Thoughts on analog photography

Today’s analog photography as hybrid or “real” analog photography is not about photographic perfection – at least not in the medium format or the 35-mm film format. Because when it comes to a perfect representation of reality or tonality, contemporary digital techniques are much better suited for this. However, perfection is at the center of attention in contemporary analog photography as well. Not as a goal, but as an attitude: the photographer wants also his analog photos to be perfect, but on the other hand, he knows quite well that this goal is unattainable. That is why analog photographs have something of meaning in them, that digital photographs will never have.

In my opinion, this is the main advantage of analog photography: being able to play with ideas of perfection. The grain in an otherwise perfectly excellent image, fine fabrics that becoming white stripes when magnified and printed, slight blurring occurring when a small negative is magnified too far, and all those other little imperfections bring much more into an analog picture than just the things photographed. An analog photograph symbolizes transience. The imperfection of the material and the process confront spectators with more than just almost forgotten photography working methods. The imperfection, a little also the incalculability, of analog photographs in comparison to contemporary digital photography reminds us of old family photo albums and with them also of the lives of parents or grandparents – of history in general. Such photographs point to the preciousness of the moment and to the transience of everything that seemed large and powerful once.

analog photography takes a radical position in relation to our ever-accelerating world

This, in combination with the uniqueness of every analog photo, makes that – at least in my opinion – analog photography occupies a radical position in relation to our ever-accelerating world. A world, in which little moments lose their meaning,  in which everything increasingly becomes a matter of pre-determining routes, plans, and even biographies. An analog photo symbolizes coincidence, fate, uncertainty – conceptualities that only at first sight play an increasingly smaller role in today’s technological society.

About me

2011, I rediscovered my 35mm Pentax SLR and started taking pictures for Graue Stadt (gray city), one of the first modern analog photo projects showing everyday city scenes caught on 35mm film. Since then, I focused on black-and-white 35mm-film photography more and more. By 2014, after moving to Wiesbaden, I even stopped working with color materials and started to use black and white film material whenever possible. In addition to hybrid analog photography. e.g. shooting or developing films for digital publication (today, most analog photos are hybrid photos) old photo studio facilities gave me the opportunity to even start printing analog photos on silver gelatin paper. Those are “real” analog photos.

Camera and lenses (equipment)

Items marked € will be for sale, now or in future. I will sell al items via eBay.  

  • Pentax ME
  • Pentax MX
  • Pentax LX (€)
  • Pentax K30 (€)
  • SMC Pentax-M 20mm f/4
  • SMC Pentax-M zoom 24-35mm f/3.5 (€)
  • SMC Pentax SHIFT 28mm f/3.5
  • SMC Pentax-M 28mm f/3.5
  • SMC Pentax-M 40mm f/2.8 (“pancake”)
  • SMC Pentax-A 50mm f2 (€)
  • SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 (€)
  • SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.2
  • SMC Pentax-M macro 50mm f/4
  • SMC Pentax 135mm f/2.5
  • SMC Pentax-M 200mm f/4
  • SMC Pentax-A zoom 28-135mm f/4 (€)
  • SMC Pentax-A zoom 35-105mm f/3.5
  • SMC Pentax-F 35-105mm f/4-f/5.6
  • SMC Pentax-A zoom 35-210mm f/3.5-4.5 (€)

Contact and Bookings

If you have any questions about my work or analog photography in general, or if you want to have beautiful analog photos, you can use the contact form.

I can do for you: portrait shootings, animal shootings, building and architecture shootings, lifestyle shootings, landscape and scenery shootings. You can find examples of my work in the portfolio section of this website.

Get in touch!


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