In the Gasteig HP8 Darkroom

“We used to have darkrooms everywhere in town,” says Kirsten Kleie, Head of Photography & Video/Film at the MVHS. “Now we only have one, in the Gasteig HP8.” And this is a hard-won achievement for Kleie, a photographer herself. For a while, it was all but certain that a darkroom was needed at all. But Kleie is adamant that the art of analogue photography must not be forgotten: “I believe that you can only really understand photography if you learn it through this old-fashioned method.” Digital photography is mostly a case of “tap, tap, tap, post – and delete,” says the expert with more than a hint of regret. “We often don’t bother to take a closer look and only reacting to the apparent eye-catchers amongst the masses of images.”

The darkroom, by contrast, calls for a measured pace of work: When developing film in spools, these must be repeatedly tilted in the can for some time, and when panning the prints in the chemicals for several minutes, you pause, waiting for the image to appear; an image that you can hold in your hand, take time to look at and finally frame or put on the wall. “A picture like that stays with you,” says Kirsten Kleie, “while most of the masses of the pictures on our hard drives will eventually be forgotten.”

“In fact, analogue photos also last much longer than digital ones – even those printed on photo paper. But, says Kleie, that is not the only reason why the younger generation in particular is clearly enjoying analogue photography and taking to the darkroom again: “I meet a lot of people who go out with their grandparents’ camera and enjoy the fact that they can’t see the pictures straight away. They are fascinated by the anticipation, by the feeling you get when, finally, you hold a unique piece of work in your hand. There is something magical about standing in the darkroom and watching a picture gradually emerge on a white sheet of paper.”

More about the MVHS photo programme in the Gasteig HP8 (in German)