I feel like the history of grunge is a long and complicated one. Many debate whether or not grunge would be the correct term to describe this aesthetic. Maybe to understand it better, we can take a look at exactly where it comes from and how it came to be what it is today.
believe it or not, grunge is actually from the 1990s hard rock music scene. It included bands like Nirvana, Melvins, Screaming Trees, and more. .
people use the term grunge when talking about a certain style of clothes as well and the notion of it comes from these bands themselves. they often wore these types of clothes and so, I think it is safe to say that grunge is definitely fashion and an aesthetic.
this fashion often consists of dark, muted colors. flannels, ripped jeans, oversized clothes, messy hair, dark makeup or none at all.
what is considered grunge today differs a lot from what it used to be. nowadays, you'll see people tagging grunge under posts of them wearing all black, or some white text on a black background. edgy things too, like knives, are considered grungey items.
I wouldn't necessarily say this is wrong or right, but for me, this is probably more e-girl/e-boy type of beat. or at least a dark aesthetic. the grunge I like differs from this and you'll see it later in my photos and accounts I link to.
as I said before, grunge can be a lot of different things for many people. for me, it's more dark, blurry, grainy photos. with muted colors like the fashion it was back then. they have almost a liminal feeling to them and have an air of stillness yet filled with movement.
you'll see this in action on my photos page, but what I tend to do is desaturate photos, add grain, make them square, and cut things off randomly. I lower highlights and up the darks the tiniest bit. I usually try to frame the photo when taking it in a way I think is reminiscent of other grunge photos I enjoy and am inspired by.
in this sense, I believe anything could become grunge. it's easy to change appearances and slap a label on it and people will buy it.