"Reprospective"

Fotograf Stefan Nöbel-Heise,

the beginning in east Germany:

DDR from 1985

Dorfkinder beim Eissport

Leipzig-Plagwitz

Verlassenes sogenanntes Sonder KFZ der DDR für Übungszwecke.

Posttunnel unter dem Leipziger Hauptbahnhof

Werktätige im Industriegebiet Leipzig West

Am Rande des ersten Mai. Mai Demonstration der Werktätigen

Straßenszenen Leipzig DDR

Sowjetische Offiziere in Ost-Berlin.

Dampflocks, oft noch bis ende der Achtziger im Einsatz.

Ohne Genehmigung öffentlich Musik machen war streng verboten.

Die Wende am 9. Oktober 1989

Die Deutschlandfahne am Leipzig Ring, Montags-Demo Herbst 89.

Leipzig-Connewitz mitte Achtziger

Damals nach der Wende, viele Kaputte Straßen im Osten.

Arbeiter verlegen neue Kabel für die Chemie-Industrie.

Damals Alltäglich; Autodiebstahl und Entsorgung auf freier Strecke.

Neues Melkkarussell für die Milchbauern

a ten yaer trip as a press photographer from 1991

Anti Rost

Freiwillige Feuerwehr

Rekruten im Aussendienst

Polizeibeamter

West-Auto

Ost-Auto

Disco für Alle

Eine Telefonzelle auf dem Dorf

Eisenbahn Schrott

Auszubildende

Arbeitsbeschaffung

Dominicaner Kloster Leipzig

Leipzig

Malta

Lisabon

New York City

Hafen Manhatten

Brookly-Williamsburg 1998

Columbus Ohio 2000

Mid-West USA

Fahrt mit dem Truck durch den Wilden-Westen nach Californien.

ENDE

The craft of the moment.

Photographer Stefan Nöbel-Heise:

Why I have remained loyal to analog photography for decades.

Old Town Görlitz

This was normal at the time, as digital photography was still in its development.

Besides his work on film productions, as well as his photography and journalism, Stefan Nöbel-Heise also shoots on large-format sheet film. For many years, he has also frequently used 120 black and white roll film with his Pentacon Six TL camera. Since the mid-1980s, This was normal at the time as digital photography was still in its development, he has developed his own film and printed it onto photographic paper in his darkroom. Genuine handcraft, genuine photographs. The craft of capturing the moment: Why I have remained loyal to analog photography for decades. In a world that is constantly accelerating and in which billions of fleeting digital images are created daily, I consciously seek the antithesis. Alongside my daily work as a photographer and journalist, I have dedicated myself to a great passion since the mid-1980s: classic, analog black and white photography.

Nikolai Church Görlitz

Main Station Görlitz

Analog photography offers something...

that the digital sensor often lacks: character, depth, and an unmistakable soul. A hand-enlarged black and white photograph has a unique tactile quality and permanence. It is a document of its time – created in the truest sense of the word. In the end, I hold a real, physical photograph in my hands. A unique piece of silver and gelatin, imbued with craftsmanship, patience, and passion. When, under the red safety light of the darkroom, the exposed photographic paper lies in the developer bath and slowly, as if from nowhere, the first contours become visible – that is a moment that still deeply fascinates me, even after all these years.

Höganäs

Björkö Sverige

Anyone who knows me knows that a very special tool has accompanied me for decades: my Pentacon Six TL. For almost forty years, I have been shooting classic 120 roll film on this system. Every press of the shutter release is a conscious decision. You think twice, check the light, compose the shot in the waist-level viewfinder. But shooting on film is only half the journey.

Karl-Heine-Kanal, Leipzig, Germany

Fotöbron Sverige

The bridge over the Elster River played a crucial role in my initial foray into photography. Not only did I, as a second-year apprentice, travel across this bridge twice a day on the S-Bahn (suburban train), but it was also right here that my journey began. It was in the spring of the late 1980s when, on a Saturday morning, I decided to go to this bridge to photograph the spring floods. Although it was strictly forbidden to photograph bridges and railway lines at the time, these steel girders fascinated me, and I took detailed photos of them. The floods themselves weren't particularly interesting anymore. Apart from the fact that the strong current made it impossible to cross from one side to the other, there was practically nothing going on. I developed and enlarged the photos at home in my small darkroom. A few days later, I entered the square prints in a competition. A few weeks after that, I was invited to a meeting of the organizers. Since I had meanwhile finished another small photo series, I was able to participate in a group exhibition at short notice, received a prize and was mentioned in the newspaper.

Elsterbücke Leipzig

Elster-Saale-Kanal

The real magic begins where the light is shut out: in my darkroom. From loading the exposed film into the developing tank to the finished print, every step is done entirely by hand. If even greater precision and detail are required, I use large-format sheet film. Here, photography becomes almost a meditative act. Each individual image is carefully prepared. This slowing down sharpens the eye for what's essential – the subject, the light, and the perfect moment. Because photographing with plate cameras is such a complex process, I use medium format as a kind of sketching tool.