. Look.
Notice the shadows, reflections, textures and strange little details you normally walk past.
2. Shoot.
Don't wait for perfect focus. Don't worry about camera shake. Just take the picture.
3. Keep it.
Try not to overthink it. No endless editing. No fixing everything afterwards. Take the picture and move on.

Arai Cam started as a small project between two friends who like photography and making things. We made it for ourselves, and we're sharing it just in case you enjoy using it too.