The Year 2025 is Only Half Over …
by Hermann Groeneveld / SilvergrainClassics
… and we are already looking back on another fantastic time with many technical contributions and artist portraits: in our SilvergrainClassics magazine and on our online portals APHOG blog and SilvergrainClassics blog. And not to forget, the numerous events of our Silvergrain Academy that strengthen the analogue community and always bring new and interesting contacts.
A Brief Look Back
Our anniversary 25 issues of SilvergrainClassics is still echoing: That was the Winter issue from last year with six enchanting and absolutely diverse portfolios from our active readers has become one of the most sought-after collector’s items. Secure your copy in our online shop.
In the Spring issue 26 we responded to the growing interest in instant photography with a Polaroid portfolio about the exhibition of the Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin. SilvergrainClassics presents, in addition to Helmut Newton, eight other artists in images and words over ten pages. The curator of the exhibition, Dr. Matthias Harder, who was personally invited by Helmut Newton, gave us an insight into the work of the Foundation, which represents six decades of instant photography.
Humorous street photography by Stéfane France, the crazy colours of Markus Jork and the mysterious black and white photographs by Robin Kuusela round off the portfolio selection in this issue.
Not so long ago, there were complaints in the community about the lack of available film stocks on the market and high film prices. At least as far as choice is concerned, the situation has fortunately eased. In addition to classic colour and black-and-white materials, experimental films are currently in high demand. Harman RED from Harman PHOTO is a candidate that was released on Valentine’s Day this year. Issue 26 dedicates an in-depth article to it, with interesting technological information and impressive photographs by Marwan El Mozayen.
Issue 27 is Here: A Magazine Full of Compelling Topics
The current issue 27 focuses on a classic of black-and-white photography: Elliot Erwitt’s Found, Not Lost marks the end of his career as a Magnum photographer, just a few years before his death. The book features a selection of previously unpublished images, which were enlarged in our author Mike Crawford’s darkroom for printing. In another article, Mike examines the effect and use of grain in analogue photography as an artistic device.
A carpenter has built his own camera – without a lens. The result is more than a classic pinhole camera: Ralph Man has built the world’s first pinhole camera system. It is available in various film formats (4×5 and 6×17 inches) and even for panoramas (6×12 inches) on request. We show Ralph’s ingenious camera constructions as well as his sensitive photographs, which he prefers to take in coastal regions. Once again, a convincing example: an analogue image simply needs to be printed in high quality to have its effect on the viewer. This of course is the mission of SilvergrainClassics.
Have you ever checked your analogue camera for the accuracy of its shutter speeds? You can even do this yourself if you have the right measuring device: the FAST Box One by Alexander Slubik. Alexander takes us on a fascinating journey into the world of exposure measurement in his magazine article.
Here is the table of contents of further selected topics from our current magazine.
With the Camera on the Road on Baltrum
Darkroom workshops and photo walks are regularly offered by the Silvergrain Academy and are well attended.
A highlight of this first half of 2025 was the photo-travel workshop held on the smallest island of East Frisia, Baltrum, in early May. With the Camera in the Sandy Sea and Mudflats of Baltrum. What an engaged photographer can expect there is described by our workshop leader Hermann Groeneveld in SilvergrainClassics issue 24. He shares his experiences and impressive examples of his photographs. We will offer this workshop again. So keep an eye on our Workshops & Tours page. Also take a look at the photographs that workshop participant Andreas Hengst brought back from Baltrum.
Supplementary And Free Online Contributions
These online articles are free – we see it as our contribution to the film photography community. You can support this content by subscribing to our awesome print magazine about the entire world of analog photography!
https://shop.silvergrainclassics.com/subscriptions/
